Stainless Oil Pan clearance issues
 

Oil pan rust struck again so I bit the bullet and went with one of the Sno Depot stainless pan.

Finished up the install tonight along with doing a new serpentine, water pump, coolant flush, tensioner, idler, fan, fan clutch, removed bad harmonic damper on driveshaft and had balanced/ straightened, all in hopes of another 116,000 trouble free miles.

The quality of the oil pan is tremendous and the install went as good as can be expected; however, upon letting the motor down there is now only 1/8” clearance between the pan and cross member and about 2” of clearance from the deep corner of the pan and the webbing on the axle pinion.

Is here anyone else out there running this pan? If so can you comment on your clearances? I fear that I will be having interference with engine torquing and axle cycling. I also believe when I hitch up the plow tomorrow and sag the suspension I’ll be in contact with the pinion.

Really hoping to not have to do this job again to solve the issue. After all, it’s why I went with stainless in the first place since the truck will be around for many more years and miles.

So... What vehicle was this installed on? The 07?

Where did you get this pan? I've never heard of it.

Pictures?

Description of how you did the work? Replacement process???

Thanks

Yes it’s on my ‘07.

Drain oil.
Remove intake plumbing from turbo.
Remove unhook down pipe from turbo.
Loosen motor mount thru bolts. Back nuts off to end of threads. Mounts are slotted.
Jack front of truck at frame to allow full axle drop.
Raise motor via lift eye on front pass side of motor enough to take weight off mount bolts.
Smack the bolts with hammer so that equal gap is on each side of mount. This will allow head and nut to clear lip on frame mount.
Raise motor until it hits firewall.
Remove 32 pan bolts.
Slide pan out.
Clean gasket surface.
Apply sealant to T joints/seams on bottom of motor gasket surface. Seam in block/covers.
Tie gasket to pan in a few places with sewing thread.
Slide pan in.
Finger tighten bolts.
Torque bolts to 21ft lbs working from center of pan to the ends evenly.
Lower motor backdown into mounts.
Remove engine hoist and lower truck to ride height.
Tighten mount bolts to 70ft lbs.
Reinstall exhaust and intake.
Fill with oil.

I did have my radiator shroud and ran off already. At minimum I would remove shroud.

Straight forward job, very dirty and time consuming.

Update......
I hitched up the plow to put weight on the front end then jacked up the axle and the webbing on the pinion just barely cleared the corner of the pan. I am guessing there would be no issues on a stock height truck or once I get longer control arms to recented my axle by a little.

I checked the crissmember clearance on the neighbors stock pan and it has plenty of room unlike my new stainless pan. I’ll be contacting the mfg on Monday to see what they have to say. It appears their pan is a little deeper and also squared on the edges unlike the stock pan that tapers and rounds at the edges to match the contours of the crossmember.

Looks like a nice pan, just too thick of mounting flange and depth/width possibly.


What was the cost on that thing?

Holy crap! Barely enough room on that cross member. Yikes!.

That blows.

Awesome pan, built extremely well. I will be suggesting some slight modifications to the mfg today when they call me back to address the fitment issues. I am not looking forward to doing the job again but at this point I don’t see a way around that.

Cost is $715.

I know a few people who have powder coated theirs, which is way better than the factory crapo coatings. When I have to do mine, I'm having it sprayed with linex. It may keep the oil warmer than normal, so ill be installing an oil temp bung in the pan, so I can run a temp sensor in there. IF it gets too warm, I'll install another oil cooler to compensate.

So disappointing how fast these pans rust out, and then as if it wasn't enough of a PITA to install a new one you really need to get it re coated to feel like the job was done right. I really wanted the stainless option to work but will probably get an OEM one and have it re coated locally.

Ferds do the same thing.

It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!


The local PC company I use not only blasts the metal, they apply a zinc primer PC, bake it, then apply top coat, giving a superb protective surface.

I'll still consider Linex ( same company ) as well

Any luck with the new motor mounts resolving the clearance issue?

Never heard of this issue on 2nds along with the short lived water pumps.
Mine's shedding it's coating on my '07.
Next one will get some kind of enhanced coating.