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Project 1 - Raptor > Differential Guard - Dana 30

One day while driving through a wash (dry river bed) coming back from a weekend near Anza Borrego State Park in Southern California, we encountered a rock in the middle that was stained with oil. This was a reminder to use that our differential covers may not be heavy duty enough to withstand the force of a strike against a rock or other obstacle. Although several manufacturers make skid plates and trusses to protect the diff cover, FourXDoctor seems to have pioneered the differential guard shown to the left. Other manufacturers exist now but we decided to by an original. Well, that plus they were $14 off at the annual Tierra del Sol Desert Safari ($55 total!). Installation was easy but there were some things to watch out for. For instance, FourXDoctor mentions that if you don't replace the differential cover gasket (and refill with oil, don't forget) about 50% of those who try to add the guard this way experience leaks. I was hoping to avoid changing the diff oil, etc, although doing so wouldn't be a bad thing. Best to keep fresh oil in there anyway.

Dana 30 Differential Guard (Front)

First things first. Here's what I had on hand to do the install: a drill, a wire brush bit to use with the drill, a couple of quarts of synthetic gear oil (75W90), a Dana 30 differential gasket, Permatex Ultra Blue RTV Silicone Gasket Maker (77B), a torque socket wrench and of course, the diff guard and bolts. The gear oil and gasket were just in case the whole thing leaked, in which case I planned to install new oil and a new gasket. It didn't leak for me, so these weren't used.

This is what the D30 looks like stock:

The first thing I did was remove all 5 stock bolts from the bottom of the stock differential cover. FourXDoctor provides longer replacement bolts. Next, I attached one new bolt at a time, loosely though, figuring it kind of like a wheel where you want to tighten the bolts evenly.

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