The oil in the differentials needed to be changed. I'll be damned if I'm going to remove the stock diff covers, and NOT replace them with something that at least has a friggin' drain plug! Thus I scored this completely overbuilt ARB differential cover complete with lube locker gasket and mounting bolts for waaay cheap, used! I had to source and buy replacement O-rings for the fill and drain plugs, but its otherwise ready to go! Yea, it has a few "play marks" on it, but for Goddess's sake, its on the underside of the vehicle - I care. Not. This one is for the rear axle, a Dana 35. I'm trying to find something similar for the front Dana 30 - the person I bought this one from on eBay did indeed have the one for the front axle as well, but it had already been sold (for more than I really would have wanted to pay) before I found either of them. Aftermarket diff covers of ANY persuasion are virtually impossible to find used for whatever reason, so I may end up with a new one for the front - probably a Teraflex in that case. Zorba's Jeep
Gas flap, oil pan, and rear differential.
One thing I've never understood about American Vehicles...
... is the almost universal lack of locking gas flaps!
I've been buying locking gas caps for decades...
... but having a flap that locks is always nicer.
Makes those flares REALLY show how bad they need a paint job!
Bad (!!) grab shot of brand new oil pan (with gasket) that I had installed today.
Old one was rusty and grey, new one is shiny and black! No more oil leaks!
Used ARB Dana 35 differential cover for rear axle...
Appears to have been made in the 27th week of 1987, if that is indeed actually a date code cast inside.
Hey! I just put a 3 inch lift on the rear end of my Jeep! Made working on it a LOT easier.
Cover had been RTVed on, but still managed to leak.
Loose cover draining.
Red line shows approximate oil level between the old and new diff covers so I could mark the dipstick.
Inside of differential looked fine, and no noticeable metal in the oil.
"New" cover bolted up.
Old one really looks bad on the outside but worked fine.
Gear oil and limited slip additive pumped in!
It was a bit of a PITA to get installed because you're working behind the gas tank skid with Allen key bolts. I couldn't get my ratchet Allen key with the ratchet handle into any of the bolts on the top half, so I had to use a standard L shaped Allen key and tighten those by hand. The (also used) "Lube Locker" gasket is supposed to be good for multiple uses, we'll see how it works out! Holding the heavy cast iron diff cover up, aligning the gasket, and getting a bolt started was a minor challenge, the drain plug which projects inside the housing helped hold it until I got a couple of bolts in.
Adding the oil itself had to wait until the next day, I developed heat exhaustion despite regular cool off intervals and plenty of fluids. 94 outside, fortunately my head was under the Jeep out of the sun but I still became suddenly nauseated rather badly. My wife said "You're done.".
Read on for the next part!
In case someone is wondering, these are the APPARENT O-ring sizes for the drain and fill plugs
on the ARB diff cover. This is unverified by me. The ARB stock numbers are 160244 and 160245,
and can be VERY expensive to purchase - I've seen them going for $18 per O-ring! If you look
hard enough, the ARB call-outs are cheap enough - I think I paid 30 cents each. However, standard
O-ring call-outs are available "everywhere", so I had the old pair measured by someone I trust with an O-ring gauge.Again, these sizes are UNVERIFIED by me - if someone does verify, please Contact Me.
I should have inspected these weeks ago, but...
... the auto dealer not only replaced the front pads as they told me,
but they also put on new rotors. At this mileage, this should be the
second set of rotors and third set of pads. Rusty control arms need paint!
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