RE: PML 8.25 Cast Differential Covers

From: Walt@Walt-n-Ingrid.Com
Date: Wed Apr 27 2005 - 08:57:23 EDT


Yes, it's the 8.25 in my '88 and I have 4.10 gears with a Detroit locker and a
set of WCD axle shafts in there. The cover came unpainted so I painted it GM
Engine Red with High Temp paint I found at the parts store. I got the cover
from Crane High Clearance, http://www.highclearance.com which I found via the
Pirate4x4 site. It’s comparable in price to the Mag-Hytec, about $200 but much
heavier Chromoly steel alloy. The bolt heads are round cap bolts and are
recessed to protect them with the whole cover being lipless. The kit is pretty
complete; they even send you a large tube of gasket sealer. It increased the
capacity of lube as it took about 7 pints to fill the diff, which had a
4.4-pint capacity stock. I read some reviews on Pirate and they said the
cover can really hold up to getting smashed against the rocks but I’m a little
concerned with the shape of the housing though, the 8.25 has a small tab that
sticks down (where the 3 bottom cover bolts thread into) and has two small
gussets welded there to reinforce it. I just don’t like the way the bottom of
the diff is shaped. I may just weld a small ¼” plate to the bottom to protect
it a little more. I want to get another year or two out of this axle. I have
plans to swap in a set of Danatrac axles and originally, I wanted to have them
in there for next year’s national meet but for now, the house takes priority.

 Like I said, I wanted to take the Con-Ferr truss/skid plate off after last
year’s BBQ. It was a good idea in theory but didn’t work out as well as I
hoped. The truss mounted under the diff and reduced ground clearance slightly.
 When I was trying the upper falls last year, the leading edge of the skid
plate caught the lip of the ledge and instead of sliding up over it, it hooked
below the ledge, causing the whole thing to rotate down and hooking hard under
the ledge. If it weren’t for the truss, I would have made that climb. I have
a small video of it on my video clip page.
http://www.walt-n-ingrid.com/video.html (5th clip down)

Walt

In article <BAY106-F29C51B945EB100DEBC5205A2220@phx.gbl>, hemidak@msn.com
("Chad Evans") writes:
>
>
> Looks nice walt. I like the red.
>
> got a website for the cover ?
>
> what diff is that ? 8.25 ?
>
> >From: Walt@Walt-n-Ingrid.Com
> >Reply-To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
> >To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
> >Subject: RE: DML: PML 8.25 Cast Differential Covers
> >Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 04:26:50 +0000 (UTC)
> >
> >I just went the other route and took the rear axle truss and diff cover off
> >to
> >replace them with a Crane Rock Cover.
> >
> >Old cover and Con-Ferr truss/skid plate:
> >http://www.walt-n-ingrid.com/images/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1465
> >
> >New cover:
> >http://www.walt-n-ingrid.com/images/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3854
> >
> >After getting the axle truss hung up on the upper falls last year at the
> >BBQ, I
> >wanted to get it off the truck. This new cover is really heavy and should
> >stand up to getting smacked against the rocks.
> >
> >Walt



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