Diff identification

[MMoyle]

Hi All,



I am looking to service my front and rear diffs on my 1993 W250 4x4 Auto with 3. 54s. While I am changing the oil, I figured it would be a good time to update the diff covers with one that has larger oil capacity and a drain plug. I am looking to go with www.yourcovers.com.



How can I tell what type of front and rear diff i have? My rear appears to be a Dana 80 (but I am not 100%), but I'm not sure what the front is. How can I tell? I am a novice when its comes to diffs, so please pardon my ignorance.



Also, what gear oil do you guys reccommend? While changing the oil, should I do anything else while I am in there?



Thanks

Mike

 

["Mad Max"]

Mike,

I'm 99. 9% positive your 93 would have a dana 60 front and a dana 70 rear. If I remember right, when looking at the front of the 70 and the back of the 60 (looking at both from the yoke end), somewhere on the webbing of the center cast iron section should be an embossed series of numbers, and of those should be the numbers '60' and '70' respectively.



On the covers, I'm going with a set of MagHytec covers for my front 60 and rear (upgraded) 80. They're top quality, and I got both of 'em from PDR. Personally I like to use straight up 75-90 gear oil, and with the lim slip I'd recommend the hypoid aditive either from the dealer or NAPA or any parts store that sells it.



Hope that helps, and you should also see a box full of shiny things today .

- Sam

 

[bgilbert]

I suggest putting that money for the diff cover on something else. I don't get that how people want to change the fluid without removing the cover. I figure if you're already down under the truck, might as well remove the cover and inspect things, and clean it out with brake cleaner and dry with compressed air. With so many things to upgrade on our trucks, plus fuel prices, etc etc, there's plenty of other things to spend the cash on, JMO.

 

[MMoyle]

Good point bgilbert. For as often I have to change the fluid, my money maybe better served else where. Such as exhaust or a torque converter. What kind of fluid do you use?

 

["Mad Max"]

Yer both right. I actually got the mag covers mainly for the cooling fins and heat reduction (mostly for the rear 80), but for me it was also the look and o-ring seal - no leaks. I did the front to match. Pricey yeah, but the truck'll be worth it in the end, plus the covers also have the provisions for a temp gauge, and that I'll also be using on the rear.

The converter is probably the single best upgrade there is for our 1st gens. I did a TCI mainly because I was eventually going to do the DTT full-boggie trans, so I opted for the cheaper TCI unit, but it actually made a world of difference and I've been running great with it ever since... at least up until it got wrecked... .

Oh hey, Bill, I got all the parts from 'Don in Missouri' to repair the 93, so I won't have to part out yer 91 - that's good because I really didn't want to.

- S