For those not in the know, I upgraded my gears to 4.56 motives and was quite the adventure to say the least. I consider myself, no longer a noob on the deal but was going to order new gears, never got around to it, just "run what I brung" since we were planning a trip soon - but since delayed.

Things are going good. Noise still there, but it's only on coast, loudest at 46 MPH ... not bad at all. Goes away completely by just over 50 ... temps are running within reason. 120 around town, 150 on highway .. on hot days I've seen it hit 160.

SO

I plan on towing the RV soon so in an attempt to help keep temps down, more like reassurance .... introducing my new rear cover



I'll also be installing a temp gauge since the cover comes with the sensor port. Not a bad deal, $247 free shipping, powder coated, sensor port - ebay! lol



Going overboard, yeah, maybe - maybe not, but peace of mind is priceless, especially when our next trip will be going up to new england area in the middle of summer.

 

oh yeah, forgot, 4 quarts of RP .... $$$$$$ OUCH

 

The MagHytec and PMLs are a good investment, I'm probably going to go to one or the other on my next fluid change (about 8,000 miles from now, which is about a year). I was gonna do the diff temp gauge when I busted my pillar and replaced it with one with the pod, but ran the temp gauge to the tranny instead.
My gears have never made sound one since the install, and looked perfect at last fluid change, so I'm not to worried about it.

How'd the pattern look when you popped the old cover off???

 

Still centered all around for the most part. Coast side towards heel a little and drive side slightly towards toe. If I weren't mistaken I'D Say the pattern looked like it is more towards the top of the tooth than it was or maybe the paint I was using just didn't show it right since I didn't have any pattern grease, I just used some oil paint. bl at 0.008. Could have probably gone to 0.009 but I'm not touching it.

 

I actually prefer the look of the mag-hytec over the pml to be honest with you. plus the price, although they're all expensive, was more of a selling point for me.

 

LOL....isnt that RP like $13 a quart?

 

The Mag-Hytec cover is nice. I looked at the PML, but I wanted it powder coated, so the cost difference was minimal between PML and MAG-Hytec, and the Mag had the dip stick, o-ring seal, and temp port to boot.

I am glad that I went with the Mag-hytec, and i am sure i will like it even more when i change the fluid. Just pull the plug, drain with no mess, and no hassling with RTV or gaskets.

nateroach

 

weed, RP is $19 to $20 a quart down here. I wish it was $13! My temps are doing pretty good. The hottest I've seen is 125*F so far which is a far cry from 150-160*F. Love this thing!

 

What is normal running temp on the rear diff?

 

That's been a difficult question to get answered, let alone answer since there are a lot of factors involved in what a "normal" temp should be. The short answer, the cooler the better, below 200 under extreme loads (towing) to 140-160 on the highway to below 140 putsing around town. That is with 4.56:1 gears. 4.88's may run hotter, 3.92's may run cooler. By how much? I don't know. I didn't do any kind of baseline with my thermometer before doing the gear swap. Synthetic oil doesn't do much to prevent heat, but it handles heat better. Finned rear covers that handle more fluid will run cooler due to heat dissipating aluminum with the fins, as well as hold more fluid to dissipate the heat even more. Ambient temperature also plays a role in what the gear temps will be. If it's desert hot, you'll hit 170-180*F on the highway maybe ... with the right fluids in our rears, it's hard to burn - it can handle a LOT. My gauge goes to 250 so I'm assuming anything around that will be too hot when I'm towing. If things look like they are now, I don't expect to hit near that. I would be more worried for the trans than the rear. As a matter of fact, I have a trans temp gauge, too.