Rock Lizard Differential Cover Lube Level

unixxx · **Posted:** Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:25 pm

How much lube should be added to the Chyrsler 8.25" rear axle when running the Rock Lizard cover? It required 3 quarts to reach the fill hole and leaked a fair amount while driving. After being drained to 2.5 quarts, it still leaks slightly. How high should the lube be in relation to the fill hole? I think the leaking may be an overpressurization problem. I also recall the Rock Lizard covers having some problems with leaky welds.... I want to make sure the lube is fine before my 12 hour drive home :shock:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:29 pm

unixxx wrote:

How much lube should be added to the Chyrsler 8.25" rear axle with Rock Lizard cover? It required 3 quarts to reach the fill hole and leaked a fair amount while driving. It still leaks slightly after being drained to 2.5 quarts. How high should the lube be in relation to the fill hole? I also recall the Rock Lizard covers having some problems with leaky welds.... I want to make sure the lube is fine before my 12 hour drive home :shock:

I added about 2.75qts to mine,did you use some thread tape on the fill plug? I had to,my fill plug leaked untill I used some thread tape on the fill plug.

unixxx · **Posted:** Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:40 pm

I used ARB bulkhead fitting Loctite the first time and teflon tape the second time. I used a normal amount of RTV and immediately torqued and filled the cover the first time. I used a larger amount of RTV, semi-torqued the cover, waited an hour, and then retorqued and filled the second time. The cover leaked after both installations. The lube was initially added to fill hole level and was still at that level after twelve hours of continous driving, despite a nice spray of lube all over the rear bumper cover, gas tank skid, and spare tire. The lube seems to run down from the top of the cover....

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:11 am

Nice, another crappy cover from Ruff Stuff Specialties! :evil:

These are not "my" covers by the way, they are Ruff Stuff Specialties, I just was a vendor for those covers. Is the leaking coming from the very top of the cover where the cover sits flush (or supposed to) with the mating surface of the diff housing? If so, it may be slightly warped from the welding. If you are not satisfied with it, let me know, and I will take care of it. I have pretty much told them to take a flying leap at a rolling donut, and I am now a dealer for Riddler Manufacturing, and working on them getting their new 8.25 cover going. The owner of Riddler is one of the original owners of Crane Mfg, so the covers are cast ductile steel (90,000 PSI compared to the 50,000 PSI steel used in the Ruff Stuff Covers), and since they are cast, there are no welds to leak or welding to warp the cover. They will be about the same price (around $110-120), and come with gasket maker, hardware, lifetime warranty, fill plug, and the covers protect the bolt heads. No drain plugs, but really, why.

If the cover you have is screwed up, I can replace it with a Riddler cover when they come out, which should be around the end of summer. If you want to send it back to me and run the stocker until then, that would work. I doubt you want another Ruff Stuff cover to replace it. I replaced to leaky covers recently, and the replacements were worse than the ones being replaced.

I apologize for the bad cover, and it will be taken care of. I just wanted to clarify that these are not manufacturered by me.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:35 am

Just remember that you are supposed to lightly screw the cover on and wait for the RTV to cure, then torque it down fully before filling with fluid. The fill hole plug should get either RTV'd or use the thread tape to prevent leaks from there. The drain hole should be fine with that rubber gasket/grommet.

Jeger · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:16 am

I had the "leaking at the top" deal with mine, and suspected the cover was warped a bit. A lubelocker gasket fixed that though so maybe I just goofed the RTV up :oops:

If mine was still leaking I would want the cast cover, but I wouldnt want it if it was costing you out of pocket. You have had enough headache with these things already!

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:17 am

unixxx wrote:

I used ARB bulkhead fitting Loctite the first time and teflon tape the second time. I used a normal amount of RTV and immediately torqued and filled the cover the first time. I used a larger amount of RTV, semi-torqued the cover, waited an hour, and then retorqued and filled the second time. The cover leaked after both installations. The lube was initially added to fill hole level and was still at that level after twelve hours of continous driving, despite a nice spray of lube all over the rear bumper cover, gas tank skid, and spare tire. The lube seems to run down from the top of the cover....

You can also check to see if the axle breather may be plugged causing the over presurrization,it may help if it plugged partially.Just a thought.

Gris · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:57 am

When you guys are saying "thread tape", would that be the same as teflon tape you use for air?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:00 am

Gris wrote:

When you guys are saying "thread tape", would that be the same as teflon tape you use for air?

Yep,same thing.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:15 am

Rock Lizard wrote:

Nice, another crappy cover from Ruff Stuff Specialties! :evil:

If the cover you have is screwed up, I can replace it with a Riddler cover when they come out, which should be around the end of summer. If you want to send it back to me and run the stocker until then, that would work. I doubt you want another Ruff Stuff cover to replace it. I replaced to leaky covers recently, and the replacements were worse than the ones being replaced.

I apologize for the bad cover, and it will be taken care of. I just wanted to clarify that these are not manufacturered by me.

I might just take you up on the offer, I had mine spot welded on several areas and about 2 weeks later a tiny pin hole leak. I'll post a pic later.

unixxx · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:15 am

How many quarts did everyone use to fill their rear housing with the Rock Lizard cover?

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:17 am

unixxx wrote:

How many quarts did you use to fill the rear housing with Rock Lizard cover?

I used 2.5 quarts.

Jeger · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:54 am

Maximum Carnage wrote:

unixxx wrote:

How many quarts did you use to fill the rear housing with Rock Lizard cover?

I used 2.5 quarts.

X2

Gris · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:00 pm

I only used 2qt of Amsoil. Should i be worried?

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:00 pm

You should be able to feel the lube at the bottom of the fill hole. I am sure it varies from those with Trac Lock and those with open diffs.

garyw · **Joined:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:56 pm **Posts:** 2

I also filled my up to the fill hole and it certainly took more than three quarts. I used a lubelock gasket, but no RTV. I assumed that the extra capacity came from the larger size of the cover. I understood that filling to the bottom of the fill opening was the correct procedure. I also have a leak. Rock Lizard has been most helpful, even to the point of providing me with extra bolts. I have not put any thread tape on the fill plug, so I will try that before I remove the cover and use RTV. If filling to the fill plug is not correct, then would someone please correct me with the correct amount to fill with? Thanks.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:11 pm

With the stock cover the 8.25 has a capacity of 2.4qts(4.4 pts),the Rough Stuff cover is not all that bigger as far a capicity is concerned,yes the cover is bigger but that's due to the 1/2" and 3/8" materail used compared to the stock covers 1/16" material.Also the fill plug is much higher then the stock cover,I would not recommend to add more than2.5qts- 2.75qts,which puts it about 3/4" from the bottom of my fill plug,about the hieght that the stock plug(bottom of it) would be.But that is just my opinion.

unixxx · **Posted:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:31 pm

I can feel the lube on the end of my finger when my first finger joint is sitting on the fill hole. I'd say the lube level is 1/2" below the hole.

Jeger · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:07 am

unixxx wrote:

I can feel the lube on the end of my finger when my first finger joint is sitting on the fill hole. I'd say the lube level is 1/2" below the hole.

That is the measurement I am going by, 1/2". My measuring stick is a piece of wire (coat hanger) bent over with a mark at 1/2" from the bend. Somewhere on here there was a recommend fill level.....

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:08 am

Here is mine with that pin hole size leak.

Rock Lizard Differential Cover Lube Level

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