Cheap Dana 35 Rubber Diff Plug, Where's the best remedy?

I despise the Dana 35 rubber plug, who doesn't

But is tapping the hole for a metal plug going to seal any tighter than the rubber bathtub-ass plug?

It isn't worth the effort to weld a nut to the original diff cover so can anyone recommend a tough, affordable aftermarket diff cover with tapped fill plug?

Get a new plug from the dealer, there probably what ~$2?

Do even the new ones leak? I imagine years of prying the old rubber plug with a screwdriver and the fact that rubber degrades with time and dry rots with ozone, may be why its leaking.

Unless you want the bling factor, I have to admitt, even though I despised over-decorated cars, a bright chrome diff cover does look kinda of cool.

go find one in a junkyard in decent shape with a screw in plug. Mines an 87 and has a screw in plug.

The earlier ones have a pipe plug instead - I know they used them through the RENIX years (1984-1990) and some into the OBD-I years as well (1991-1995.)

It's a standard pipe thread (1/2" NPT, I think) so you can source replacements at the hardware store. I use brass plugs, myself - no rust.

5-90

I've silver soldered a brass threaded coupling into the hole (after sizing it with an antenna cone drill) and done like 5-90 and put a brass plug in there. I packed the cover with wet newspaper to avoid heat flexing. Silver solder works just fine. They also make brass plugs with a lip and a gasket. It takes a little talent and heat control to pile the silver solder up and make a bead (for extra strength). Silver solder (or hard solder alloys) often work just fine in place of welds for many things and flex better than welds.
I've used the same technique to move the fill hole after shimming the springs and raising the pinion angle in various rear ends.
But what the heck, the rubber plug often works just fine.

8.8

This is all very good advice. I never considered soldering or brazing, I suppose after the mother of all degreasings it could work. No weld penetration to worry about, the silver would flow into the gap like butter. No need to worry about cooking the paint, it's already gone.

The OEM rubber plug has shrunk, probably isn't made of silicone. I wanted something tougher, no need for a plug that could hold the waters behind the Grand Coulee Dam, it's just unpressurized oil in there. An effective $2 fix sounds good to me, that would be the least expensive dealer part ever!

A reinforced, rockcrushing diff cover tough enough to seal the breach of cannon would be fun to brag about, better yet with chrome plating. My older Cherokee shines only from it mirrors nowadays! I'll have to keep this on my wish list, along with that aluminum Hesco head!

The junk cover is the best idea in terms of price, and practicality. I could grab one for $10 assuming I have the donor axle identified correctly, do a field check for flatness and intact threads, and have it painted and installed in a day. Hmm.

Ah yes, an 8.8...I'll grandfather a Ford axle into my XJ just for a real differential fill plug? Good grief, I'd rather go Rockwells! Ha!

Well, I understand your need to upgrade, that's what I wanted to do when mine started leaking. Then when I couldn't find a replacement cover with a threaded plug for what I considered a reasonable amount, I went ahead and got a new one from the dealer. I can't remember who made them or how much they were, but I'm thinking around $80 to over $100 cause they all seemed to be bullet proof and not just a replacement cover with a threaded hole. $5 from the dealer and I was good to go. I just check it once a month to see if there's a drip, and go on my merry way.

Some bling and not that cheap but cool with some added neon inside

hmm, the website says those are made of lexan and can take rock abuse.
That would be cool, so you could see your R&P, would have helped Bloose
I'm not sure I would trust that hting smashing against rocks though.

How do you fill it? No plug.

5-90 said:

The earlier ones have a pipe plug instead - I know they used them through the RENIX years (1984-1990) and some into the OBD-I years as well (1991-1995.)

It's a standard pipe thread (1/2" NPT, I think) so you can source replacements at the hardware store. I use brass plugs, myself - no rust.

5-90

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If you swap for an older cover with a threaded fitting, just make sure the fill hole is in the same place. I think the non-clip axles have a lower fill hole - at least it is comparing my 89 MJ to a 93 ZJ.

Timber said:

How do you fill it? No plug.

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Interesting point, be a PIA if you had to rotate the rear every time thats for sure.....
Went to Cleargearz.com, refusing connections, looked a ford web site and they showed a plug, so did a detailed D35

I got tired of the stupid butt plug and replaced it with a dana 44

majic_tech said:

I got tired of the stupid butt plug and replaced it with a dana 44

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Now THERE'S and Idea



Multi-purpose...:shocked:

If you ever do a water crossing with the rubber plug, the sudden cooling of the diff will suck water in past the plug (kind of like the proverbial biker chick with a golfball and garden hose)

carnuck said:

(kind of like the proverbial biker chick with a golfball and garden hose)

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What does proverbial mean again? Sorry to get off-topic.

As in "Confucius say" or "Once upon a time" or "Hey y'all watch this!"

carnuck said:

As in "Confucius say" or "Once upon a time" or "Hey y'all watch this!"

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Thx.