So, my truck has a dana 35 differential, and hence a rubber plug. The plug is a bit worn and diff oil is starting to leak. So I was thinking about welding a stainless steel coupler and put a square head plug, so I can forget about buying a rubber plug. Is this a good idea?

 

is your diff cover stainless also?
as far as welding in a bung and putting in a plug, no problem with that, just make sure it does not stick in to far and contact something, and make sure it does not leak after you finish welding it.

 

Your 2wd Ranger has a Dana 35? Or are you talking about a different model?

 

rubber plug? Little confused as to just what the heck you're talking about.



Your truck has the same D35 up front that our US trucks have. They're steel covers and the only way to remove the cover is by dropping the axle out of the truck. They've also got normal pipe thread plugs that are used as the axle fill hole. All this also pertains to the 8.8" in the back as well. They both also have a rubber vent tube to compensate for pressures in the housings.




***By the way...I WANT YOUR CAB!!! Bring it to Oregon!

 

Doesn't matter if the cover is stainless or not. You can weld carbon to stainless and stainless to carbon, but you lose the stainless property. It's also not ideal for high strength applications.

The housing isn't pressurized, so a leak isn't critical, although you wouldn't want one. nothing a lil RTV wouldn't fix if there was a leak. Or JB weld even.

 

maybe take a picture and post so we can see


Did the mexico ranger come with a dana 35 rear?

 

Yes, my 2wd truck has a DANA 44. I'm sorry, I made a mistake on the number. I've been so busy doing all these stuff. I apologize for providing wrong information. I've called a lot of places asking for that damn plug but no one sells it. Not even Ford dealerships seem to have it. I don't know why it has a rubber plug when it is supposed t have a steel one.

I saw that mod on the net (www.espritdefour.com/dynamic/wp-content/.. - Google Search) SECOND RESULT FROM THE TOP.

That is the same thing happening to my truck. I know it seems to be a radical solution, but I am getting tired of not finding the damn plug.

My father in law is a mechanic and he seemed to like the idea, so that is why I asked you guys for your opinion.

Any further comments are deeply appreciated.

 

WOW....gross oversight by myself.. I totally passed over the 2wd note in your sig.

I forgot some of those other North American Rangers got a Dana rear axle and outboard mounted shocks(like the F150/Lobo trucks). If I were in your shoes, I'd try to find a diff cover without anything on it. Stock stamped steel cover. Lord knows why there's a freakin' rubber plug on the cover. Best fix is a new cover without the rubber plug. But judging by the cover, that's not a standard D44..might be a specialized cover just for this application maybe? Or a Dana44 hybrid of some sort?



Sidenote: US and Canada spec Rangers don't have anything like that. That's the reason for alot of the confusion. We've only got the 8.8 and inboard shocks and the diff cover is plain stamped steel....no rubber or even filler plug BS on the cover. I'm not saying that all Mexican Rangers don't have 8.8's. There's not much info out there on those type of specifics and I'm just plain not sure.

 

It's fine. I know the argentinian model is very rare (if not non-existant) in the U.S. And the vast mayority Rangers here are U.S. imports. The American Ranger was sold here in Mexico until 2003. And after that, they switched to the Argentinian model due to its crewcab and in order to compete with the Tacomas and other small crewcab trucks sold here...

The owner's manual says it is a Dana 44.5. I went to some shops and junkyards (last resort) and found nothing. My cousin's 06 Crewcab Ranger had the same problem. Rubber plug broke and all the diff oil leaked. Truck had to be towed to a Ford dealership and got a new plug by warranty. I don't want that to happen to mine, hence my concern...

Last night I had a long talk with my father-in-law, and he was thinking now about doing what I saw on the net to his Expedition. I'm not sticking anything further into the cover hole. It is all going to be done outside the cover.

 

I looked at your diff cover pic again and it appears to have the same bolt pattern as the normal D44's here. You may be able just to bolt on a new cover without the rubber plug and your problem is solved, so long there's a fill plug in the center chunk like on most other axles. What's that rubber plug's purpose? Act as a fill plug?

Dana Spicer D44 - 10 bolt cover with 8.5 ring gear. Found in both front and rear applications. Rear applications use a bolt in axle. Axles are 30 spline. Front applications came in both standard and reverse rotation.

Differential Covers - SummitRacing.com

Kentrol 304CM44 - Kentrol Stainless Steel Dana 44 Differential Cover for 97-06 Jeep® Wrangler TJ & Unlimited - Quadratec

Kentrol 304RB44 - Kentrol Stainless Steel Dana 44 Differential Cover 66-79 Ford F-100, F-150, F-250, F-350 & Bronco - Quadratec

If Jeep products are sold down there, you might be able to just get the stock cover from the Jeep dealer and ask for a differential cover for a 07+ Wrangler, or a 02-06 Wrangler Rubicon. Countless other vehicles too. But it's a start. If there's junkyards down there like there are up here, finding a D44(front or rear) is actually somewhat easy so long you know what you're looking for. That's another idea to find a stock D44 cover. I'm just spitting ideas out there....it's still a possibility that you can't run a normal D44 cover on that D44.5 axle you've got.

 

The rubber plug is the fill plug. In order to drain the diff, I have to unbolt the cover, and I fill the diff through the hole where the rubber plug is. Standard procedure, except for the rubber thing.

I am a bit short on cash right now, hence my weird cheap repair. I just don't want diff oil leaking.

I am planning on traveling to Laredo, TX within the next few months, which is near where I live and check some auto parts stores there and see if I can get a new cover like the one you mentioned.

I'm about to hit the road and go to my father-in-law's and do the fix I talked about. I'll take some pics of the process and final product.

Thanks for all the answers.

 

Anxious to see how it comes out man. Good luck!

 

So here it is. I uploaded some pics from the process. I know it might not be the best work, but the leak problem was solved.

The wind didn't allow my father-in-law to weld properly, but in the end, we managed to do what we planned and there it is.

Gotta tell ya, it looks spiffy in person. lol. I took the last pic after I painted the cover. Paint was still wet.

Anyway, after that, we thought that it'd have been a good idea to put a pipe elbow instead of a coupler... but that was just crazy talking...

 

So ya'll braized it on there?


It works it works! lol.


Is there no fill on the frontside/the housing side of the pumpkin? I've not looked at a rear 44 in quite some time so I haven't a clue....but I know alot of the covers and I believe front covers have a pipe thread fill plug.

 

There is no other fill hole on the housing. I looked for it and so did my father-in-law. The only one was the one I removed.

Thanks for the info you sent me, Shane. I'll keep that in mind.

 

I wish I had known it was a D44, I have two old covers from my Rubicon! If you or anyone wants one let me know.

 

Well, Vermont is kinda far from where I live. Some guy told me I can't get my own PO Box because I don't live in the US. It'd make things a lot easier. Oh well. Thanks anyway

 

I've shipped tons of stuff to Jose in Argentina, the USPS will deliver it if you have an adress no matter what country.
Private companies like UPS are a different story, they can be a nightmare with customs!

 

The things is our postal service is 'curious' about the things they manage everyday. lol. You can send stuff from any place in the world and when it gets to our borders, it has to go through our postal service and it is all efed up now. For example, some random box sent from Houston to Laredo takes 1 day. From there it has to travel 150 miles within Mexico and it took 1 MONTH!. lol

That is why I was interested in getting a PO Box. I did some research a while ago when I wanted to buy the chromed front end from 98-00 Rangers.

 

Hola,

Nice way to handle that problem, amigo. Bueno!

 

Thanks!