That's a good question. I want to provide premium, drop-in parts that work 100%. Going the DIY route just leaves way too many variables on the table, especially with these parts which need to be carefully fitted to the chassis. It is just not feasible to make these parts without a fixture, unless way too much time and cost was spent making these accurately self-assembling in the unwelded form. One of the major points of the new design is to remove the production bottlenecks of the early variants, so we shouldn't be getting stuck with production on these. The design itself is where the real time is going. I want these parts to fit 100% and be totally dialed before they ever go out our door so they fit and function perfect both when they're brand new, and after you've tanked your 10,000lb truck onto a boulder.
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REFERENCE: 2019+ Power Wagon Armor
- Thread starter el_barto
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Shocktrooper392
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So my purple craniums came in the other day, seem to be very well built and very beefy. Can't wait to get them on.
For those of you who have run rock guards on these trucks either from purple cranium or others, when I take out the lower bolts on both diff covers will I lose any gear oil? Not intimidated by throwing them on, just want to know how good the factory RTV seal is on these axles and want to know if I need to prepare with a drain bucket and some extra gear oil.
I did complete diff covers on my old XJ years ago and those, as expected, required re-gasketing the new covers and filling the diffs with fresh gear oil after install. Also any reason to worry about tightening the new bolts down to spec'd torque (in-lbs / ft-lbs)? Or just turn them in until they're snug? Obviously don't wanna break one off in the axle housing. I know on my XJ I just turned them til they were tight and never had an issue with them.
For those of you who have run rock guards on these trucks either from purple cranium or others, when I take out the lower bolts on both diff covers will I lose any gear oil? Not intimidated by throwing them on, just want to know how good the factory RTV seal is on these axles and want to know if I need to prepare with a drain bucket and some extra gear oil.
I did complete diff covers on my old XJ years ago and those, as expected, required re-gasketing the new covers and filling the diffs with fresh gear oil after install. Also any reason to worry about tightening the new bolts down to spec'd torque (in-lbs / ft-lbs)? Or just turn them in until they're snug? Obviously don't wanna break one off in the axle housing. I know on my XJ I just turned them til they were tight and never had an issue with them.
Poolmonkey
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I did not lose any oil with the half-cover craniums…snugged the new bolts down snug, no TQ wrench and all good.
silverheep
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I put the Carli guard on my front diff (removed the 6 lower bolts) and lost about 2 tablespoons of oil as gauged by the oil spot on my driveway…doh. It looked like a re-usable gasket similar to my wife’s JL Wrangler, so the torque spec would be important in maintaining the reusable part of the gasket.
Docwagon1776
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No oil loss when I did my Carli front. Haven't done the rear axle yet. I did follow torque specs when buttoning it back up.
Shocktrooper392
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Finally got time to install my Purple Craniums this past Sunday. Front one went on in 10 minutes, super easy install. However the rear one I could not for the life of me get to line up with the bolt holes.
I contacted Purple Cranium before I ordered to confirm I had the right part #'s picked out and they did confirm I was ordering the right ones for a 9.25" AAM front & 11.5" AAM rear.
Has anyone else seen or experienced this? Did Ram make some weird change to the 11.5" AAM rear diff cover for 2023? I have already reached out to Purple Cranium about it, however their contact system on their site doesn't allow you to attach images.
I contacted Purple Cranium before I ordered to confirm I had the right part #'s picked out and they did confirm I was ordering the right ones for a 9.25" AAM front & 11.5" AAM rear.
Has anyone else seen or experienced this? Did Ram make some weird change to the 11.5" AAM rear diff cover for 2023? I have already reached out to Purple Cranium about it, however their contact system on their site doesn't allow you to attach images.
Hibiki54
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You probably got the wrong one. Or the part was made wrong.
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Poolmonkey
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UglyViking
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From everything I read, purple cranium makes some good stuff, so that could be a mistake or an incorrect part number. Hopefully it's an easy fix from them.
For guys looking at other options, and sorry if this was already shared, but I'm looking at picking up the RuffStuff diff covers, Front & Rear. Everything I hear from the DTX guys say these are some serious covers.
For guys looking at other options, and sorry if this was already shared, but I'm looking at picking up the RuffStuff diff covers, Front & Rear. Everything I hear from the DTX guys say these are some serious covers.
Hibiki54
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Let us know if the rear works out. I'm interested in getting one. You can be the guinea pig.
UglyViking
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Honestly, I don't see why it would be an issue, especially in the rear. I'm more worried about front clearance, but we will see. Trying to figure out if there is a black friday sale in the works, if not I'll order them asap.
I was watching trail recon on you tube and he bent the rear dif cover on his MB motorhome without knowing it. Lost all his fluid and MB wanted over 10K to fix it. I ordered my PC rear dif cover right away. MIne fit perfectly on my 20022 but I think I read someone else had a problem on a 23 model PW and that the rear axle might have been changed on the 23 models.
Shocktrooper392
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Okay, so update on my Purple Cranium rear axle rock guard debacle. I've sent images to PC and they're telling me I have a 12" AAM rear axle... And that I would be the first PW they've seen with a 12" rear.
Maybe Ram changed them to 12" rears on 2023+'s? Would give credence to what @Soapy is saying above.
PC is asking me to send the rock guard back and they will send me out a replacement for an AAM 12" rear.
I tried googling images of 12" Ram AAM rear's to compare, but didn't come up with much. Can anyone verify that this is a 12" ? I already tried looking all over for a tag or stamp on the rear axle for the size but all I could find was just the AAM stamp on the diff cover.
Maybe Ram changed them to 12" rears on 2023+'s? Would give credence to what @Soapy is saying above.
PC is asking me to send the rock guard back and they will send me out a replacement for an AAM 12" rear.
I tried googling images of 12" Ram AAM rear's to compare, but didn't come up with much. Can anyone verify that this is a 12" ? I already tried looking all over for a tag or stamp on the rear axle for the size but all I could find was just the AAM stamp on the diff cover.
UglyViking
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I have absolutely no clue what the 12" AAM looks like on the 19+ trucks, but I'd be pretty surprised if that is the case. The Pw and Rebel share a rear axle and I'd assume in part the reason is because of the rear locker being used. The 12" rear is only available on the 3500 "max tow" (which I believe is the HO 3500s).
Here is the data sheet from Ram (link), look at page 4 and you'll see the axles being used.
Poolmonkey
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Seeing some things in the casting that are slightly different than my 19, covers look a lot alike…
I found the on line sales brochure for the 2023 Ram 2500/3500. It shows the only truck that can get the 12 inch rear end with a 4.10 axle ratio is the high output Cummins. It also said it is a option with sales code DF2 ( aisin transmission) and sales code WIA which I could not find listed anywhere. If you do have the 12 inch with a 4.10 you have a stronger rear axle than most.
Hibiki54
Active Member
You will know if you have a 12" is if you do a burn out and only have a 1-tire fryer. Only the 11.5" gets the LSD in the Power Wagon and 3500 models from factory.
I think there’s some confusion here on the rear ends. The 19+ non-PW trucks all get the 12” axle, but only the HO Cummins actually has 12” gears. The rest are just using the bigger housing.
PWs with the locker (‘19-22 at least) have used the actual 11.5” housing. Sounds like this may have changed for ‘23.
Here’s a 2020 PW rear axle, which looks different than @Shocktrooper392’s axle:
The axle on my 2023 Rebel also looks like @Shocktrooper392’s axle, not like the previous PW axle.
PWs with the locker (‘19-22 at least) have used the actual 11.5” housing. Sounds like this may have changed for ‘23.
Here’s a 2020 PW rear axle, which looks different than @Shocktrooper392’s axle:
The axle on my 2023 Rebel also looks like @Shocktrooper392’s axle, not like the previous PW axle.
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