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Will having F/R lockers be easier or harder on my axles?

MaxxXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bakersfield CA
Ok, I have an 89 cherokee, 4" long travel, I was on 33x10.50's but I got a free set of 35" tires. I am running a lock right in the rear of my D44 right now, and I was wondering what would extend the life of my front shafts. Installing the spartan locker I just got for my front before I went 35's or keep it open in the front? I did the solid shaft conversion and I'm very "easy" on my rig, in the slow and steady sense not Wide open throttle and hope for the best kinda guy.
Thanks
 
I would leave it open. I know you say you are a light foot, but there are always those times ;)

If you install a locker with large tires, the shafts, not the u-joints go (the end result looks the same).
If you upgrade the shafts, the stress moves on to the next weak link.
 
Pictures wouldn't upload to photobucket earlier, who knew you could still tuck 14.50's lol
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I've been running a front locker on my 89 D30 with stock axles for a few years now.ONCE you learn you don't need to keep your foot to the floor you'll have no problems.I went out one time and i was done with a heavy foot.I tried to see how SLOW i could go when i first tried the lockers out
 
Not wanting to be a ass, but tell me you picked up that trash.

Sorry, but i try to pick up as much as i can every time i go out by my house now.I got mostly cleaned up now.
 
Not wanting to be a ass, but tell me you picked up that trash.

Sorry, but i try to pick up as much as i can every time i go out by my house now.I got mostly cleaned up now.

That's actually a field full of trash people dump dirt piles trash tires rocks etc it would take me a week to clean up and a trailer to haul it all off with, it's pretty much an undeveloped housing lot
 
Ok, I have an 89 cherokee, 4" long travel, I was on 33x10.50's but I got a free set of 35" tires. I am running a lock right in the rear of my D44 right now, and I was wondering what would extend the life of my front shafts. Installing the spartan locker I just got for my front before I went 35's or keep it open in the front? I did the solid shaft conversion and I'm very "easy" on my rig, in the slow and steady sense not Wide open throttle and hope for the best kinda guy.
Thanks

if they are stock shafts who really cares....I have a spartan and the only probems it caused me is when i rebuilt the shafts with greasable u-joints. Wont ever do that again. I keep about (3) sets of front shafts, but usually dont have probs using the non-serviceable u-joints....I wheel harder than slow and steady regularly on 35s....
 
While those tires don't exactly scream "reliability" on a dana30, lockers might be a wise investment.

1: You will love them
2: You will be able to crawl obstacles with ease and control that you once needed copious "go pedal" to even have a chance on.
3: A Full case lockers will help minimize gear deflection, resulting in less chances of ring and pinion carnage. (full case lockers, not lunchbox lockers)
 
A locked 30 on 35s will put more stress on the front frame rails (frame plating), track bar bracing(welding it to frame plating and using cross brace) , steering box area (plating inner and outer), steering (ZJ, currie, Ruffstuff, etc) , axle housing (ex truss, sleeves, knuckle gussets).

I wouldn't stress about it too much, as long as you carry spare front shafts and avoid using 260x shafts. I , and many others, have ran locked 30s on 35s for a long time before upgrading with no breakage. I also carried a unit bearing and a set of ball joints, a pitman arm, and a tie rod. if you have that in the back, you are set for most reasonable breakage .
 
definitely lock the front now that you have those heavy tires on there. the locker will add stress to the equation, but not as much as the uncontrolled wheel spin of being open.
start where your budget will let you, but work your way up to a selectable in the front. until then, be careful with the throttle with the wheel turned.
 
Lock the front and upgrade shafts? Altho, at that point R&P is getting close to being the weak link.
 
Locked 30 on 14.5" wide Boggers, that's a disaster waiting to happen.....trade them to some fool with a Jacked up chevy and get a 33 and put alloys in it. We have a lot of no traction situations here where you need to use a lot of throttle and when boggers grab, they wreck shit. Some folks never brake anything on boggers.....others grenade stuff. I do love my Locker and 33x10.5 KM2's though! :D
 
I wheeled open for several years. Broke many, many u-joints/shafts on the d30. Did not break a single one after I locked it.

Every time I broke, the root cause was wheel spin. A little skinny pedal to get over an obstacle, a tire would lift off the ground, hyper-spin and then the sudden stop when it hit the ground again would snap the joint.
 
It's funny that you say that FlexdXJ, he has been wheeling those same tires for a while before he just upgraded to these.
 
It's funny that you say that FlexdXJ, he has been wheeling those same tires for a while before he just upgraded to these.

I wouldn't necessarily say it was an upgrade unless he runs a lot of mud or sand dunes. Don't get me wrong, a bogger is a good tire but they blow ass on the street. Plus i hear people complain you can't turn worth a shit with them in the front. Not sure how true that is. I'm used to a lunchbox locker in the front so i probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Don't have to listen to me but that's my take on boggers on a D30.
 
Every time I broke, the root cause was wheel spin. A little skinny pedal to get over an obstacle, a tire would lift off the ground, hyper-spin and then the sudden stop when it hit the ground again would snap the joint.

X2

Broke shafts with an open carrier, haven't broken one since I locked it. Same circumstances.
 
Locked 30 on 14.5" wide Boggers, that's a disaster waiting to happen.....trade them to some fool with a Jacked up chevy and get a 33 and put alloys in it. We have a lot of no traction situations here where you need to use a lot of throttle and when boggers grab, they wreck shit. Some folks never brake anything on boggers.....others grenade stuff. I do love my Locker and 33x10.5 KM2's though! :D

I wouldn't necessarily say it was an upgrade unless he runs a lot of mud or sand dunes. Don't get me wrong, a bogger is a good tire but they blow ass on the street. Plus i hear people complain you can't turn worth a shit with them in the front. Not sure how true that is. I'm used to a lunchbox locker in the front so i probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Don't have to listen to me but that's my take on boggers on a D30.

I still have my 33x10.50's in the garage, I came up on these boggers for FREE...

As for turning on the street and trail, they turned fine, turned like a normal 35 would turn with a stock power steering lol.

Here it's a lot of rock crawling so everything is high traction crawling. But yesterday in the mud locked front and rear I crawled through a pit that this Tahoe had to use the skinny pedal. I do notice my front Locker will lock sometimes in 2wd In a turn so I'll need to be careful about that.
 
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