jggucwa

All,

Below are some pictures of my rear diff cover. I live in NE Florida, and use my Jeep as a daily driver/beach comber/occasional trail eater. I looked under the machine yesterday and discovered this. I am driving an 09 X with about 5500 miles on it. What should I do...should I consider this "Normal" wear and tear associated to my environment, or do I need to go into the dealer and get sh(ty? I talked with Judas today, we both noticing the same general wear. He said I needed to get a diff cover and call it a day. What do y'all think?

It's tough to tell from this picture, but there is metal flaking off the cover. I know that i expose it to a "harsh" environment by taking it on the beach ect...but do y'all think this is normal? Any imput would be greatly appreciated!

hohokom

Not sure what you mean by harsh environments, but I live in Utah with the winters and salted roads, and my 2008 has no paint missing or any rust spots on it at all. Seems excessive to me.

MoridinTX

Howdy,

I just replaced the front and rear differential oil with synthetic. When I took my rear off I noticed a lot of cancer rust starting to flake the paint off. No real worries there other than aesthetics. I bet the factory did not prime the covers or something. Anyway I am not worried about it as I plan on getting some after market covers in the future.

Only thing I would do is cut some of the excess ATV hanging off the differential, it would clean it up a bit.

guybergeron

i have a 2007 more like a 2006 and a half and bought april 2008 so it was a showroom but was outside before i bought it. i did the rust protection and the black stuf they sugested me when i bought and i dont think it was a bad thing at all. just to expencive. i put 4 cans of rust protection like fluid film this winter on everithing. no spot of rust at all except driveshaft and front ... dont remember the name but it was not painted new anyway. i will put a lot of rust proofing this winter to.do rust proofing or buy at least some fluid film. its at canadian tire for me but dont know where in the states. super stuff and smells good to. i put a lot of it on the hinges on the hood doors and tailgate. a lot of it on the rockers and all the frame. i put almost half a can on the bracket that old the windshield. there is a lot of unprotected metal there. it is now floded with rust proofing

Dex1

Mine started to show some rust, so I painted it with high temp engine paint and it hasn't started to show any rust since... I think it's just from the temps the diffs get to and the cheap ass paint the factory uses....

pearl-drum-man

I live in the snow belt (rust belt) region of Ohio. I've always had good luck by wire brushing the underside of my vehicles and then spraying them with a black rust preventative. Does it really stop the rust, no, but I believe it slows the process down a bit. My former 2000 TJ with almost 130K miles on it as a daily driver still looks pretty good underneath, despite the road salt every winter.

4WHLN

I have an 08 and looks the same way. It must be the cheap paint from the factory

eDiveBuddy

Is that salt all over the axle and muffler?

BaltChief

You are experiencing sand salt corrosion. If you drive on the beach allot you have to take care of the underside. Take it to the carwash and wash the underside real well, then rinse it and drive it home....let it dry real good and get some Staun 329 corrosion protection. Spray the underside well and let it dry. This is good stuff and will protect your underside from rust due to sand salt. Do it a couple times a year and your good.

Sand salt creeps and if you spend any amount of time on the beach and don't keep her clean your gonna pay.

Offroadme

sure does look like salt. and that would cause some major rust. you can always take them off clean them up like i did and paint them. i replaced my rear one after gear install and replacing my front one next week.