This is the front axle of my latest Ram. Not sure if it is the FF or not, but there sure was enough metal slurry sitting in the bottom of it.
Actually looks pretty good, other than the oil itself. The flecks you see are dirt trapped between the outer lip of the cover and housing that showered down upon removal of the cover. I cleaned the whole things out before putting the cover back on.
No encroachment of water, thankfully.
This will be the last time I use a gasket with one of these axles on the cover. I saw here something I have seen on other AAM axles that have been around for a while: Corrosion forming on the surface outside of the outer ring of the gasket seal and working its way inward. My Preferred method from now on will be to use the Gear Oil RTV (a dead ringer for Hondabond, which I like) for the cover, with the bead thicker toward the exterior, so it squishes out a little and fills the lip area of the cover, preventing wet dirt from staying in there and aggravating the forming of corrosion. I'll likely use a Mag-Hytec cover at the same time.
Fresh fill of Amsoil Severe Gear 75/90 went in.
Actually looks pretty good, other than the oil itself. The flecks you see are dirt trapped between the outer lip of the cover and housing that showered down upon removal of the cover. I cleaned the whole things out before putting the cover back on.
No encroachment of water, thankfully.
This will be the last time I use a gasket with one of these axles on the cover. I saw here something I have seen on other AAM axles that have been around for a while: Corrosion forming on the surface outside of the outer ring of the gasket seal and working its way inward. My Preferred method from now on will be to use the Gear Oil RTV (a dead ringer for Hondabond, which I like) for the cover, with the bead thicker toward the exterior, so it squishes out a little and fills the lip area of the cover, preventing wet dirt from staying in there and aggravating the forming of corrosion. I'll likely use a Mag-Hytec cover at the same time.
Fresh fill of Amsoil Severe Gear 75/90 went in.
