LockRight not working properly

Well I installed my Lockright (8.25, 27 spline, 93 XJ) a few weeks ago. It worked flawlessly and was good and quiet until a few days ago. Now it doesn't ratchet like it should on my drivers side. Instead it just locks and unlocks a few times really harshly when I'm going around left hand corners. It only does that on lefts, so I'm assuming the passenger side of the locker is working fine. I'm looking for suggestions on how to start troubleshooting this or even better; how to fix it. It's rather annoying to be turning into my driveway and have it locking loudly halfway through the turn.

Oh, and it does it wether I'm on the gas and when I'm off. Just louder when I'm on it obviously.

Thanks in advance...

crack it open, check the springs and pins. i have heard stories about the pins shearing. but more likely the springs are broken i would say

-Tim

edit: did you use the shims aka "thrust washers"

I'll pop it open and check the springs then... Do I just contact powertrax to get new springs or is there a more commonly available solution?

I did use the thrust washers... why?

Welcome to lock rights. I wouldnt be suprised if you find nothing wrong at all. Some of them just pop and bang and don't lock and unlock very well.They say due to warped housings. I think thats why they invented the No-slip. One thing that helps lockrights is to fill the diff with about half Lucas oil stabilizer. It's super thick and queits them down a little. if you jack it up and get a helper you can hold the wheels and see if each side is locking and un-locking.If you pop it open for inspection refill using half Lucas and half synthetic gear lube. Buy it by the gallon at truck stops. Somtimes they won't unlock if your foot is even a little on the gas. Learn to power up befor the turn and coast while turning. Also when on the road learn to just let off the gas for a second every now and then to let it ratchet. If your on the gas they wont unlock. Differnt people have different experiance with them.I used them for years and would use them again but now I have money to buy a little better locker. Maybe you can find sombody that has used Lock-Rights and see if they think yours is really bad. I have heard they break in but in my experiance it's really just the driver getting used to them. Somedays they click smooth somtimes they pop and bang which is just the nature of the beast. They do hold up well and all the poping and banging dosen't seem to hurt anything but it makes your spine crawl. Hope my experiance helps and you don't really have a problem.

ert01 said:

I'll pop it open and check the springs then... Do I just contact powertrax to get new springs or is there a more commonly available solution?

I did use the thrust washers... why?

Click to expand...

i think you can get a kit that has the rebuild parts. the thrust washers are supposedly very important, but easy to overlook

-Tim

A Powertrax recommendation is to use 85-140 gear oil instead of the standard 75-90. That seemed to quiet mine down when I was ruinning one in the rear.

Otherwise, check the pins and springs as mentioned above.

When I pop the cover and take a look I'll throw in some 85-140 oil and some Lucas stabilizer and see if it helps. I know the lockrights aren't exactly the quietest thing out there and it doesn' bother me that it's loud, but it just seems not normal to have one side lock and unlock harshly while the other side is as smooth as butter. The entire unit was REALLY quiet when it was first installed... I had to unroll the windows, turn off the radio and do a uturn on dry pavement before I heard any ratcheting. It was like that for quite a while until it started getting loud on the one side.

It still works fine. Actually it works fantastic and I love it, but I don't want to wreck anything in case it isn't functioning normally.

I'll take a look around for the rebuild kit. Probably safe to have anyways even if nothing is wrong.

As far as where to buy spring kits, my girlfriend bought them for her 27 spline 8.25" lockright through summit racing:
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...=PWT-1025350KAP&N=700+400018+115&autoview=sku
The price isn't bad, but their handling fee doubles the total... Maybe there are better options, but at least there's one.

It would be nice to have a rebuild kit on hand befor you tare into it. I have heard of the cross shaft breaking because of lockrights? May want to look at that close when you pull it out and carry your old one as a trail spare.

I just bought a kit from Summit. Might take a while to get to me up here in Edmonton, but I'm not in a big hurry. Maybe I'll just add some Lucas in the meantime and see if it helps.

I got that rebuild kit in the mail yesterday. I am NOT EVER GOING TO BUY ANYTHING FROM SUMMIT AGAIN!

The springs and pins came in a tiny bag about 2" square. Very small bag. However, they put it inside a large box 12" x 18" x 2" and filled the box with their marketing material (ie a gay hat, 3 catalogues, flyers etc...) and they charged me $20US shipping for it. If they had put the little bag in a buuble wrap envelope it would have only been $5. Instead they make me pay for shipping on their crap. I'm not buying from them again and I suggest others do the same.

Anyways, back on topic, I plan to pop the cover on Sunday now that I have the rebuild kit and we'll see how things go from there. I was looking into the Lucas Stabilizer and I saw on Bobistheoilguy.com some tests using Lucas... http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

Now I'm not so sure I want that in there... Maybe just go with a thick synthetic?