I banged my rear diff on the trail last saturday resulting in a steady leak. When I went to drain the diff so that I could reseal the diff cover I noticed that the drain plug had been damaged to the point that I could not fit the breaker bar in the 1/4 hole. I have taken it into a brake masters (I assume they can pound an extention in with a hammer i just could not get the leverage needed without it on the lift). They are trying to tell me in order to get the cover off that they will need to remove the axels at a cost of $300....Am I getting taken to the cleaners? If this is true should i just change out the axels to the heavy duty since they are removing them anyway?

 

Well Rovers dont have a diff cover, the whole diff needs to come out if you want to reseal it, and yes you will need to remove the axles to remove the diff.
On a domestic truck you remove the inspection cover with 12 bolts, remove the gears if need be, and then put everything back together.
Here is what you diff looks like out of the truck.

http://www.roverlandparts.com/1998-1...oltflange.aspx

 

Rovers use a third member in the axles similar to Toyota. What you damaged was actually part of the axle housing, not a cover. To repair the housing you'll need to completely disassemble the axle.

 

actually, there are millions of domestic trucks with 3rd members. The ford 9" rear end uses a third member. Also, not all domestic rear ends have 12 bolts. GM makes a 10 bolt, 12 bolt, and 14 bolt...guess which one I have in my rockcrawler