A hard-working tow rig puts steady heat into the rear axle, and a bigger oil reservoir by itself is not the whole answer. The Banks Ram-Air Differential Cover Kit is built around forced-air cooling, using Ram-Air scoops and finned die-cast aluminum to move heat out of the lubricant instead of just carrying more of it. Inside, the cover is designed to control oil movement so lubricant gets where it needs to go, including out toward the axle ends. That matters when a truck regularly tows heavy and lives under load. Just as important, the service features are there for the guy doing the work: a magnetic drain plug, magnetic fill plug, sight glass, and O-ring seal make fluid changes cleaner, faster, and easier to verify without the usual mess or guesswork.
The video centers on a 2018 Ram 3500 Laramie equipped with 4.10 gears, 22.5-inch wheels, and an Aisin transmission. The owner uses the truck for heavy towing, reportedly pulling a constant 30,000 pounds and occasionally 40,000 pounds, and is approaching the 100,000-mile mark without check-engine-light issues. During this visit, the transmission had already been serviced, and before lowering the truck, the shop also performed a rear differential fluid change because the customer had about 30,000 miles on the current differential service interval under severe towing use.
The truck is fitted with a Banks rear differential cover, which the presenter repeatedly highlights as an engineered cooling and service upgrade rather than a simple high-capacity cover. He references Banks' testing and design work, including comparisons against factory and aftermarket covers, and notes a claimed pressure-relief improvement at the back of the filter of about 1 PSI from another Banks component on the truck. In the context of the differential cover itself, the emphasis is on Banks engineering rather than just adding fluid volume to reduce temperature.
When the differential was drained, the Banks drain plug and magnet were inspected first. The magnet showed very little debris, which the presenter took as a strong sign of healthy wear after roughly 30,000 miles of hard towing service. The drained lubricant also appeared to be in good condition. He described it as looking only slightly broken down, but still very good overall, especially considering that the truck spends most of its life with a trailer attached. The fluid in use was AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-90.
A major focus of the recap is the cooling strategy built into the Banks cover. The presenter describes external scoops that channel air upward into the fins, with the implication that the airflow path is designed to improve heat rejection rather than relying solely on extra oil capacity. He also mentions internal fin features intended to splash oil outward toward the axle ends, helping cool the outer bearings. That distinction matters because the cover is presented as a functional thermal-management design: it is not simply a larger reservoir, but a cover shaped to move both air and oil in useful ways.
The video also touches on durability and ease of maintenance. The presenter references Banks material showing the cover tested against factory and aftermarket designs, including a clear cover used to observe oil behavior. He also repeats a Banks claim that if one of the mounting ears were broken off, the cover would be replaced free of charge. During reassembly, he points out that the cover uses an O-ring seal, which simplifies installation compared with sealing methods that are messier or more time-consuming for a mechanic. The hardware is tightened snugly, with the reminder that there is no benefit to overtightening and risking damage to the cover.
Once the cover was back in place, attention shifted to the fill provisions. The cover includes both a fill plug and a sight glass, and the fill plug also appeared to have a magnet, which likewise showed no notable debris. The sight glass is presented as an important practical feature because it gives a direct visual indication of the correct fluid level. The presenter contrasts this with some aftermarket covers that lack a sight glass and warns that people often assume the correct method is to fill a differential until fluid runs out of the opening. On some factory covers, however, the proper level is indicated by a line that sits below the point where fluid would begin to spill out, meaning that filling until overflow can result in overfilling.
The refill was done with AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-90 packaged in flexible bags rather than rigid bottles. That packaging became a notable part of the demonstration because it made the refill process cleaner and easier. Instead of wrestling with a hard container, covering the opening by hand, or making a mess while trying to direct the fluid into the housing, the bag could be squeezed smoothly into place. The presenter remarks that the setup saves time, reduces mess, and likely allows more complete evacuation of the product from the package. For a service job performed under a truck in windy conditions, that convenience stood out immediately.
As the differential was filled, the fluid level eventually became visible in the sight glass, confirming that the housing had reached the intended level. That visual confirmation is treated as the proper endpoint for the service. The presenter stresses that this is preferable to guessing or relying on overflow alone, especially on housings where the correct level is not the same as the bottom of the fill opening. In practical terms, the combination of the Banks cover and the AMSOIL bagged lubricant made the job notably clean and straightforward, with no sealant mess and no uncertainty about final fluid level.
The recap closes with a favorable impression of the overall setup on this Ram 3500. The truck has accumulated demanding towing mileage without apparent drivetrain trouble, and the rear differential inspection showed minimal metal on the magnets and fluid that still looked healthy. The presenter comes away impressed by the Banks cover's engineering, particularly its airflow management, oil-splash features for bearing cooling, O-ring sealing, magnetic plugs, and sight glass. Combined with the ease of refilling using AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-90 in bags, the differential service is presented as a clean, efficient procedure on a heavily worked truck.