jvencius
Registered User
[Church Lady Voice] Well, isn't this special... [/Church Lady Voice]
Some background:
When I serviced my front differential 1,000 miles ago, I decided to replace the diff cover with a PML aftermarket unit for extra fluid capacity and the fact that it has a drain plug so servicing it should be easier. Since I couldn't get one of the bolts out, I ended up having it installed at a local shop and they had no problem putting it on. Some time (~ 1 month) later, I had them install a Revtek leveling kit with complete new spring packs and a drop trackbar bracket. At the time, there were no problems noted with clearances, but at the same time I didn't ask them to specifically check clearances upon suspension travel.
Current situation:
When I washed my truck yesterday, I noticed that the front diff was leaking and so I took it back this morning to the shop that installed the cover since I thought that maybe they didn't get it sealed up properly. In the month and a half or so since I had the cover installed, I have not been offroad, haven't hit or run over anything sizeable (not even hopping a curb), haven't had the suspension at maximum travel either up or down, nor have I hit the bumpstops. When the shop got my truck up on the lift, they said that, when looking at the truck from the front, there is a pencil-sized hole in the side of the cover ~ 3/4 of the way up on the driver's side. Since I haven't hit anything, the only reason I can think of why such a hole would get punched in the cover would be that some fixed part of the truck hit it on suspension travel. This seems a little bit implausible, since I figure that a leveling kit would give extra clearance between the diff and the frame or frame-mounted components especially given that I havent' come close to having the suspension at it's limits of travel. However, given where the hole is (I haven't seen it yet, nor do I have pictures to post), that seems to be the only possible explanation for how the cover got damaged.
So, I'm having the shop look up prices for an OEM cover, since if the extended cover got damaged with on-road only operation, I sure as hell don't want to stick another extended cover on where the same damage will likely occur. I talked to Brent at PML and the only other time he's heard of one of their covers getting damaged was when someone had their F-350 completely off the ground jumping it but for damage like what happened to mine to occur with tame, on-road operation is verrrrrry strange. I bought the cover from DPP and this is the first time they've heard of problem with clearances from a PML cover. I haven't asked for any sort of recompense from either PML or DPP yet, but if it turns out that their advertisement of the product was at fault, i.e. "this will fit w/no problems at all", then that might change. I am not at all happy right now (especially since it'll cost me $250 for a new OEM cover b/c I tossed the old one + new fluid 'cuz the old stuff is contaminated + labor to do the checkout and re-servicing).
Some background:
When I serviced my front differential 1,000 miles ago, I decided to replace the diff cover with a PML aftermarket unit for extra fluid capacity and the fact that it has a drain plug so servicing it should be easier. Since I couldn't get one of the bolts out, I ended up having it installed at a local shop and they had no problem putting it on. Some time (~ 1 month) later, I had them install a Revtek leveling kit with complete new spring packs and a drop trackbar bracket. At the time, there were no problems noted with clearances, but at the same time I didn't ask them to specifically check clearances upon suspension travel.
Current situation:
When I washed my truck yesterday, I noticed that the front diff was leaking and so I took it back this morning to the shop that installed the cover since I thought that maybe they didn't get it sealed up properly. In the month and a half or so since I had the cover installed, I have not been offroad, haven't hit or run over anything sizeable (not even hopping a curb), haven't had the suspension at maximum travel either up or down, nor have I hit the bumpstops. When the shop got my truck up on the lift, they said that, when looking at the truck from the front, there is a pencil-sized hole in the side of the cover ~ 3/4 of the way up on the driver's side. Since I haven't hit anything, the only reason I can think of why such a hole would get punched in the cover would be that some fixed part of the truck hit it on suspension travel. This seems a little bit implausible, since I figure that a leveling kit would give extra clearance between the diff and the frame or frame-mounted components especially given that I havent' come close to having the suspension at it's limits of travel. However, given where the hole is (I haven't seen it yet, nor do I have pictures to post), that seems to be the only possible explanation for how the cover got damaged.
So, I'm having the shop look up prices for an OEM cover, since if the extended cover got damaged with on-road only operation, I sure as hell don't want to stick another extended cover on where the same damage will likely occur. I talked to Brent at PML and the only other time he's heard of one of their covers getting damaged was when someone had their F-350 completely off the ground jumping it but for damage like what happened to mine to occur with tame, on-road operation is verrrrrry strange. I bought the cover from DPP and this is the first time they've heard of problem with clearances from a PML cover. I haven't asked for any sort of recompense from either PML or DPP yet, but if it turns out that their advertisement of the product was at fault, i.e. "this will fit w/no problems at all", then that might change. I am not at all happy right now (especially since it'll cost me $250 for a new OEM cover b/c I tossed the old one + new fluid 'cuz the old stuff is contaminated + labor to do the checkout and re-servicing).
