Rock Rings? Or Thicker Cover?

[Jefe]

Jefe's right, I have this to protect my front diff. right now.

see it works

LOL . . you're not soppose to use it as a battering ram.

 

[SplashMan]

Ha Ha Ha, thats what mine was starting to look like before I added this...

 

[zhanx]

nice, work Stic-o. On the cover i was mainly thinkin cosmetic, (i know thats a lot to spend on something that wont do any good) but hey you cant take it with you

 

[Jefe]

nice, work Stic-o. On the cover i was mainly thinkin cosmetic, (i know thats a lot to spend on something that wont do any good) but hey you cant take it with you

Hey, if it fits I'm sure it will help strengthen the D35 aluminum housing a lot which is a good thing if you're gonna put a locker in it. (see Johnstones Whoops )

 

[Stic-o]

nice, work Stic-o. On the cover i was mainly thinkin cosmetic, (i know thats a lot to spend on something that wont do any good) but hey you cant take it with you

I refuse to touch the front axle or put any $$$ into it, because I plan to cut it all out and da a SAS....hopfully next year

 

[daddy_ja]

here is mine

i got mine from here for $65
http://www.simplyoffroad.com/

 

[410Fortune]

OH no dust boots!!!

Chromed cheapo with nice ring and cover. Looks good...

If you look under those red boots you will find rusted shock bodies. The Rancho's already have a VERY good seal around the shaft to keep crap out so the only possible reason to keep dust boots on is to stop the shaft from getting pitted by stuff coming off the tires, and well on our non desert trucks without $4000 shocks, that doesnt happen......just my 02 I hate shock boots, I tired them once.......

Also I had my adjusters down low like that too, easy to get at and adjust right? Well I was in Truckhaven and somebody, cant remember who, David maybe, said "I cant believe you run your 9000's with the adjusters facing down". I am like well hes got a point but I have had them like that for a year and no issues with rocks, later that day BLAMO adjuster destroyed....No fun driving home fully loaded with camp gear, no sway bar, and the rear shocks set on 0...

I now have a spare adjuster and they are right side up harder to adjust, but protected.

 

[stretch]

I refuse to touch the front axle or put any $$$ into it, because I plan to cut it all out and da a SAS....hopfully next year

My thoughts exactly!! Which is why as soon as I figured out that my front gears were dying I started to buy parts for my SAS.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I like the BTF and Crane style also. Has anyone seen the ones from www.greatlakeoffroad.com? They use a 1/2" thick bolt ring welded to a 1/4" thick plate cover similar to the BTF ones. He also offers them with a 1/2" thick extra plate support across the ring gear area.

EDIT: Seems you can't get to anything through his website but he sells on ebay all the time. He' also on Pirate as a vendor. Not sure if he sells for the 8.8 but I know he has dana 44 covers all the time. Here's his ebay store

 

[Stic-o]

I picked up some Allen bolts at OSH today and also some paint for the cover. I will clean up and paint all of the axle black and the cover will be grey hammertone (see below). I will be getting rid of the Sway bar finnaly too, it has dented my shocks to hell. from all the flex

 

[daddy_ja]

Also I had my adjusters down low like that too, easy to get at and adjust right? Well I was in Truckhaven and somebody, cant remember who, David maybe, said "I cant believe you run your 9000's with the adjusters facing down". I am like well hes got a point but I have had them like that for a year and no issues with rocks, later that day BLAMO adjuster destroyed....No fun driving home fully loaded with camp gear, no sway bar, and the rear shocks set on 0...

I now have a spare adjuster and they are right side up harder to adjust, but protected.

so you just turned the shocks upsidedown?

 

[410Fortune]

Yes rancho 9000's can be run in any position.
Mine are upside down, that way I dont break the adjusters off on rocks anymore.

 

[Jefe]

Also I had my adjusters down low like that too, easy to get at and adjust right? Well I was in Truckhaven and somebody, cant remember who, David maybe, said "I cant believe you run your 9000's with the adjusters facing down". I am like well hes got a point but I have had them like that for a year and no issues with rocks, later that day BLAMO adjuster destroyed....

I never had a problem with mine mounted like in the pic, as they are pretty well protected. Its just the BII & Ranger that has the one shock forward/ one back and the adjusters are just hanging there asking to be knocked off. Oh, and it was me that pointed it out.

 

[410Fortune]

ahhhha Jefe pointed it out, thats funny cuz I typed it then I thought, I think it was Dave, it was on the CB though
Thanks, it was the same day you told me I broke one....the drive up that canyon was FUN let me tell you.......hahahah oh then we got lost and ended up in San Diego downtown at like 10 pm on a Sun and had to find my way back to Laguna....ahhh good ol So Cal..

 

[BKennedy]

This one saved my butt quite a few times...

I got it from a guy that was selling them here over 2 years ago. He went out of buisness though.

I have the same cover and it works... It was less than $70.00 shipped to my door. I thought it was Cory who made these, but I could be wrong.

I like your cover better, Stic-o, so don't be suprised to wake up with a cover swap in progress next time we go wheelin'.

I think that cover was welded with a tig welder, its too clean to be anything else. You could smooth it out with a grinder or a sanding disc, but I like the welds, makes it look custom. Just paint it black so then when you do touch up on the rear to cover up the rust spots, you won't have to worry about overspray.

Oh, I had a few of those adjuster buttons on my old Rancho shock get peeled off on rocks, then I wised up and bought Bilsteins.

 

[Stic-o]

All Done! Locker and Cover Installed

Now lets go test it out!

 

[FROADER]

Nice!

 

[BKennedy]

Now you are really ready for the Swamp!!

 

[Jefe]

In case you didn't notice you're missing an exhaust pipe.

 

[Brian_B]

That looks great under there. Why does it say "wrong tires" upside down on your license plate?

 

[RockRanger]

looks good. Now it is time to go scratch it all up.