In July of 2022, 3 months prior to taking delivery of my Bronco Raptor, I ordered a OEM rear aluminum differential cover from Ford anticipating I would finish the rough casting and have powder coated similar to what I did with my SuperDuty OEM rear diff cover. It didn't arrive before my Raptor, actually 15 months after I took delivery, 18 months waiting in total.
Pic below of my diff cover as delivered except for painting the "R" in Code Orange.
I used my Dremel tool with a metal cutting wheel to remove the casting risers and other small imperfections. Followed by a file to straighten the rough cuts from the Dremel, then sanded by hand with Emery cloth.
My plan was to have it powder coated in "Super Chrome" with a clear coat which actually looks like polished aluminum as on my SuperDuty as seen in the photo below.
At the last moment I decided to have it done in "Polished Aluminum" rather than Super Chrome. The "R" is done in Prismatic Powders Ford Code Orange PSS-11333. The result isn't what I was expecting, I was hoping for a brighter polished look. I considered paying again to have it redone in Super Chrome but the guys did such a good job I decided to install this cover for this year and next winter I'll do the same process to the now removed original cover and have it finished in Super Chrome powder coat.
The bolts are Marine grade A4-70 (316) stainless steel, ordered from Accu-Components.com. The wiring holders are 1/2" Ancor Marine Stainless Steel cushioned clamps that I enlarged the mounting hole using my dremel with small grinding wheel. I wanted the electical wiring to go around on the outside for maximum exposure of the diff cover.
Reusable gasket.
Mounting bolts torque value is 20NM +25 degrees.
In case your curious to what’s under there:
Added May20, 2024.
As mentioned above, it's a reusable gasket.
Mounting bolts torque value is 20NM +25 degrees.
And exactly 2 quarts of this synthetic gear lube shown below.
Pic below of my diff cover as delivered except for painting the "R" in Code Orange.
I used my Dremel tool with a metal cutting wheel to remove the casting risers and other small imperfections. Followed by a file to straighten the rough cuts from the Dremel, then sanded by hand with Emery cloth.
My plan was to have it powder coated in "Super Chrome" with a clear coat which actually looks like polished aluminum as on my SuperDuty as seen in the photo below.
At the last moment I decided to have it done in "Polished Aluminum" rather than Super Chrome. The "R" is done in Prismatic Powders Ford Code Orange PSS-11333. The result isn't what I was expecting, I was hoping for a brighter polished look. I considered paying again to have it redone in Super Chrome but the guys did such a good job I decided to install this cover for this year and next winter I'll do the same process to the now removed original cover and have it finished in Super Chrome powder coat.
The bolts are Marine grade A4-70 (316) stainless steel, ordered from Accu-Components.com. The wiring holders are 1/2" Ancor Marine Stainless Steel cushioned clamps that I enlarged the mounting hole using my dremel with small grinding wheel. I wanted the electical wiring to go around on the outside for maximum exposure of the diff cover.
Reusable gasket.
Mounting bolts torque value is 20NM +25 degrees.
In case your curious to what’s under there:
Added May20, 2024.
As mentioned above, it's a reusable gasket.
Mounting bolts torque value is 20NM +25 degrees.
And exactly 2 quarts of this synthetic gear lube shown below.
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