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I've seen a few mentions of rear diff protectors for Subarus lately, and got to wondering - are they useful? My car gets belted through some pretty rough terrain, and has touched the ground more than once, but the diff has only light scratches.

Seems to me a diff protector would add weight and complexity, and reduce ground clearance for little gain. The only possible advantage that springs to mind is a plate might slide over rather than snagging on some obstacles. Thoughts? Has anyone actually broken a diff through external impact damage?

Dane.

I have a JDM rally one here , 6mm ally plate I think , fit hard aginst the diff , direct bolt on for your diff ( has tabs )

owes me $70.00 , can include post for that

I have a full beer stubby in my hand , weight is the same

These help slide over the rocks, sand ect

I did have an diff protector on my other liberty (took it off before it went and now its sitting in the garage) I did notice it was useful as it has heavy scratches on the plate, but is it worth it - my question still un-answered, i just cannot see if you would damaging the cast iron diff holder - i haven't seen anyone smashing one, the only place i've seen it cracked is the main cover of the diff and only leaked when its hot. So the only thing I could think of is if you roll back or reverse into a rock on the diff cover plate - you will damage it but not the cast iron part, but most of the time you would be going forwards anyway. Ive seen a few going in wreckers.
Cheers
AP

AlpineRaven wrote: cast iron

cast iron is inherently easy to break. take a cast iron bath tub i can break it with a hammer. but the problem id be worried about with the rear diff is
a. getting stuck in sand
b. mangling the thing on rocks and knocking it out of alingment.
a symetrical plate will fix this i think

I have one, it sits about 15mm lower than the diff, back when I used to have it on the car with 3" lift kit I found it abit annoying that it smashed on rocks when if the diff was unprotected I would have had no contact at all. My suspension was pretty slack at the time and I had less clearance than I should have though.

It's to protect the diff as it's possible the casing can actually rupture from hitting against rocks due to the nature of their construction (either cast iron or ally) - that being said......I've never heard of this happening on a Suby - ever.

I am not saying thay are a waste of time but.

My ols suby never had one and it was smashed many times on rocks with deep gauges in the cast iron diff but it never cracked or broke. The only problen we had was bending the moustache bar. So that is what I would be changing!

ive done ALOT of subi 4wding over many many different types of terrain. Smashed diffs on rocks and im yet to see one break. They are fairly stream line and i cant see it holding the car back very much if its being dragged thru sand, well not to the extent that a diff guard would have made a difference.

alex

I agree with the diff protector not being much good. Had many opportunities to get one for free but always passed. Never seen a diff housing break and like Alex said... we have smashed em on tons of stuff. It's even my rear jack up point for my rear wheels.

I also agree with the mustache bar being the weakest point by far. I have welded 2 together cos i bent 4.

Dave

if someone smashed an rear diff would've done it real hard on a rock after flying in the air landing on a rock(!)
Cheers
AP

AlpineRaven wrote:if someone smashed an rear diff would've done it real hard on a rock after flying in the air landing on a rock(!)

El_Freddo is yet to have a diff protector, but I believe he would be a prime candidate...

ive done plenty of serious off roading with the stock fozzy, and im used to scraping the bottom, all the time, never had diff problems, even dented the oil sump, thats still hasnt split
few!