Differential skid plates

[Fjordlander]

Hello!
Recently I've found myself on some precarious roads that have made me want to get skid plates for my front and rear diffs.
I have a 76 K10 Scottsdale, the front axel is what I believe to be a dana44 and the rear is a 12 bolt. As far as I know both are original to the truck.
My first question (and it may be a stupid question) will any Dana44 skid plate work for my diff? I see most of them are sold for Jeeps and I'm having a hard time finding one marketed for my truck.
My second question, does my rear axel have a name I can search for? So far I've found replacement covers for a GM 12 bolt diff but not much in the way of skid plates.
I appreciate any advice and product recommendations!

 

[Fjordlander]

I would like skid plates in this style if possible

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[SquareRoot]

I would like skid plates in this style if possible

You must be registered for see images attach

Your attachment no worky

 

[SquareRoot]

Hello!
Recently I've found myself on some precarious roads that have made me want to get skid plates for my front and rear diffs.
I have a 76 K10 Scottsdale, the front axel is what I believe to be a dana44 and the rear is a 12 bolt. As far as I know both are original to the truck.
My first question (and it may be a stupid question) will any Dana44 skid plate work for my diff? I see most of them are sold for Jeeps and I'm having a hard time finding one marketed for my truck.
My second question, does my rear axel have a name I can search for? So far I've found replacement covers for a GM 12 bolt diff but not much in the way of skid plates.
I appreciate any advice and product recommendations!

@mtbadbob Got another one for ya. This ones twice as bad!

 

[bucket]

There used to be aftermarket skid plates available that attached to the underside of the diff. They are difficult to find now and are vintage, so $$$ probably.

A heavy duty diff cover for a D44 will work, as long as it clears the tie rod.

 

[bucket]

The rear is simply known as a GM "truck 12 bolt" axle.

 

[Fjordlander]

Your attachment no worky

Not sure why that didn't work but here it is again! I'm looking for a skid plate that covers the whole bottom of the diff. A lot of what I've seen is more of a cover for the front

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[nvrenuf]

That looks like a Jeep accessory, I haven't seen a diff skid of any kind for our trucks since the late 80's stuff that @bucket mentioned.

 

[Fjordlander]

That looks like a Jeep accessory, I haven't seen a diff skid of any kind for our trucks since the late 80's stuff that @bucket mentioned.

Got it. Thank you! I'm going to see if a local fabricator can make me something since it seems like I won't be able to find them online

 

[Bextreme04]

Got it. Thank you! I'm going to see if a local fabricator can make me something since it seems like I won't be able to find them online

People don't make them because you just don't need them. I can't image how fast you would need to be going to cause any damage to a 12 bolt truck rear pumpkin. If you are on anything crazy enough to worry about that, you should be turning some big tires and be thinking about upgrading to a 14BFF(which also doesn't have any available skid plates I can find). You CAN get dana 44 front skid plates, but again... it's jeep stuff, so mostly just for looks. You are far more likely to cause damage to steering linkages, covers, and shock mounts long before you need to worry about cracking or breaking the pumpkin.

 

[Fjordlander]

People don't make them because you just don't need them. I can't image how fast you would need to be going to cause any damage to a 12 bolt truck rear pumpkin. If you are on anything crazy enough to worry about that, you should be turning some big tires and be thinking about upgrading to a 14BFF(which also doesn't have any available skid plates I can find). You CAN get dana 44 front skid plates, but again... it's jeep stuff, so mostly just for looks. You are far more likely to cause damage to steering linkages, covers, and shock mounts long before you need to worry about cracking or breaking the pumpkin.

That's good to know! I'm definitely not doing any crazy off-road driving. I was just worried about the diffs because they hang so low

 

[Bextreme04]

That's good to know! I'm definitely not doing any crazy off-road driving. I was just worried about the diffs because they hang so low

Unless you are doing something way crazier than this... it's not what you should be concerned about. The best way to get clearance for the axles is with a lift and bigger tires. The biggest worry is actually hitting the pinion or driveshaft, not the pumpkin. You'll notice none of these guys have an axle slider... but they all have at least 1 ton axles and big tires.

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[SquareRoot]

That's good to know! I'm definitely not doing any crazy off-road driving. I was just worried about the diffs because they hang so low

Now if you're talking about diff "COVERS" that's a different issue. Factory is usually stamped steel. Smack a rock or stump on one of those and it will push the cover into the ring gear and ruin your day. There are plenty of aftermarket HD COVERs available in steel and aluminum. ARB, Poison Spider, etc. The world is your oyster.

 

[dvdswan]

Differential skid plates are one of those items that, IMO, are more for show than go. They are more suited for those rock bouncing buggies. For our DD weekend wheeler thing, a diff skid plate would be more of item to help slide over an object if you were to get hung up on. But then you would loose 1/2" to 3/4" of clearance with one. Sort of a catch 22 thing.

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[Bennyt]

On my K5 I added a Con-Fer truss/ skid plate to the D44 after I broke the D60 getting some air too often. The rear 14BFF, I cut the excess below the rear cover and welded up a skid plate from the pinion back so it would slide over rocks and not get hung up or tear the cover off. I've seen a lot of guys tear their cover and lose fluid. There was a few companies that had bolt-on pinion plates to protect the shaft/ joints.