Rear diff covers now available

[Trigganometry]

Seems there is some confusion among some members about thermal connectivity of metals. Strength is determined by alloy blends. The purer the aluminum the better the cooling.

https://elmelin.com/which-metals-dissipate-heat-the-best/

Now as far as cover designs Mr Banks showed something I never knew! Sure hope they end up doing a cover for our trucks. Seems this Dana rear end is becoming more common across manufacturers. I would seriously consider swapping out covers if they offered one.

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[Racket]

Seems there is some confusion among some members about thermal connectivity of metals. Strength is determined by alloy blends. The purer the aluminum the better the cooling.

https://elmelin.com/which-metals-dissipate-heat-the-best/

Now as far as cover designs Mr Banks showed something I never knew! Sure hope they end up doing a cover for our trucks. Seems this Dana rear end is becoming more common across manufacturers. I would seriously consider swapping out covers if they offered one.

I emailed the sales department at Banks Power asking.

 

[PierreD]

Great videos.
So cool seeing how passionate and engaged some folks are.
Banks is one of them for sure!
Man I hope they build one for the Ranger, but with the new one coming out, I doubt it. Except if they use the same rear end......

 

[Racket]

I got a reply from Banks; they don't plan to develop the Ram Air for our differentials at this time, but encouraged Ranger owners to check back. I pointed out the Bronco is using the Spicer m220 as is the Gladiator Ithink? (thinking of larger target market) in case they consider it in the future.

 

[1pt21gw]

 

[Megawatt]

Sorry buddy aluminum is often times stronger than cast iron and has a higher tensile strength, even cast aluminum, and can also take impacts better. Cast iron is notoriously brittle......

Many quality aftermarket diff covers are cast from highly ductile nodular iron—the same material drag racing differential housings are cast from to handle thousands of horsepower.

I had an aluminum diff cover on my Jeep I thought heat dissipation was the key. I replaced it after I found broken off heat sink fins and put on a poison spyder bombshell cover and never had an issue. But if you don’t off-road then aluminum is a very good cover to get.

Here is good real life testing of iron diff covers. 7 min mark is where they start hitting the cover 3 times with a 8 lb sledgehammer. Cast iron takes all the abuse.)

 

[Racket]

After going through all of Gale Banks' videos on the extensive R&D his company put into his product, I pretty much have backed away from considering anything else. The ARB comes closest in addressing most of the design 'problems' besides the Ford Performance (seen elsewhere) and I'm not overly hung up on the iron vs. alloy (or stamped steel in the case of stock) nor am I getting worked up on lubricant choices any more. It's easy to find the exterior shots of the different covers but here is an inside of the ARB. The drain plug casting is going to mess with flow to the axle bearings I think and with the drain already on the front of the diff housing I don't think it necessary. Plus filling from the dipstick hole might let dirt in future servicing and you'll have to be super vigilant about how much is going in. I can't picture what the horizontal ribs are going to do. The lighting here is confusing.

I still wonder if a windage tray in the large capacity, flat backed covers could work.

 

[daniel3507]

Thanks for posting that picture @Racket. I'm leaning towards the arb but I'm questioning even bothering with it now. Does anyone make a skid plate for our rear end? I've seen one for the Gladiator which uses the same axle but I'm not sure about fitment.

 

[pull string get cookies]

Had that cover in the cart for a while now and was hesitant to pull the trigger. Then here you come along posting a picture showing that it looks better than I had imagined; now I gotta buy it. Haha

 

[Racket]

Had that cover in the cart for a while now and was hesitant to pull the trigger. Then here you come along posting a picture showing that it looks better than I had imagined; now I gotta buy it. Haha

That finish would look awesome under my Magnetic.

I guess the smart move would be to order from our friends at Levvittown Ford?

 

[COblue]

Thanks for posting that picture @Racket. I'm leaning towards the arb but I'm questioning even bothering with it now. Does anyone make a skid plate for our rear end? I've seen one for the Gladiator which uses the same axle but I'm not sure about fitment.

Is this what you're looking for?

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/rough-country-rear-differential-skid-plate-works.13159/

 

[daniel3507]

Is this what you're looking for?

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/rough-country-rear-differential-skid-plate-works.13159/

Yep! It's what I ended up going with too. Stock cover but added the skid plate.

 

[COblue]

Yep! It's what I ended up going with too. Stock cover but added the skid plate.

Same here, just saw it yesterday and it's even cheaper than a diff cover.

 

[TremorOwner]

Putting the skid plate on, myself. But won't arrive until July apparently.

ARB cover is the only aftermarket one I've seen I'd consider. The Ford Performance one's detent for the logo plate isn't going to do much harm but, man, that logo plate will not age well, I assure you.

 

[micl9]

Man the Banks videos are really interesting for this old Mech Engr.
All his points make a lot of sense. But there is one thing I have not seen mentioned her, but to be honest I skipped a few pages.
It look like the only sell these for F250/F350s and their Chevy and Dodge counterparts. So HEAVY DUTY trucks pulling heavy loads. He also talks about fuel savings over 100k miles, to me this implies commercial use or high mileage personal. These applications will definitely benefit from the gains the Banks cover offers. If I was towing a travel trailer across the country in an F250 I would be down for one.
But for our Rangers... His points on the "square backs" and fluid flow, turbulence aeration etc make perfect sense and I would not buy a cover like that. The drawback of add capacity also make sense and seem that would do more harm than good. So where does that leave us? The Ford Perf and ARB covers vs stock steel?
From an engineering perspective I don't think there are big enough gains to buy one of these based on that alone (IMHO!), add in the "bling" factor of a flashy red cover and to me that's a bigger and better justification! Just get one that doesn't impair the fluid flow to your pinion!
For me that's not an area I need to spend money on. And the stock steel is just fine.
But like I say - your Truck, your opinion is the ONLY one that matters.
Anyway this was a very interesting read and watch.

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