I banged the front diff cover on my 05 screw the other day. Must of hit some rocks or something and now it is leaking a little bit. A couple of the bolts look a little hard to get to. Does anyone know if it is possible to get the cover off without dropping anything or does something have to be removed. Thanks

 

I dont know off the top of my head but you might want to see if you can get in touch with OGTerror, he has done work on his diffs, he might know.

 

the front diff cover is not designed very well on these trucks. My front diff started leaking just from being lowered onto a jack when I installed my lift. Noticed the leak and droped the cover and resealed while I had most the front end removed for the lift install. It looks pretty tight, so not sure if you can get at all the bolts without removing any suspension parts. Someone here should be able to provide that input. Either way, good luck

 

yes you can get it off.

getting the bolts out will be a bit tough and getting the cover off requires twisting, turning, and rotating it all possible ways til you find the right spot where you can squeeze it between the cross member and the gears in the diff.

if it matters my truck is a 5.4L screw 4x4 lariat. no suspension mods.

 

Yes you can get the diff off as stated, I found to get the top bolts I used a long extention and went in from more towards the front ( forget exactly where) and just snaked the extention through and got to the top bolt, once you get it off I think theres a rubber peice or a plastic peice you just have to gently pry forward and the cover will pop off..

 

Thanks for the help. I did cheat though. The dealer charged me 157.00 for new cover and oil installed. I really hate 90W gear oil and got the truck back 4 hrs. later and I didn't smeel like oil. Going hunting tomorrow and wont smell like a rear end. Thanks again.