Diff covers and new technology

Came across this great video on diff covers. I’ve no opinion but there is some great content..
https://youtu.be/7AmLbGSvESg

 

Seems they don’t make one for the Tacoma but I don’t haul heavy loads so

 

There won't be one for our trucks. The factory rears dont have a removable rear cover. Im sure you know. But for those who are curious has to why they can't find one

 

interesting ....

 

In fact, the first aftermarket one he showed was even worse than the plexiglass because of the retarded horizontal ribs in there.

But the thing is basically a solution in search of a problem. The OEM ones are designed perfectly well, and I don’t see much ROI here unless one is after the bling factor.

As with all aftermarket parts, install at your own risk. But a fool and his money are always easily parted (forgot who said that!)

 

The sight glass is a nice touch. Got one on the engine of my Triumph scrambler. On the diff, I would have preferred an inspection port (could double as fill port) to be able to easily examine condition of ring gear.

 

Well, Banks' covers purportedly use ram air to help cool the fins and cool the oil even further. :shrug:. I'd imagine in heavy loads or heavy duties, this might become nice to have but I think in our general use cases, probably don't need something like that.

 

You guys act as if you've never seen a liquid cooled rear diff before

 

My gear lube IS liquid

 

But have you seen a water cooled rear diff?

 

Yes, Banks makes nice stuff and actually invests in R&D. The point I was trying to convey is that the OEMs do too. The test truck in that video was an F250 which is already built with heavy loads and heavy duty in mind. You really only get bling because the incremental increase in fluid life over stock will make it very difficult to recoup the cost of the banks cover over the life of the truck

 

Not since I installed the breather

 

yeah, that's fair. if there was some bling I would want for a heavy duty truck, i would get Banks but agreed. it's bling. and i think he even half admits any other diff cover is just bling. non performant bling.

 

I actually considered one for my late model Tahoe because fucking GM didn’t put a drain on it, so the procedure is literally to take off the cover for a lube job (same with ATF pan actually). But I’m not lifting that car, so with the spare tire you couldn’t even see that bling; plus, I didn’t find one that was engineered like OEM to prevent aeration. I actually ended up using a fluid transfer pump to suck everything out the fill port. Doing the same job on my Taco was sooo much easier. Fucking Chebby!

 

hah! a lot of older diffs don't come with drain. just fill, right? literally have to pull off cover and put in new gasket. might as well just use a pump. either hand or electric. :shrug: I did the diff lube a little while back on mine. probably should do it again soon.

 

Why should we not expect the ram air scoops to get plugged with mud?
(Snow too, but if it's that cold out, not much aux cooling needed.)

The scoops also might not endure the many impacts that most off-road rigs receive right there! ???