BackLash?

I am looking at getting a locker for my Xj with a dana 35 rear. i was reading about a detroit locker and the mentioned something about the driver hearing or feeling backlash. what is backlash? sorry im 17 and still have a lot to learn. haha. if any of you have any suggestions on lockers, suggest away, but keep in mind i won't have much more money to put into this thing until next summer when i can start working full time again. so, cheap is good... as long as its quality too.

Backlash is the tightness between the teeth of the pinion and the ring bolt but I think I know what you are talking about. I have a Powertrax in my d35 and there is play in the locker as it engages and disengages. As I let off of the gas while driving the rear end lurches a bit. This is because as the teeth of the locker have torque applied (gas pedel) to them they click together. No torque (no gas) allows them to disengage. There is a small amount in which they need to spin before the teeth actually engage. I would say mine is about a 1/4 to 1/3 of a rotation of the tire.

The detroit could be different, haven't used one.

Anything I f'ed up? Wouldn't be the first time.

Thanks for the info. and by the way how do you like your Powertrax locker?

The powertrax is pretty good but pricey. $440 or so. It was easy to install and works great on the trail. On the street is is fairly noisy especially since I rebuilt it after installing new gears. I broke a tooth off of the sync ring but I guess it is still working fine. BTW, I know everyone will tell you not to spend money on the d35 and go straight to an 8.8 or d44 so I might as well be the first. Oh well, I just installed gears in my 35 so I am dope too.

d10shun got it right about what backlash is.

Detroit reccomends that when you set up your ring and pinion after putting the locker in, that you leave between .006 and .010" of play (.008" is best) in the engagement of the locker.
Somebody correct me if im wrong, since its been quite a while since i put my detroit in, but I believe you adjust that play by tightening the pinion nut, forcing the pinion gear further into the diff, which in turn tightens the mesh of the ring and pinion. To creat more play, you would loosen it to allow the pinion to slide back out of the diff a little to ease the meshing of the gears, i.e. creating some space between the teeth.
Anyone have anything different?

Oh yeah, and its highly reccomended that you have gears/differentials set up by a professional. Its not your usual backyard mechanic job. It requires special tools, and gauges to do correctly. Most places will run you about 250 bucks to install gears and a locker per axle.

Check the for sale forum for good prices on lockers.

24 hours for a gear install cause Daryl and I suck. But I saved $500.

ArcticXJ said:

Oh yeah, and its highly reccomended that you have gears/differentials set up by a professional. Its not your usual backyard mechanic job. It requires special tools, and gauges to do correctly. Most places will run you about 250 bucks to install gears and a locker per axle.

Click to expand...

Please don't mislead people by generalizing. I agree completely that those without the necessary tools and equipment should have a pro do their diffs, but I don't think it's fair to lead people to believe they can get the job done for $250. Around here, a typical 4x4 shop would charge at least double that.

So your saying that where you live, a 4x4 shop will charge you a thousand dollars to do front and rear r&p and a locker????????????????

Holy crap, where are you?!

The prices I am quoting are $250 per axle, 500 for front and rear combined. These prices arent from some hobo shop around the corner, this is directly from a place you all may have heard of called Six States Distributors, Inc.
Probably where half of you got your SYE's and CV's from. And I am in a state (AK) where everything usually runs a lot more than the lower 48.
Also, the gentelman above who installed his own also stated that he had saved "$500" to do it himself, which is congruent with my quote.

4wheelparts.com quote (Arizona store) for a gear install is $500 for front/rear. Obviously this is not including the actual gears. What were we all talking about anyway?

So its safe to say, 500 dollars IS roughly what most shops will charge for front and rear total install.
Anyway, we were adressing backlash, then i had made mention about letting a professional worry about it, because its an involved process, and then got into how much it would cost to do so. That is how this became the discussion.

Here in Suffolk, NY, the going rate to have a r&p (or "off-road") shop install tads and different r&p's (plus rear wheel bearings, etc..) is about $900 total, including supplying your own fluids and friction modifiers.

I guess this is the north east, but I think they take into consideration that there's no $ being made on prie markup, and they don't care (and they really shouldn't) that someone got in over their heads trying to do a relatively skilled job at home.

Mike/NY #300