At this point we lined up the covers and had Currie drop the bucket so the teeth would ram into the covers. The Off Road Unlimited aluminum cover didn't like this and opened up a huge hole. The stock Dana cover was also suffering, but the Dynatrac and smiley guy Molten Image covers were holding up fine. The Tera cover really had an advantage here with its rounded face because it would skirt out from under the teeth.
By now we were seeing that the cast-iron and stainless steel covers couldn't care less what we did to them, so we put them in the clamping jaws of the dozer bucket, which did nothing. We smashed them with rocks by hand, which did nothing. Finally Currie dumped an entire bucket of rocks and boulders on them...still nothing. We were soon convinced of our final judgement: The stock steel cover is just enough to get by, but should be upgraded for more protection. The aluminum cover is light and would probably help cool the diff better than any other cover, but its brittleness makes it rank low in our abuse test. The Clear Gearz cover is very strong and very light, great for keeping an eye on fluid level and cleanliness, and semiflexible, usually bouncing back, not to mention supposedly bulletproof. It is not, however, bulldozer proof without a ring gear behind it. The cast-iron Dynatrac cover showed some abuse but hung tough, and the Tera cover barely showed any damage. The real winner had to be that damned Molten Image smiley guy. He mocked our every attempt, and though very heavy, that weight was a definite sign of pure strength. No wonder he's smiling.