Good Deal. Just dont bang on the throttle hard in the lower gears for the first 500 miles. I usually change the lube at 500 miles on rebuilt rearends myself. Make sure the Hytec is the correct cover for 2009+ Dodges as the old one wont clear because of the new suspension.

The 9.25" Chrysler in the 1500 has been around since 1971. I think most of the problems occurred because a switch in suppliers resulted in some bad bearings and crush sleeves.

As I understand it the primary cause of the lack of lubrication issue on the 2011 was caused by the shape of the new cover not the height of the inlet.

While the new inlet may be slightly lower the spec for the old inlet called for fluid to be 5/8" +/- 1/4" below the inlet so the new inlet would have to be at least a full inch or more lower for that to be the issue. Its not.

The new cover was acting as a "Scraper" and restricting the amount of lube slung to the top of the housing. The temporary fix was to overfill the housing through the vent tube until new covers could be gotten out to everyone.

The ZF Plant wasnt on line yet to the best of my knowledge so the rear axles were still being built by Chrysler.

PS my 2010 has has had zero problems since I had it. It did get the HVAC/Electrical and Exhaust Recall done while it was in dealer inventory according to the Dodge Owners Site.

 

I wasn't aware there was a year specific Hytec 9.25/12 bolt cover. I've never seen a differentiation based upon year. One installer did say he had to disconnect the rear sway bar to install it, but it did clear it after installation ( 3/8 ") . I guess I'll find out.

Just in case, well worst case is, I'll just re-install the factory case, of case, I mean, of course.

 

ZF has been building the diffs for quite some time. Few years aft least. I ran into a plant worker in Gainesville Ga last year at Walmart. She said then they were running three shifts and building 9000 differentials a month.

 

ZF + 3 shifts = 9,000 a month ...and they STILL build JUNK...!
Cant wait to see and hear all the complaints with the ZF 8-speeds comin up soon...!
Why do you think FORD quit using ZF products....because ZF cant build anything right.

 

Its just been recent they have been having issues. They made some changes that were not favorable. Dana did a whole lot worse then ZF. Ford stopped using manual transmissions reason they stopped using ZF. I've gone home on a Friday evening with 100 Nissan's sitting on the back lot with broken transmissions and rack and pinions. It all got taken care of over time. Cars//trucks today are a lot better quality then 10/20 years back. Won't be long this differential thing will be in the past. These trucks have what? 5/100 warranty or more? Dodge engineering has bulletins out on the issue and such. I'm sure ZF has been working on fixes.

 

Hounddogg, thats all fine and dandy, but they would save alot of money by doing the job right the first time. (its called QUALITY)
And if DODGE were any kind of decent company, they`d RECALL every one of these JUNK ZF rearends and make ZF pay for rental cars..!
Someone like me, that depends on my vehicle severely, to get back and forth to work, i cant afford to have my vehicle down for one single minute. That would meen i would loose my job if i didnt have my vehicle. Do you think ZF would step up and pay for a rental car for me because they sold me a piece of sh*t rearend...??? F__K NOOO...!!! You can defend these bums all you want, but there are ALOT of pisssed off people out there right now. You cant deny that, my friend..!! And 10 to 20 yrs back, i would have been only 1/2 as mad, but i spent twice the money today for a truck and now i`m twice as mad that its no better made than they were 10/20yrs ago. Cosmetics and pretty plastics arent going to make these trucks any better than trucks of 20yrs ago. So i totally disagree if you think these trucks are any better today. I do know i`ve bought my last new dodge for sure. No other manufactuer will get my business either...they`re ALL sh*t today. Only difference, the price tag...!!!

 

Its not defending them. But its why there is a WARRANTY. I remember quite well when warranty was 12/12 and no exceptions. No alternative transportation period. I had customers rent cars and not from us cause we didn't do rentals period. There wasn't half the bitching moaning about the car/truck being down as there is today. I'll say again. Vehicles today are the best they have ever been. Dodge can't make ZF do anything. Your personal issues about not having a vehicle down one minute, Dodge,ZF and any other company really can't do anything about. Be glad there aren't so many down,not driving at once that it might be several weeks waiting parts or a tech to get to them. I've been in that situation several times. Then I use to have to tell customers how broken up we were over the situation and in reality we were kinda. Cause we,parts,techs, service writers,dealer owner were making a LOT of money fixing those vehicles. Lots of money. We use to love huge recalls. Brought in all kinds of business. One mans misery is another's mans honey. Did you buy a extended service contract? If so it covers rental when the vehicle is being worked on or not drivable. Lots of time the selling dealer will help with rental/loaner these days. The failure amount on these differentials obviously is not large enough for a 'recall'

 

i guess some people didn't have the "new car experience" in the 80s and 90's.
if they had they would see what we mostly deal with are minor problems.

 

Thats right

 

Well, I did the break-in stuff, even pulled the camper around after 500 miles, then dropped the stock diff cover and replaced it with a hytec after hosing down the gears and everything with brake cleaner. Got a bunch of yucky grayish-black stuff out of there and made it all spotless. The hytec cover is a VERY nice piece. I ended up with about 3/8" of clearance from the (top) track bar.

I even hooked up the camper after installing it and bounced around for a while
( spring bars not in place on the weight distributing hitch). I had no interference issues at all, and no leaks !