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Locker ignorance

1985xjlaredo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Kansas City
OK I want ot put a locker in the back of my XJ (1985 Laredo 2.8L Auto) I just dont know which one I want. I want something cheap and automatic, oh and I have to be able to install it. I dont know if I have a c-clip rear or not. Anyways give me some ideas and some links. I dont even know of a good place to buy one. Thanks
Edit: a friend told me to go with a true trac?
 
A tru trac is a limited slip locker.

You are going to have to determine if you want a full locker or just a limited slip, it will depend on how much your drive on the street but I would just go with an full locker.

The cheapest and easiest way to go will be the aussie or lockrite lockers, these are lunchbox lockers and are easy to install and only cost a few hundred dollars.

You could go full detriot but this cost more and requires you to setup the gears again, which is not a simple task.

-Alex
 
Ba-Riedo said:
A tru trac is a limited slip locker.

You are going to have to determine if you want a full locker or just a limited slip, it will depend on how much your drive on the street but I would just go with an full locker.

The cheapest and easiest way to go will be the aussie or lockrite lockers, these are lunchbox lockers and are easy to install and only cost a few hundred dollars.

You could go full detriot but this cost more and requires you to setup the gears again, which is not a simple task.

-Alex

x2 go with a lockright or Aussie
you most likely have a non C-clip D35 if you have an 85. I don't remember the exact year but the C-clip/non C-clip break was somewhere arounf 89/90 IIRC also make sure you don't hace a factory LSD then you're screwed
 
1985xjlaredo said:
I dont know if I have a c-clip rear or not.

On my 86 I had a non c-clip d35. Not sure if all were like that at that time or not. You should be able to look at the center section and it should have raised lettering that reads 35 or 35c.

Other than that I'm not much help on a locker setup.
 
Time for you to crawl around and get dirty my friend.
Go here: http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/gear1.html and take a good look at the axle pics.
Get under you jeep and see which one you have. You probably have the Dans 35. There should be a metal tag bolted under 2 bolts on the cover.(It might be missing)
If it is there, giving that series of number to your local jeep parts dept. will tell you exactly what is inside. If the tag's gone, or you feel frisky, pull the dif. cover and look inside. Look where the end of the axle shows inside the side gears. if there is a half moon shaped clip on a groove on the end of the axle, it's a C-clip design. If there are springs between the side gears, it's a factory limited slip.
The "drop-in" or "Lunch box" lockers install in place of the spider gears and work well with tires up to around 30-31"
A "Full case" locker like the detroit locker can be installed at home if you know what the backlash is supposed to feel like, or if you can get someone who does it a lot to help. The gears don't need to be "set up", as the pinion never comes out. You just need to shim the carrier bearings for the correct lash and pre-load.
The "full case" or "drop-in" lockers work best off road.

I notice you're in Kansas. IF this is your daily driver and you spend a lot of time on pavement, your friend is right. The Detroit Truetrac is a great limited slip and won't cause the problems you get in snow/ice on pavement with a locker. It is a bit pricy, they cost almost as much as a full case locker.

To get an idea what is available try these companies:
Quadratec
4wheel parts wholesale
Currie
Richmond gear

After you get an idea what you want, talk to your friends and call around parts stores in your local area. A local shop may be able to get better pricing then what you find on the web.
 
tbburg said:
The "drop-in" or "Lunch box" lockers install in place of the spider gears and work well with tires up to around 30-31"

I completely agree with everything else you said, I was just curious why you limit the lunch box lockers to 31s? The documentation that came with my Aussie specifically states that there is no tire size limit.

To the OP, I would urge you to at least consider locking the front rather than the rear first. I'm running an Aussie locker in the front axle and the factory open diff in the rear, and not only is the off-road performance amazing, but in 2WD on the street you would never know it's there except for the quiet clicking around corners. Just something to consider.
 
Tire size with drop-in lockers:
The lunch box lockers are not the limiting factor. These components are probably as strong as anything in any full case locker. I put 40,000 miles on a lock rite(CJ-5, AMC-20, 3.55s with 31"s), and I like them. I've seen rigs with 35"s run them successfully. However:
The stock, open carrier case , and single cross shaft become the weak links. Look at a detroit locker. They have an "X" or cross instead of a single pin running through them, and a full, closed case held together by a handful of grade 8 bolts. Then only "drop-in" detroit locker is for the Chevy 14-bolt carrier, which has a 2 peice carrier bolted together from the factory with cross instead of a single pin(4-gear spider) . Most of the failures of the drop in lockers(if set up properly to begin with) are when the dif center section case breaks. Because of this, I only recomend the drop-ins for up to 31" tires.

I'm guessing that if you sent a Pic. of a broken carrier to the Aussie people, they would tell you that the locker didn't fail, and they'd be right.
 
Both Aussie and Lockrite install manuals tell you to purchase a hardened cross shaft for the lockers, but how many people actually do this? Alot of people have had sucess with running the stock cross shaft's in their lunchbox lockers, but I don't doubt that this is a weak point.

-Alex
 
Why am I screwed if I have a factory LSD? What about the OX Locker?
 
Last edited:
a factory lsd becomes an open diff after severe offroad duty and some spinning
 
1985xjlaredo said:
Why am I screwed if I have a factory LSD? What about the OX Locker?

Id say skip getting an LSD, id go for a simple lunchbox locker. If your getting a lockrite/aussie you mine as well grab the aussie its a bit quieter, these are like $225 IIRC great way to go. The 1 good thing about dana35s is they make these lockers for that axle, i have a 29spl 8.25 and they havent made one for it. Im hoping that aussie eventually designs one, or else imma be running a powertrax in my rear.
 
1985xjlaredo said:
Why am I screwed if I have a factory LSD? What about the OX Locker?


You can't use a lunchbox locker if you have a factory LSD because the carrier is different, you would have to get a new carrier which would require the gears to be redone. I am also pretty sure the OX is a full carrier replacement so would also require gears to be redone.
 
WaXJ_Skier said:
You can't use a lunchbox locker if you have a factory LSD because the carrier is different, you would have to get a new carrier which would require the gears to be redone. I am also pretty sure the OX is a full carrier replacement so would also require gears to be redone.

in the 29spl/8.25 do i need a new carrier to put in a powertrax? i have 3.07 manual trans gears, also wat about in my front dana 30HP?
 
Ba-Riedo said:
The lunchbox locker shouldnt limit the tire size, but the dana 35 should. I would be scared to run it with 31's locked.

-Alex

Yea my friends blowin his 35 on a 94 ZJ with 30" all terrains no locker and a 4.0L engine....
 
a locker you might want to go to QUADRATEC, OR RUSTYS OFF ROAD there are allot of good ones but i have found that air lockers tend to get cracked hoses when using them in the snow. I'm going with superiors when i put them in
 
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