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I have a stock 182,000 mile 96 RS and within a few days from now I am going to do a full tune-up. My question is about the rear differential cover. I noticed BFrankersZ28 site is not available and wanted to know if such a cover exists with an Add & Drain spouts built into it. Common sense would be that this would be the easiest design for preventative maintenance of these rear ends but in GM's wisdom that wasn't designed. I did a serach and no results. I checked under Summit and all they offer is a one chrome cover with a single drain spout. There is some confusion on my part about which is the most suitable rear end gear oil to use accompanied by the GM gear additive and the use of a GM gasket vs the RTV seal so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Black \'96 RS Camaro, 3.8 V6 Series II, M5, Stock 200 HP, 204K miles! Stock \'91 Firebird 3.1 V6 automatic w/ overdrive. 266,400 miles on it. \'83 Pontiac Trans Am,305 LG4, Cowl Induction,Borg Warner 5 Speed,T-Tops,Gale Banks Exhaust System:$800 obo -
check out either some of the sponsers sites or other fbody performance sites.
cheapest one I know of is an SLP one for $94I guess I\'d have answer your question with another question.<br /><br />How many Abidiginals do you see in modeling??????<br /><br />headers, 3inch magnaflow cat, Loudmouth<br />99 Midnight Blue Firebird<br />3.8L A4 -
I'm not saying its a good idea or anything....
But it would appear that the rear end I just bought has a drain hole someone put in it. Looks like someone drilled and tapped a 3/8" hole (Or something about that size) in the bottom of the case. There is just a bolt screwed in there right now. *Shrugs* I dunno, doesn't look like it leaks at all, I'm not gonna worry about it.
So, if you are confident in your skills, you could trying doing that and saving some money.1997 Cayenne Red Metallic Camaro<br />3.8 V6 M5<br />SLP Cold Air Intake<br />Ceramic Coated Pacesetter Headers <br />Flowmaster American Thunder Catback<br />Full 3.42 & Disc Break Rear End SwapComment
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I bought a diff cover a few years ago from SLP. It was a stock cover modified with a drain hole. I don't see it on their site any more, though.Matt
1998 Mystic Teal Camaro M5
Whisper Lid, Pacesetter Headers, Catco Cat, Dynomax Super Turbo, B&M Shifter, BMR STB, LSD, P&P Intakes, GT2 Cam, Comp OE Lifters, 1.7 Roller Rockers, Pushrods, SSM Heads, DHP PowrTuner.Comment
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The only benifit of taking your cover off though each time is that you can see your gears and how they are wearing or if there are any problems in there that you didn't know about. Good thing to check when doing the full tune up, plus you clean the magnet on the inside of the cover of any debris or shavings from the gears wearing some.
Plus you only change your fluid like 80k miles anyways, so you won't be constantly taking the cover off either. I just did mine this past weekend and it was pretty easy.Comment
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TA makes one...I got mine through FTPPBen<br /><br />1995 White/Black 3.4L<br />As far away from stock as possible<br /><a href=\"http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=288292\" target=\"_blank\">My Site!!!</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.redlinevsix.com\" target=\"_blank\">RedLineV6</a><br />Rebuild and 3.4 T70 Turbo is complete<br />Details to come....Comment
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He brings up many good points. You don't have to change the rear end oil very often. Every 30k is MORE than enough. Its really not that big of a job to take out the handfull of bolts and bust the cover loose. The point about cleaning off the magenet is also a very good idea.Originally posted by 97rs4life:
The only benifit of taking your cover off though each time is that you can see your gears and how they are wearing or if there are any problems in there that you didn't know about. Good thing to check when doing the full tune up, plus you clean the magnet on the inside of the cover of any debris or shavings from the gears wearing some.
Plus you only change your fluid like 80k miles anyways, so you won't be constantly taking the cover off either. I just did mine this past weekend and it was pretty easy.
As for sealing the cover back up, just clean off the surfaces well, and run a bead of RTV around the edge and it will be good to go. No Gasket needed.1997 Cayenne Red Metallic Camaro<br />3.8 V6 M5<br />SLP Cold Air Intake<br />Ceramic Coated Pacesetter Headers <br />Flowmaster American Thunder Catback<br />Full 3.42 & Disc Break Rear End SwapComment
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Ok, I called TA Performance regarding their cool looking rear-end cover on their website. P/N# TA-1809 is exactly what I'm looking for but the price is $159.95 alone + $15 to ship. While I was under the RS, there isnt much space between the cover and rear sway bar that almost blocks the lower bolts which some of you may be aware of. The fancy but functional TA cover seems to bulge out and I'm wondering if I'll have clearance problems if I decide to bite the bullet and purchase that along with newer and steeper gearing, time will tell. Hey Ben ( white95 ) great website on your cars progress. Thorough and the backdrop is sweet! [img]graemlins/rock.gif[/img]
[ April 12, 2005, 12:03 PM: Message edited by: 96RS Alex ]Black \'96 RS Camaro, 3.8 V6 Series II, M5, Stock 200 HP, 204K miles! Stock \'91 Firebird 3.1 V6 automatic w/ overdrive. 266,400 miles on it. \'83 Pontiac Trans Am,305 LG4, Cowl Induction,Borg Warner 5 Speed,T-Tops,Gale Banks Exhaust System:$800 oboComment
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good question, i was wondering that same thing last time i did a diff fluid change.JNComment
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why would you need a different cover? just a waste of $100.its not like your going to change the fluid every 3000 milesComment
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I plan to keep my black Camaro for a long time and it looks great. I saw a lot of toys and mods for this car and adding the cover would be a nice touch for it. I wouldn't be changing the rear fluid at 3000 but every 30,000 unless I change the gearing also. Hard launches whether it be on the street or track necessitate the need to check the fluid more often so in my own personal belief this would be a welcome addition. Yea I got money to burn lol [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]Black \'96 RS Camaro, 3.8 V6 Series II, M5, Stock 200 HP, 204K miles! Stock \'91 Firebird 3.1 V6 automatic w/ overdrive. 266,400 miles on it. \'83 Pontiac Trans Am,305 LG4, Cowl Induction,Borg Warner 5 Speed,T-Tops,Gale Banks Exhaust System:$800 oboComment
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The TA covers are nice. Probably not needed but nice. They make changing fluid a bit easier.... but that is like once every 2 to 3 years.
They are beefier so would help to increase the overall strength of our rears...... but if your making enough power to grenade your rear stock i highly doubt that the TA cover will be enough to save your but.
They are very trick looking though.Comment
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