Wanted to let everyone know, if your needing a heavy duty diff cover, that Solid Axle Ind. has a great product and you can't get a better price. I just received my cover for an ford 8.8 rear I'm building for my TJ. It is cast iron, has machined mounting surface, power coated and comes with bolts and tube of gasket maker for $65.00 !!!! I ordered mine online from Spyntec Industries LLC in North Lima OH. The quality of the material and workmanship it excellent.
Also I'm using an Artec Industries swap kit with a truss. Very good quality and the truss took a lot of the guess work out of mounting. Also the part numbers are lazer etched on the pieces.
Do me a favor, I just got done doing same conversion, with covers laying on flat surface, how much taller is solid cover? My stock 8.8 is already kissing the gas tank.
Unlimited04, is this what you run? I am in search of covers and so far the opinion is many are to big. What do you recommend? Also have a Dana30 up front, have a Currie 3.5 springs, Currie adjustable control arms, Currie track bars and bump kit. Stock front steering with ZJ tie rod and flip. Searching for front cover also. Recommdations?
Barnett for a front cover. I have an old Ford truck D44 cover on the rear...I believe it's 3/16" thick....stout cover for sure. No interference issues with either one.
Just compared the two covers side by side the Solid cover is 1/2 thicker( protrudes to the rear of the jeep) than stock 8.8 Ford cover. This for the rear diff. can't say about clearance on the the front.
So I am in the middle of moving my spring buckets and misc items to axle. I decided to take it to full bump and post couple pictures.
As you can see, it just touches the stock skid, and all adjustments on control arms are set for proper angles and alignment. Also this is stock gas skid, but I am going to raise the tank 1.25" as I also have body lift. This in turn will give me a bit more room. The 1/2" shouldn't be an issue. In the future, I am planning a Savvy gas skid, but out of budget as of now.
Unlimited04, what gas skid are you running? Looks pretty beefy.
Did all test fitting today before final weld in. No interference with gas tank at full compression with no springs. Had about a half inch of clearance with gas tank. My control arms are stock length and stock length bump stops. With a RC 4" lift I'm pretty sure I'll have coil bind before I hit the bump stops. Anyway I'm glad you brought this up, it's a good reminder for anyone putting a bigger cover on.
I guess I need to clear up some things. First I'm installing a Ford 8.8 with an Artec conversion kit. I didn't say that I was not going to use the bump stops in stock length just that I jack the axle up to them to check shock length, clearance of tank, top of track bar mount and things like that. I will check coil bind for bump stop length. The shock mounts were rotated toward the back for axle clearance. the pinion angle is rotated up to 17 degrees for a straight alignment of drive shift. Also I have been running this 4" lift with no problems for 2 years just wanted a stronger axle. So yes some of this is good, real good.
I forgot, but you are prolly running stock skid, as I upgraded to UCF Zero Clearance, and no motor lift. This increased output angle, which mine is 22 degrees. Did not mean to be critical.
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