I was wondering if anyone's changed their differential covers so that they don't have to keep prying off and resealing the OEM ones every time they change the gear oil.

There are aftermarket ones made of aluminum (better cooling), hold more gear oil (better cooling), have raised fins (better cooling), and have drain and fill plugs where you don't have to deal with having to pry off the cover. You can even get them with built-in dipsticks and temp guage!

When Nissan was`having problems with the rear ends on their Titan trucks, one of the things they did is increase the size of the rear diff cover to hold more oil and provide better cooling along with the cooling fins built right into the cover. It seems to me that using synthetic gear oil along with one of these aftermarket covers will go a long way in keeping the differentials in good shape. Plus, it saves a lot of needless work when changing the gear oil.

 

IIIRC, the OEM covers have a rubber plug that you can remove to siphon (not drain) the old oil...

 

I just ran across these. Don't know if anyone is interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/74-06...em230211107748

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/74-06...em230210892834

 

If you're looking for an excuse to replace the cover, try one of these. They're aluminumfor better heat rejection andalso have a bearing cap support! (The OEM cover does have a rubber plug. I checked mine this afternoon)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...:IT&ih=001


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...:IT&ih=003

 

those are kinda cool covers..

Here is an option for the 8.25