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best diff cover

olympic4x4tech

NAXJA Forum User
Location
So. Cal.
Looking for a diff cover for a d44 standard rotation. Just would like to know what you guys think. Ive been looking at the dynatrac, bluetorch, crane, wms , great lake offroad and the t and J's( a stock cover with soem skids welded on.
 
olympic4x4tech said:
Looking for a diff cover for a d44 standard rotation. Just would like to know what you guys think. Ive been looking at the dynatrac, bluetorch, crane, wms , great lake offroad and the t and J's( a stock cover with soem skids welded on.
Check out www.redrock4x4.com

JS-HD44.jpg
 
that redrock one is the same as the T&J' which is a stock cover with the skids welded on. I can make a copy of that one but i dont know if its worth the effort, might be easier to buy.
 
I'll be going with a Rock Crusher cover here very soon!! There are lots of members of my club running them, and they are BEEFY! I have seen them literarly break rocks in half and not ever get a scratch!!!
 
www.baertrax.com has an AWESOME diff cover. It's called the buttface, and it actually protects your tie rod from bending if a rock decides to slide off of the cover and onto the tie rod. Email him and ask him to explain it further.

bf2.jpg

bf1.jpg


That or a crane cover.
 
the baertrax is one ugly piece of equipment. It may protect the tierod and diff, but it sticks out so far, and it just asking to get caught up on a rock or something. and if it's only bolted to the lower diff bolts with that much leverage...could potentialy lead to a problem.

Get a beefy tie rod, and a less protruding diff cover. You'll be happier in my opinion, I know I would.

check out the blue torch fab diff covers, those are beautiful.

_nicko_
 
gearwhine said:
the baertrax is one ugly piece of equipment. It may protect the tierod and diff, but it sticks out so far, and it just asking to get caught up on a rock or something. and if it's only bolted to the lower diff bolts with that much leverage...could potentialy lead to a problem.

Get a beefy tie rod, and a less protruding diff cover. You'll be happier in my opinion, I know I would.

check out the blue torch fab diff covers, those are beautiful.

_nicko_
It's not bolted, it's all welded onto the cover. And it doesn't get caught on rocks, it slides over them. Plus, if you are trying to get over a rock that protudes out of the ground that much, wouldn't it be a problem for any cover? The whole point is that this thing will slide you over a rock if you need to. This cover is run on competition rigs, and it's never had any problems with anyone that runs it here in Texas. Plus, wheeling is mostly about function over form, or am I wrong?
 
I took the diff. section of a Ford twin traction beam axle, and cut out the diff "cover" section with a torch. Then I cleaned it up with a grinder. Looks good, has a high fill plug, and is about 3/8" thick. Not too bad for about an hour's work and $20 bucks in the junk yard. I have used it hard and have yet to hurt it other than knocking the paint off it. I have it on my MJ that I run down alot of fire roads with at better than highway speeds, if that gives any idea about the toughness of the cover. Ren
 
xjj33p3r said:
www.baertrax.com has an AWESOME diff cover. It's called the buttface, and it actually protects your tie rod from bending if a rock decides to slide off of the cover and onto the tie rod. Email him and ask him to explain it further.

bf2.jpg

bf1.jpg


That or a crane cover.

Sorry, But that is just plain retarded and well worth the name.
 
I ended up bending a piece of 1/2" that wraps from the very bottom to the very top of the cover. It's about 2.5 inches wide and protects the ring gear very well. A lot of other people do the same with their covers, but I fully welded mine in (not just top and bottom). If I had unlimited cash I would have gone Crane.

The buttface is probably one of the uglier thing's I've seen,but I dunno. I think it would work.
 
I'm not really trying to be defensive, I just want to know why people think it's "retarded" and why a cover has to be so pretty when it should actually be functional. I can understand when someone said that leverage could be a problem, but in all honesty, 1/4" steal isn't really going to give. Other than it looking ugly, I don't know why it wouldn't really be functional.
 
I don't believe that it must be "pretty" to be functional. I just really don't understand the use of it. I mean sure it might protect about 8 inches of the tie rod but what about the rest of it. Also if that piece is directly welded to a stock cover if hit hard enough with all that leverage it will simply dent the cover. 1/4" steel versus stock stamped cover.......... the cover will lose.
 
that thing sticks out at least half a foot...you can use that extra half a foot to move your tires forward and climb over the obstacle. Plus, I'd rather straight out hit my diff cover, back up and reposition, rather than the potential of highcentering my front axle. I mean if it works for you, by all means, but I will avoid it.

crane makes just covers as well NXJ, I think that's what crane started their business with.

_nicko_
 
gearwhine said:
that thing sticks out at least half a foot...you can use that extra half a foot to move your tires forward and climb over the obstacle. Plus, I'd rather straight out hit my diff cover, back up and reposition, rather than the potential of highcentering my front axle. I mean if it works for you, by all means, but I will avoid it.

crane makes just covers as well NXJ, I think that's what crane started their business with.

_nicko_
That's the kind of response I was lookin for. Thanks.

And again, i don't see how this thing would actually dent the stock cover if it's got a solid piece of 1/4" covering the diameter of the cover, then 3 more pieces adjacent to that going all the way down. Hitting something hard enough to dent that would ruin any cover I would imagine.
 
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