I jacked my car up today in order to see exactly how my Spohn LCA brackets fit so I can tell the people I have weld them in. I touched my rear while climbing under the car. It was hot. Not burning the skin hot, but very uncomfortable. I changed my gear oil (the seal had gone bad and was leaking) about two to three months ago with the reccommended weight in Lucas brand. I also put in the posi additive. My rear shouldn't be this warm should it? thanks in advance for any input.

 

When you changed the pinion seal how tight did you make the pinion nut?

 

I didn't do anything to the actual gears, only removed the rear cover, drained the fluid, put the cover back on with new gasket, and filled it with fluid.

 

Rear ends do heat up...

An LSD would typically run a bit warmer than an open if your driving hard, since you add the friction of the clutch packs heating the oil.

And since you can actually hold your hand to it i say its not too bad, pretty much any one i have seen after a little run would dang near melt the skin off your fingers if you tried that!


But if it really bothers you that much their are covers available that have fins on them to help cool the oil...

 

I've driven the car before, and came in and jacked it up and it wasn't as warm as today, so it worried me. Might be because I was power braking (very little, like 5 seconds) in the lot before hand.
I might look into those covers. I like the drain plug, plus, they look cooler to boot. Thanks.

 

I cant remember for sure, but i though the girdle style covers had them too.

Kill about 3 birds with one stone there, except they are a bit hard to find and not too cheap...

 

I saw the ones on ThunderRacing. They are around $150, which isn't too bad. But, I plan to get a Strange 9" next summer, so I don't want to spend any more on the current rear than I have to.

 

Yea, then in your case i would just opt for the cheaper cover. No sense in wasting money on a girdle if your swapping out the rear!

Besides, its more fun to grenade the old one before the new one goes in

 

I might just have to take the cover off my donor car and try to make some fins or something. Free mods.
I don't know if I'll grenade it. Thought about it, but I might sell it. It's a good rear, other than the funky heat issue.

 

Ya, i guess it would probably work to just tack on some thin fins to a stock steel cover.

The free mods are the best mods!

 

Just get some sheets of aluminum and cut them to fit the contours of the cover. And find someone who won't puch holes in the cover... Should work pretty well. This makes me think about installing a PS fluid cooler for the LS1. Those pumps suck stock, and I've had a couple of friends loose them.