What's The Best Diff Cover?

nceagle03tj

nceagle03tj

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Joined
Dec 4, 2018
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Location
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Hey Y'all,
I'm going to be getting new gears and installing lockers on Daisy sometime in the next few months, I'm just curious on what your go to diff cover is.
I know it's not something your always buying but I'm looking for strong and reliable. I've herd the ARB are good but just wanted fellow jeepers opinions.

Thanks Y'all!
 
ARB is big and flashy.

Barnett, if you can find one. Stock cover with a strong reinforced lower half.

My dana 30 is using an Alloy cover. Stock dimensions, just 5/16" thick. My Dana 44 rear is 3/16" and from an early 00s' ram 1500 front Dana 44.

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Dana 44 ram 1500 3/16" cover (left). It even has a slightly higher fill plug which helps if your pinion is raised.

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I like the heavy cast ones. The Teraflex Dana 30 cover and the Dana 44 Rubicon Recon edition cover made by Jeep are great. Nothing wrong with the steel welded ones, I just like using the same crap the housing is made of for absolutely no good reason.
 
you won't find much love for ARB diff covers in these parts, with some exceptions, me being one. I love'm, indestructible, drain plug so you don't have to remove the cover when changing fluid, dip stick to take a peak if need be, massive magnets on both to catch all the crap... when I wheeled this thing I was always under water, filthy sludge coal water, and always bashing the front off of things I didn't always see, so its indestructibility served me well as did the drain plug as I very frequently changed the fluid, can't imagine yanking that stupid cover off every time rather than popping a plug.

Flashy, not sure about that, big, certainly. Took these photos after retiring the rig, sanded down the covers & painted. Come to think of it when they were red they were a bit flashy :LOL:

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pagrey said:
I like the heavy cast ones. The Teraflex Dana 30 cover and the Dana 44 Rubicon Recon edition cover made by Jeep are great. Nothing wrong with the steel welded ones, I just like using the same crap the housing is made of for absolutely no good reason.
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I do too. My advice - which is worth exactly what you paid for it - is find a nodular iron cover that is the SAME/SIMILAR shape to stock, has a drain plug, and pay the least amount you can for it. They're all overpriced. I found a used ARB for the rear (Dana 35) and bought a new Teraflex for the Dana 30 up front. Paying $300 for a diff cover is ridiculous. The used ARB was $70, the new Teraflex was $80 and I still bitched about that. The ARB has some "play marks" on it, but is otherwise in great shape. I think it dates from 1987...

Oh, and Teraflex's paint job doesn't appear to be the best - I suggest hitting it with a rattle can before installation.
 
tworley said:
ARB is big and flashy.

Barnett, if you can find one. Stock cover with a strong reinforced lower half.

My dana 30 is using an Alloy cover. Stock dimensions, just 5/16" thick. My Dana 44 rear is 3/16" and from an early 00s' ram 1500 front Dana 44.

View attachment 308698View attachment 308699

Dana 44 ram 1500 3/16" cover (left). It even has a slightly higher fill plug which helps if your pinion is raised.

View attachment 308700View attachment 308701
Click to expand...
Very Cool Thanks for the input!!!!
 
Westtown Willy said:
you won't find much love for ARB diff covers in these parts, with some exceptions, me being one. I love'm, indestructible, drain plug so you don't have to remove the cover when changing fluid, dip stick to take a peak if need be, massive magnets on both to catch all the crap... when I wheeled this thing I was always under water, filthy sludge coal water, and always bashing the front off of things I didn't always see, so its indestructibility served me well as did the drain plug as I very frequently changed the fluid, can't imagine yanking that stupid cover off every time rather than popping a plug.

Flashy, not sure about that, big, certainly. Took these photos after retiring the rig, sanded down the covers & painted. Come to think of it when they were red they were a bit flashy :LOL:

View attachment 308704View attachment 308705View attachment 308706View attachment 308707
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I do like how they have the double plugs as well as the magnets. Thanks!
 
Zorba said:
I do too. My advice - which is worth exactly what you paid for it - is find a nodular iron cover that is the SAME/SIMILAR shape to stock, has a drain plug, and pay the least amount you can for it. They're all overpriced. I found a used ARB for the rear (Dana 35) and bought a new Teraflex for the Dana 30 up front. Paying $300 for a diff cover is ridiculous. The used ARB was $70, the new Teraflex was $80 and I still bitched about that. The ARB has some "play marks" on it, but is otherwise in great shape. I think it dates from 1987...

Oh, and Teraflex's paint job doesn't appear to be the best - I suggest hitting it with a rattle can before installation.
Click to expand...
Noted, thanks!
 
I’ve had a great experience with both Poison Spyder and Solid diff covers. I ran Solid front and rear on my first jeep, a 97 TJ. Recently I bought Poison Spyder front and rear for the new LJR but unfortunately ran into clearance issues up front. I bit the bullet up front for the Barnett 44 and shipped them back my OEM cover in exchange for a tee shirt.

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I have been happy with Rancho covers fill, check, and drain plugs.
Nodular iron and tough. The red color is a little gay for me, but a rattle can could fix that.
Seriously, there are a lot of great covers out there find something that makes sense for your type of wheelin and budget.
Have some fun !
 
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This one from motobilt came in the mail today to replace the poison spyder one pictured above. I would not recommend those. No matter how I prepped the bolts it would always seem to work them loose and start to leak a little bit around the bottom edge. Quarter inch steel plate should do the trick.

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Since I already have too little clearance with the my front track bar I just use the standard Dana cover with a Warn guard I bought before the price went to the moon and a 70s HP44 cover on the rear with a Warn guard. If I had more rocks to worry about I would look at the Barnett for the front.
 
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Blackjack said:
Since I already have too little clearance with the my front track bar I just use the standard Dana cover with a Warn guard I bought before the price went to the moon and a 70s HP44 cover on the rear with a Warn guard. If I had more rocks to worry about I would look at the Barnett for the front.
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Same here. Until I have a reason to change them they will stay on there.

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That’s an old photo. I now have a bit more clearance and a bit better steering linkage.
 
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not really related to the subject but i came across a diff cover test.
the test was particular about flat face diff covers and how when running the lube is slammed into the flat face of the inside of the cover instead of being channeled up and around the ring gear like it should be thrown.
the gear lube was just slammed into the flat face causing all kinds of aeration to the fluid, which in turn lowers its viscosity, the slamming causes the lube to be thrown in all directions instead of being directed over the ring gear and into that pinion oil galley.

those round face covers allow the lube to impact and follow the curve up and around and then contact the ring gear again to be thrown forward. the lube has to make it over the gear.
 
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