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View Full Version : D60 covers: Discuss



ptownTSI
10-28-2005, 02:31 AM
This thread is for discussing D60 Diff covers. After reading the review on Pirate 4x4 on the Crane cover and their outstanding warranty/service, I am almost convinced to get this one. I found it for $215 on PORC but only $210 on cranes own site, not sure if thats the best or not, but a Blue Torch Fab's cover is 160 and doesnt look nearly as good or specialized. Just 1/4" thick basic plate from what i can see.

poison spyders isnt bad at $140, and comes powdercoated. BTF's and Crane's you will have to coat with a zinc etching primer and then paint to keep it from rusting. see review on pirate Here-Scroll Down (http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-BV60/index4.html)

Crane http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-BV60/Crane/DCP_8166.JPG

Poison Spyder
https://www.spydercustoms.com/bombshells/images/017_lg.jpg

Blue Torch's
http://www.bluetorchfab.com/oscomm/catalog/images/dana60.jpg
those are sexy welds though, looks like a bike frame.

LouisianaZJ
10-28-2005, 03:59 AM
WTF you puttin a 60 under?

a front 60 i would go with the crane. the rear i would go with the BTF or contact greatlakeoffroad at pirate and have him make one for you. single piece of 1/4" PL CNC machined them pressed into shape and welded to a 1/2" rock ring

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
10-28-2005, 09:48 AM
i've got the BTF cover and its awesome. that gets my vote.

Cue-Ball
10-28-2005, 09:58 AM
I have Cranes for my HP30 and my 8.8. They are massive.

My 8.8 is over at Jerod's shop right now if you want to check out the cover.

ptownTSI
10-28-2005, 12:31 PM
I have Cranes for my HP30 and my 8.8. They are massive.

My 8.8 is over at Jerod's shop right now if you want to check out the cover.

if gas was $1.50 a gallon i would, LOL.

Cue-Ball
10-28-2005, 12:32 PM
I hear you there.

Where are you living now?

Dirk

Cue-Ball
10-28-2005, 12:34 PM
And for what it's worth when I do go BIG (60/60, 60/70, 60/14b) I will be using the Crane covers unless I hit the lotto and can order up some prorock 60's from Dynatrac, you have to pimp the Dynatrac covers if you got their axles simply for the bling factor.

ptownTSI
10-28-2005, 01:46 PM
i think the crane cover is badass. its the most expensive though too. Dirk i'm living in Petaluma right now, moved back from Sacramento after a couple years over there. Sacramento > Petaluma. They have a sweet go-kart place there, are way closer to the snow, plus there are alot more hot girls since its about 20x the population LOL.

ptownTSI
10-28-2005, 01:48 PM
And for what it's worth when I do go BIG (60/60, 60/70, 60/14b) I will be using the Crane covers unless I hit the lotto and can order up some prorock 60's from Dynatrac, you have to pimp the Dynatrac covers if you got their axles simply for the bling factor.

why go with dynatrac, they are ball joint terds. just keep looking for an 88-91 king pin.

Cue-Ball
10-28-2005, 01:52 PM
Yea I am not even thinking about all that just yet. I am still trying to scrape all the cash together to get my HP30/8.8 swaps done.

You know life would be great if I did not have to worry about all the damn bills (lol)

ATL ZJ
10-28-2005, 02:17 PM
I'm a huge sucker for most anything BTF. They keep their stuff simple, effective, and still manage to get some cool design aspects in there as well. The bluetorch price is right for me also.

MassZJ
10-28-2005, 06:17 PM
I would go with the crane if you have the cash, but the ones from great lake offroad look to be the stongest/cheapest per $$$ and is what i will be running (unless someone can convince me otherwise). GLOR's cover is 1/4" with a 1/2" ring and countersunk bolts for $110. Pretty good deal to pass up. Although the BTF ones are good and I had no problems with them in the past I dont think they are the best.
http://i13.ebayimg.com/03/i/02/7a/bc/79_1.JPG
Now if you want a real 60 go with Rockcrushers, not ProRocks.

OverkillZJ
10-28-2005, 07:09 PM
http://www.mad4wd.com/images/products/RC-Diff-Cover-Large.jpg

$110 at Mad 4WD. Any opinions?

Cody
10-28-2005, 08:23 PM
why go with dynatrac, they are ball joint terds. just keep looking for an 88-91 king pin.

out of curiosity, how many ball joints have you seen fail on 60's? Or is that just heresay?

You're right, kingpin is preferable, but BJ 60's are not turds to any degree. I've personally never seen a BJ in a 60 break--nor can I think of any place online that I've seen it. I have however seen a handful of kingpin stuff fail.

As for the diff cover--it's a fuckin diff cover. Who cares what it looks like it's just going to get trashed. I run the stock diff cover, painted an appropriate shade of pink because it's a 44, and I've never had a problem. I'm not nice to it either. Just have some 1/4" plate made up for it or get the cheapest one that will do your job. That is unless you like tossing you're money away on fashionable items that will fuel your ego when someone comments on it.

as for the ones you posted, the PS one would suck with those allen head bolts, the crane one is cool but won't do anything more for ya than the $110 dollar plate cover posted by mass.

Cody

OverkillZJ
10-28-2005, 09:00 PM
Cody - some of the 60 stock diff covers are paper thin; I swear I could bend mine with my hands. My stock 30 and 44 covers are stronger by far.

I don't know if that's true of other 60's, but my stock ones are TURDS (from 79 f350)!

Besides, if you're going to invest this much in an axle, I'm all about an extra $100 to protect the investment; or at least make a rock ring for it.


As far as ball joints go, I just read a couple good threads on pirate about it. Obviously not personal experience, but from a design aspect I'm glad to be rid of balljoints!

LouisianaZJ
10-28-2005, 09:16 PM
I would go with the crane if you have the cash, but the ones from great lake offroad look to be the stongest/cheapest per $$$ and is what i will be running (unless someone can convince me otherwise). GLOR's cover is 1/4" with a 1/2" ring and countersunk bolts for $110.

i have one. it will work fine

only "problem" is there is some weld splatter inside of the cover that you will probably want to clean up before putting it on the axle. 20 minutes with a flap disc will take it off though

Cody
10-29-2005, 12:53 AM
Now that I think about it, I do remember reading about 60 diff covers being pretty weak. So 100 to protect it is cool, but 210 when the 100 dollar option is just as good seams to be a waste to me.

There are lots of guys that run BJ 60's in competition and haven't had problems. Again, kingpin stuff is better, but I wouldn't be afraid of a BJ 60 at all.

Cody

OverkillZJ
10-29-2005, 11:04 AM
The balljoint competition guys say they replace them every competition, and sometimes between day 1 and day 2 of the competition :finga:


na, I wouldn't be afraid of one either, but I'll brag about my kingpin 60 now that I have one, haha.

Cody
10-29-2005, 02:53 PM
The balljoint competition guys say they replace them every competition, and sometimes between day 1 and day 2 of the competition :finga:


na, I wouldn't be afraid of one either, but I'll brag about my kingpin 60 now that I have one, haha.

Huh, cause the guys I wheel with have BJ 60's and don't replace them every competition. Brandon Gillen ran a BJ 60 for 2 years of competition in both RRCA and UROC (both series=lots of events) and he never said he had to replace them...

Cody

OverkillZJ
10-29-2005, 02:59 PM
Pretty open ended question considering how many factors go into breakage, and like I said I have no personal experience wtih 60 BJ's (although I don't even want to talk about 30 BJ's)

Worth the read: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361573

Kraqa
10-29-2005, 03:40 PM
There is a current thread over on pirate abotu the BJ / KP carnage. Seens to be more BJ but the numbers arn't highenough to call the BJ's Crap. Depending on what you do they will be more then enough. hell you dont' liek the d44. but i have yet to see mine go. although with this 350, i'm nto fucking around. Heading for the d60, i'm even toying with the idea of a hybrid, ford9" and mod combo. IF, and that a big IF i can score the same deal my buddy did on the reduction hubs.

As for the diff cover. i spent all of 30 min welding a couple of peices of 1/4" flatbar to my stock cover and i have rammed it in to tones of rocks. No problems. I juts can't justify spending that kind of cash on a difcover. Take yoru stock on to a a fab shop. i'l be you they charge 30$ to plate the ring guard. The onyl thing yoru missing with the is the outer bolting ring. i just sanded mine down so the bolting surface is about 1/16" away from the outer part of the pumpkin. this way it wont peel back as i slide over rocks.

I'd stay away from Crane. They may be beef, but i'v herd horror stories from peopel abotu them NEVER sealing right.

Cody
10-29-2005, 03:45 PM
I think you meant "the ball joint competition guy". From reading that thread, the only person that really had any problems with them was Dustin, and even he said that the number 1 team in rockcrawlin all run BJ 60's axles (front and rear stear). That being racerunner (Paule, Jordan etc.)

DSI, Redneckengineering, and that guy from PA who I dont' have a clue about, but the first two are very seasoned competitors that are known for being brutal on parts, and look how much use they've gotten out of BJ 60's.

So again, kingpins are preferable, but calling BJ's a turd is just plain ignorance.

btw, I have to do my balljoints on my 44 ;)

Cody

OverkillZJ
10-29-2005, 04:48 PM
I never called balljoints turds. You're arguing with yourself again. Maybe we should've left this thread about 60 covers sucking, which they do.

ptownTSI
10-30-2005, 12:35 AM
my comment on the dynatrac's was more based on them being so expensive and having something to knock them on was the fact they have ball joints. on pirate i've seen pic's of guys having issues with hydro steer and the bj60's, but in my situation i dont think it will matter.

kraqa are you putting a chevy engine in your ZJ? will it still have EFI?

LouisianaZJ
10-30-2005, 12:53 AM
i <3 teh BJ

OverkillZJ
10-30-2005, 02:11 AM
i <3 teh BJ

I get the disinct impression that you're thinking "Blow Job" :smt025

AprilzWarrior
10-30-2005, 06:41 PM
http://www.rockcrusher-usa.com/images/RCHat-1.jpg

Ill be going with Rock Crushers.
ty
AW

ATL ZJ
10-30-2005, 06:48 PM
Is that the stock cover in the picture that didn't fare quite as well?

AprilzWarrior
10-30-2005, 07:27 PM
Is that the stock cover in the picture that didn't fare quite as well?

Dynatrac... it was in Peterson Rag a few years ago BUSTED.



AW

Cue-Ball
10-30-2005, 08:26 PM
Yea the RC ones are pretty impressive.

Kraqa
10-30-2005, 09:40 PM
i will be going on propane. all the benefits of EFI except no electrical.

Jim311
10-30-2005, 09:46 PM
The Crane cover is bombproof and looks good, but there's no way in hell you'll be able to break the BTF cover, and it's WAY less expensive.

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
10-30-2005, 10:26 PM
The Crane cover is bombproof and looks good, but there's no way in hell you'll be able to break the BTF cover, and it's WAY less expensive.

word. either way BTF is guaranteed for a million years. they say if you ever f- it up you'll get a new one for free. i doubt even matt could tear one up.

mine:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/Puma297/diffcover.jpg

OverkillZJ
10-30-2005, 10:57 PM
word. either way BTF is guaranteed for a million years. they say if you ever f- it up you'll get a new one for free. i doubt even matt could tear one up.

You're kidding, right? I CAN BREAK ANNNNYYYYYTHIIIIIING.

I might be building "unbreakable" 1 ton axles, and believe me, I certainly HOPE they'll never break... but..

well let's see.

TrojanMan
10-30-2005, 11:03 PM
You're kidding, right? I CAN BREAK ANNNNYYYYYTHIIIIIING.

I might be building "unbreakable" 1 ton axles, and believe me, I certainly HOPE they'll never break... but..

well let's see.

just put tamper-proof tape on it.:supz:

ptownTSI
10-30-2005, 11:35 PM
word. either way BTF is guaranteed for a million years. they say if you ever f- it up you'll get a new one for free. i doubt even matt could tear one up.


hmmm I didnt know btf's had a guarantee as good as cranes. interesting.

Jim311
10-31-2005, 08:04 AM
I just think some of these covers are totally overkill personally. I mean fuck.. 1/4" plate? If you hit something hard enough to even DENT that, you'll probably be leaving your axle behind on the trail when your control arms tear off and the bolts break. It's not like you'll be having a 50 ton backhoe resting all it's weight on the fucking thing.

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
10-31-2005, 10:12 AM
I just think some of these covers are totally overkill personally. I mean fuck.. 1/4" plate? If you hit something hard enough to even DENT that, you'll probably be leaving your axle behind on the trail when your control arms tear off and the bolts break. It's not like you'll be having a 50 ton backhoe resting all it's weight on the fucking thing.

LMAO good point. But you'd really be surprised how much abuse crap like axles are prone too. Bending axle tubes are not that uncommon and they are 1/4" (at least on 8.8, 9", etc.). Basically your axle is only as strong as its weakest link, thus upgrade your cover, shafts, carrier, etc.

Cody
10-31-2005, 01:48 PM
LMAO good point. But you'd really be surprised how much abuse crap like axles are prone too. Bending axle tubes are not that uncommon and they are 1/4" (at least on 8.8, 9", etc.)..

leverage

Kraqa
10-31-2005, 03:55 PM
leverage


x2.

you would be suprized. that and the fact that you have a 4000LB vehicle behind it.

AprilzWarrior
10-31-2005, 07:46 PM
x2.

you would be suprized. that and the fact that you have a 4000LB vehicle behind it.

My front (original) rock ring was 1/4" thick and it RIPPED on the Con trip. Ive since beefed that up too.


AW

Cue-Ball
10-31-2005, 07:48 PM
Yea but you have a habit of breaking shit LOL!!!!!!!

luvthejeep
11-12-2005, 09:28 PM
man ill tell you, my freind made a sick cover, he had some 1/2 x 1 flat stock and he sbent it around the stock cover in a web shape, then added 1/8 plate on top, he welded sit to the edgs around the cover so the load whent twards the housing, it was pretty sweet and its 4 years going. i mean i can think of alot of things to do with 200$ and sbuing some thing thats fairly easy to duplicate/fabricate would not be my top priority, imo, granted that lifetime warantys and cool strength shots aside. i DO think that cover thats countersunk for 110$ is worth it, but shit 200$ and its not even chrome??? come on....

Jcbzj
11-13-2005, 04:13 PM
a couple people on pirate have had problems with the crane leaking, Ive seen the BTF in person and its beefy (5/16's on the cover) as hell.. and they've always been good to me as far as customer service as well. That would be my choice

Cue-Ball
11-13-2005, 04:30 PM
Well I do not yet have the cranes installed, or my axles for that matter (but soon) and I hope I don't have any leaking issues with them.

LouisianaZJ
11-13-2005, 04:34 PM
use regular bolts (not the holochrome button heads) plus some good RTV (permatex the right stuff) ad teflon on the fill plug, and it will not leak a bit