Anyone who has an axle under their 4x4 (as most of us do), especially a front axle, has probably either damaged their differential cover (or front of the axle, for the third member types) by smacking it on a rock, or worried about it at some point. The less fortunate of that group has smashed it enough for the ring gear to cut a hole in it and let the gear oil out. Here's one way to prevent that:
First, start with a good diff cover--the one here is a Dana 44. There are two types--the typical front cover is around 1/8" thick, the typical rear is approximately paper thin. New "thick" covers aren't expensive, and used ones are frequently thrown away when people swap them for aftermarket HD covers so coming up with one shouldn't be too tough.
Clean it up, make sure you remove any paint and rust from the area you'll need to weld later. This one is a little bit strange, since it has a flat section in the middle--I assume to clear the tie-rod better.
Cut a piece of steel, in this case I used 3/16" x 1.5" stock. My best guess for the length I needed was 11 1/4", but that left me with a little bit of a gap so I probably should have done 11 3/8" or so. Use a combination of a vise and hammer, or a high-tech bending brake like I did, to shape it into the contour of the cover.
The hammer comes in handy for "fine tuning" until there's the least amount of gaps you can get. Bolt the diff cover to your housing to help prevent warping when you weld it:
I tacked the strap in place where it fit best, then fine tuned a little bit more on the parts that didn't, then tacked those.
After it fits acceptably, weld away! This one turned out to fit best when it was a little bit crooked on the cover, so that's where I left it.
Clean the rest of the cover up, and paint it your favorite color. This one is Rustoleum Hammered Silver:
That strap will absorb most of the damage, since it's on the part of the cover that protrudes out furthest. It's also directly over the ring gear, which is the closest thing to the inside of the cover and so the most critical spot to prevent damage. (other parts can get dented much further without contacting anything inside) I've used this style of protection on the Dana 60 axles under a competition buggy (using 1/4" x 2" strap) and they took a serious beating without complaint.
Now that I've done the work on this one, here's a picture of the cover I'm going to use on my current project instead
I now have a spare, custom-reinforced D44 diff cover if anyone needs one.
First, start with a good diff cover--the one here is a Dana 44. There are two types--the typical front cover is around 1/8" thick, the typical rear is approximately paper thin. New "thick" covers aren't expensive, and used ones are frequently thrown away when people swap them for aftermarket HD covers so coming up with one shouldn't be too tough.
Clean it up, make sure you remove any paint and rust from the area you'll need to weld later. This one is a little bit strange, since it has a flat section in the middle--I assume to clear the tie-rod better.
Cut a piece of steel, in this case I used 3/16" x 1.5" stock. My best guess for the length I needed was 11 1/4", but that left me with a little bit of a gap so I probably should have done 11 3/8" or so. Use a combination of a vise and hammer, or a high-tech bending brake like I did, to shape it into the contour of the cover.
The hammer comes in handy for "fine tuning" until there's the least amount of gaps you can get. Bolt the diff cover to your housing to help prevent warping when you weld it:
I tacked the strap in place where it fit best, then fine tuned a little bit more on the parts that didn't, then tacked those.
After it fits acceptably, weld away! This one turned out to fit best when it was a little bit crooked on the cover, so that's where I left it.
Clean the rest of the cover up, and paint it your favorite color. This one is Rustoleum Hammered Silver:
That strap will absorb most of the damage, since it's on the part of the cover that protrudes out furthest. It's also directly over the ring gear, which is the closest thing to the inside of the cover and so the most critical spot to prevent damage. (other parts can get dented much further without contacting anything inside) I've used this style of protection on the Dana 60 axles under a competition buggy (using 1/4" x 2" strap) and they took a serious beating without complaint.
Now that I've done the work on this one, here's a picture of the cover I'm going to use on my current project instead
I now have a spare, custom-reinforced D44 diff cover if anyone needs one.
Last edited:
