Review on Sterling F 250 F 350 Excursion Polished Aluminum Differential by Vladimir Castillo

Very nice thick/heavy cast. I think I made the right choice after seeing so many designs at this price point. I will share some information to save so many hours of research on oils, torque settings etc. I have a 1996 Powerstroke F-350 pickup and this cap fits all 10.25" sterling 12-bolt bolts found on 250 and 350 2nd and 9th generation and 2nd generation RWD trucks/vans 10th Gen 10.50 inch Superduty. The serial number plate hanging from the bolt can be deciphered to determine your specs: gear ratio, factory, year, limited slip, etc. The number on the bottom left row mine was 3L55, meaning a 3:55 limited slip gear ratio. Therefore, when buying hypoid oil, I made sure to take the friction modifier XL-3. There seem to be different viscosities that can be used and I think some of that is dictated by your climate. Various sites offer 75w-90, 80w-90, 75w-140. I used Valvoline 75w-140 to cover the full temperature range from -50 to 280 degrees. F., and it already had a Friction Modifier. The capacity is 3.25-3.50 liters. I've read that the OEM doesn't have a spacer, but people can add one. A bead of RTV sealant without a gasket works great when done right. I settled on a blue Fel-Pro pad from NAPA for just over $6, which is also available from Revain (Fel-Pro RDS 55394) for $10. It was recommended to only seal the gasket at the cover, so I used Permatex 2 non-hardening sealant. On the other side I applied a light coat of multi-purpose grease to get a good seal at the axle housing. After searching many sealant related websites, it turned out that almost any RTV or similar product can be used, although there are some specially sold ones, e.g. B. a green RTV that specifically says "for the differential cover". or a black RTV designed for "oil contact". " and there is grey, etc. The important thing is to follow the instructions for each method, such as the set time before assembly and the torque instructions. So on final assembly, it turned out that some holes are not quite matched and I found that 2 screws was enough to get the screws re-threaded even with all the screws finger tight.I couldn't manipulate the cap so that all 12 screws could be screwed in. So I used a small rasp that I keep in my grinder, but I had to put them in a low profile angle drill (because of an obstruction in the spare wheel path) to allow the bolts to line up so they could be easily threaded in. Finally, I want to talk about those Bolt Torque Settings This set comes with 5/16-18 hex bolts and I have a 6mm hex key sel used to mount it Seems like there are a lot of conflicting torque settings, so pony I wonder why the previous author was unhappy when he mentioned the bolts breaking and the need to drill them out. Initially I wanted to increase the torque to the recommended 29-39 ft-lbs. I only owned a 1/2" drive torque wrench, but I highly recommend using the recommended 3/8" drive to tighten these small screws more accurately. Since I was slowly rotating everything in a star pattern, I felt very uncomfortable approaching 20lb-ft, so I went for it. I went back online and found other websites selling brand name diff caps and found Mag-Hytec @ 12-16 ft lbs (with o-ring), ATS Diesel has 22 ft lbs with felt seal and stainless steel bolts. The screws included in this kit are not stainless steel, so use caution. I also suspect they won't be rust resistant any time soon, so I plan on replacing them as soon as they do. Pay particular attention to the differences between the quoted "pound" and "foot-pound" values. /www.dieselhub.com/maintenance/sterling-axle-fluid.htmlhttp://www.atsdiesel.com/additionalinfo/4029003086/3068-402-900-INST%20Ford%2010.5%20Diff%20Cover%20v1.0.pdf