Ford Performance vs. ARB vs. Other Rear Differential Cover

[Callelk]

FP.........my driveway is at a 6 degree slope so everything drains.

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[Migo]

If you ever think you might get a diff skid, it might make a difference which one get. I got the Ford Performance cover but I had to modify my DV8 cover to work with it.

Can you share what modifications you had to make? Does the skid plate fit tight enough that it doesn’t clang when going over bumps?

 

[Jazer]

I went with Ford Performance.

 

[Felix808]

ARB: ~$187 and has drain out the back plug and fill plug. Also has a dip stick. Have to find a way to affix brake line bracket.

Doesn't see much use of the dip stick unless there was a leak and needed to check until the lease was fixed.

Having a dipstick makes checking the integrity of the fluid easier after deep water crossings without having to drain the diff .

 

[Deano Bronc]

Can you share what modifications you had to make? Does the skid plate fit tight enough that it doesn’t clang when going over bumps?

I had to cut out sections of the skid plate in the areas indicated in the picture.

As far as the fit, the skid plate fits very tight against cover plus there are 2 bolts that does through the skid to the diff. The cover is also thicker than the factory one.

 

[Gotchaa]

I had to cut out sections of the skid plate in the areas indicated in the picture.

As far as the fit, the skid plate fits very tight against cover plus there are 2 bolts that does through the skid to the diff. The cover is also thicker than the factory one.

What was the best way to do this, install the cover first then mark up the skid cover, or remove the dv8 skid and line it up with the FPP cover and make cuts till it fits? Also what tools did you use to cut the cover? I also heard that the screws they ship with the cover may not be long enough if you re-use the stock gasket? Can you confirm…thx

 

[Deano Bronc]

What was the best way to do this, install the cover first then mark up the skid cover, or remove the dv8 skid and line it up with the FPP cover and make cuts till it fits? Also what tools did you use to cut the cover? I also heard that the screws they ship with the cover may not be long enough if you re-use the stock gasket? Can you confirm…thx

I'm not sure this is the best way but its the way I did it. I put on the new FPP cover and the DV8 skid on at the same time which allowed me to make all my cuts on the skid while both were off the vehicle. As you can see, there are 2 bolts that go through the skid and the cover so you have a reference as to how everything will align. I aligned everything by those 2 holes and then did a rough sketch on the skid where I need to make my cutouts. I used a decent sized drill bit on the radius's and a jigsaw to cut to those holes. Then used a dremel to smooth everything out. The skid is plenty beefy enough that removing metal in those areas will not be an issue, so you can cut extra material if needed. I've used the skid plenty with no issue.

I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't look great close up, but it looks fine from the rear of the Bronco. It's that old saying - It looks good from afar but far from good. Once I had everything cleared out, I removed all the burrs and put a good coat of paint on it.

As far as the bolts, I used the factory gasket but not the supplied bolts. I'm not sure if they would be sufficient or not. I was reading through this thread - https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/change-driveline-fluids-early.83929/ and used the bolts that @CarbonSteel recommended. (Long thread but worth the read) The new bolts are probably overkill but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Soon after installing, I headed to Moab for the week and put plenty of scrapes on the skid and everything is holding up great.

Oh, one more thing. I wish I would have realized prior to removing the rear diff cover is that the top of the stock diff plate plus the thickness of the gasket (the gap) holds a lot of dirt and dust. When I removed the cover, all kinds of crud fell down on the gears. I tried to wipe it out the best I could but I know I didn't get it all. Just clean the top as good as you can prior to opening the cover!

 

[Something Wild]

Anyone have any issues with the Ford Performance cover finish flaking off? I grabbed this screenshot from a facebook post (not my cover). Sounds like multiple people were having the same issue. I have this exact cover I am planning to install here in a week or so, but I'll be pretty upset if it ends up looking like this after only a few months.

 

[ThunderFlash]

Interesting that the bottom two bolts a very corroded when the others are not. My first guess would be they got some nasty contamination on the thing that ate the finish.

 

[ThunderFlash]

I went ARB as they are hella stout. They claim to significantly stiffen the axle for better alignment of the gear mesh and axle strength, but that might be marketing hubabalu.

I still need to monkey around with the brake line situation more. With my current Jerry rig, the line is sitting lower than I like on the driver side where the bend for the exhaust clearance is located.

There is a sump area in the bottom of the axle housing the won't drain with either cover. The ARB will probably retain more fluid on draining, but the size, location, and orientation of ARB drain port might let a guy suck a bit of that fluid out with some 1/4" tubing, er I mean 6 mm tubing on a metric truck, and a syringe. I also like the lil' magnet on the ARB dip stick that is suspended in the circulating fluid bath. The ARB has o-rings on the drain plug and dip stick for sealing. I wetted them with some fluid before installing, but hopefully the won't dry out and crack or get nicked anytime soon. NPT plugs on the FP might be better in the longer term provided they are installed properly.

 

[Gotchaa]

Anyone have any issues with the Ford Performance cover finish flaking off? I grabbed this screenshot from a facebook post (not my cover). Sounds like multiple people were having the same issue. I have this exact cover I am planning to install here in a week or so, but I'll be pretty upset if it ends up looking like this after only a few months.

No, but I did paint my red with 2 coats and used different bolts, quality Ford parts

 

[BaseBroncBlue3B]

I went ARB as they are hella stout. They claim to significantly stiffen the axle for better alignment of the gear mesh and axle strength, but that might be marketing hubabalu.

I still need to monkey around with the brake line situation more. With my current Jerry rig, the line is sitting lower than I like on the driver side where the bend for the exhaust clearance is located.

There is a sump area in the bottom of the axle housing the won't drain with either cover. The ARB will probably retain more fluid on draining, but the size, location, and orientation of ARB drain port might let a guy suck a bit of that fluid out with some 1/4" tubing, er I mean 6 mm tubing on a metric truck, and a syringe. I also like the lil' magnet on the ARB dip stick that is suspended in the circulating fluid bath. The ARB has o-rings on the drain plug and dip stick for sealing. I wetted them with some fluid before installing, but hopefully the won't dry out and crack or get nicked anytime soon. NPT plugs on the FP might be better in the longer term provided they are installed properly.

When you installed the ARB cover, did you keep the original gasket? And just installed over that?

 

[crzyhawk]

On the other hand, the Ford Performance cover says “FORD PERFORMANCE” on it, which is big ghey.

Old post, but there's something to be said for not having a company's logos all over your crap. The last thing I want is my truck to be a billboard for companies. Literally the first change I made to mine was dumping the "Ted Britt" license plate covers and I insist dealer logos/stickers are not installed. Advertising is expensive, why on earth would I want to advertise for a company, for free?

 

[SierraBronco]

Old post, but there's something to be said for not having a company's logos all over your crap. The last thing I want is my truck to be a billboard for companies. Literally the first change I made to mine was dumping the "Ted Britt" license plate covers and I insist dealer logos/stickers are not installed. Advertising is expensive, why on earth would I want to advertise for a company, for free?

Hadn’t even signed papers yet on the Bronco when I pulled the Wildtrak branding off the fenders. Hilarious to see the salesman not being sure what to do. Seemed like he felt like he should say something, but also not.

Spent…a lot…on these custom external bypasses. Tubes are set based on our rig and ride height. Homie on the phone-“yeah we just got them back from ceracoating, just gotta slap our stickers on and we’ll ship them out!” “About that. Please leave your stickers off. Will save me the effort of removing them, which I will be doing.”

Stickers don’t annoy me quite as badly as cutting the fucking logo out of the product though. That irks the shit out of me. Vasher had his logo on my suspension links and I asked him to remove them. He said he’s a small operation and it’s really his only way to advertise. That’s fine, but don’t do it on my stuff. And it looks like Citroen has their SEO budget effectively managed as doing a search for VX-R shows results in European coupes, not Bronco suspension.

Perhaps I’m an odd one, but I’ve never once seen a sticker or laser cut logo on a car and did an internet search on the thing. But talking to the owner of said thing, I have. It makes more sense to me that if you make good stuff, you’ll want to have the owner having actual discussions with people where legitimate feedback is provided, instead of relying on an internet search where every company that exists will tell you why their product is the best.

That said I did tell him if he sends us stickers with his website, we’ll put them on the tailgate of our rigs for UBB and EJS, as having worked with him he is very thorough and intelligent. Would absolutely recommend him to anyone.

 

[crzyhawk]

^^ exactly. If someone likes what I did to my truck, I'd be happy to talk about it. Logos and stickers, to me feels very much...not sure what words I want to use...but like virtue signalling in a way. Like overlanders carrying around empty gascans strapped to the side of their truck. Big logos to me, are someone advertising "look at what I spent money on" to others.

I don't need to look at logos on your shocks to know "homie spent dime on this set up, and it's badass". From the pics, it's apparent. Speaks for itself.

An example is those RTR wheels on the wildtrak jr that Ford is releasing. My first thought was, those lime beauty rings are horrid. Then I noticed a big logo on the evo6 wheels itself, and wondered if I got a standard beauty ring, would it hide that logo were I to buy those (I actually like the wheels, just don't need any logos).

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