Lockers or posis?

So I've got a dana 30 in the front and a Chrysler 8.25" in the rear both with 4.56s. Right now it's my daily driver with 33s with limited weekend Colorado rocky mountain wheelin'. I will be upgrading to 35s and another 2"s of lift in the next year hopefully. It will still probably be a daily driver for another one or two years until I can get a different d.d. and turn my XJ into a weekend warrior. My questions are would I just be better off going with limited slips for now and does anyone even make a locker for the 8.25"? I'm sure I'm going to have to upgrade to a dana 44 in the front(probably in the rear too) going with 35s so that makes it a hard case to waste money on a locker in the D30. Thanks for your thoughts!


98 XJ with 5.5" Rubicon Express Extreme Duty Lift Kit, Rancho RS 5000 Shocks, 33" BFG ATs, 4.56 gears, Power slot rotors, Tom Wood's CV custom drive shaft with an Advance Adapters SYE, roof cargo rack for spare, high flow cat, glass pack, Jet stage 2 chip, Jet 180 degree thermostat, K&N FIPK, Bushwacker fender flares, Richmond ring and pinion in the rear.

Get a pair of lock rites or equivalent...easy to do and very effective....with the 4.56 gears you have....get a set of new ring gear bolts for both...that way you can install the lockers with out buggering around with grinding teeth off gears or grinding cross pins....you will need to pull the carriers, but it will be faster and easier than all that grinding nonsense..

I have a Powertrax locker in my 8.25 and it has done great for me. Some guys dont like the lunch box lockers, but I have wheeled the piss out of this one, and the prior owner had wheeled it hard too, including Rubicon and Tellico. So, with that said, take it for what it is worth......

Some guys run lunchbox lockers with no problems, I stripped a pair of Lock-Rites in my CJ with 35" Boggers and a 304 V8. They'll likely survive better in an XJ, but your carrier is still the weak link. I know a guy who ran a front Lock-Rite for a couple years in his XJ D30, when it went south it took out the carrier too.

If you have the cash, go with an Ox or ARB. If not, run the lunchbox units until they fail.

I am also about to Lock [and regear].


From who ive talked to and what i have read, our problem [in colorado] is the snow and ice. You dont want an automatic lockers they can cause all sorts of dirty underwear problems on ice. i am going to bite the pocket book and only lock the front.. OX locker is better for a D30 from what crash wrote anyways...


atriot:

Good point. Automatic lockers tend to push in snow, ice, and mud. Selectables are easier to steer (open) and also easier on your steering gear and linkage.

Based on the "going to upgrade to 44's" I was trying to offer an inexpensive alternative.....I never thought about ice or snow.....don't have any here...

I actually had a situation a couple years ago where I got better traction in the mud with my front ARB open. It was a tight turn at the bottom of a muddy hill climb, the Jeep just continued to push straight forward while trying to jockey it around to face the hillclimb with the ARB engaged. I disengaged it, allowing one front tire to track while the other three spun, it let me line up for the hill climb.

I'm a big fan of selectable lockers, especially in the front.

Our XJ is my wifes DD and she has no problems what so ever in the snow. No-Slip in an 8.25 and an OX up front.

MudDawg said:

Get a pair of lock rites or equivalent...easy to do and very effective....with the 4.56 gears you have....get a set of new ring gear bolts for both...that way you can install the lockers with out buggering around with grinding teeth off gears or grinding cross pins....you will need to pull the carriers, but it will be faster and easier than all that grinding nonsense..

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You cant pull the carrier to install a powertrax in the rear, you have to install the axles while doing the install (c-clips) of the locker. You will more than likely have to grind down 1 or 2 of the ring gear teeth to get the cross pin to slide in.

You can install a lockrite in the dana 30 with the carrier in the axle, but it is much easier to pull it and install on a bench.

MudDawg said:

Based on the "going to upgrade to 44's" I was trying to offer an inexpensive alternative.....I never thought about ice or snow.....don't have any here...

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Well the ones that live in it do, Not the Florida ones
Just kidding , but true none the less.
I run a Lunch box in the front and live in Boise. Some snow, not much lately though.
You just have to remember it is in there and not throttle around corners. It is a lot easier to install on the bench too.
Off Road on the trails it is Great. I have a Detroit in the rear so on the asphault I don't usually run it in 4 wheel drive. I have the 231 though. Select trac guys run in 4 wheel drive a lot more then us command trac guys.

Yeah I don't want any funny road behaviors on ice and snow which we have a lot of in Colorado. So I think I'll go with some selectable lockers, probably ARBs. I think I'll stick with my current axles. I'm getting conflicting reports on how durable they really are. But I guess I might as well lock them and see how long they last. Does anyone else make a selectable locker for the 8.25" than ARB?

verify if you have a 27 spline 8.25 or 29 spline.
If 27 spline buy the full carrier locker for the 29 spline, and get new shafts, then you have locked it and done a huge upgrade for the strength of your axle.

builder said:

new ring gear bolts eliminate the need for gear trimming?

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i think he is saying when you take the ring gear off the carrier, you always use new ring gear bolts. im assuming if you leave the ring gear on the carrier you will needa grind some stuff to get it together.

-Tim

I have a track lock in the rear of my 2000 XJ 8.25 it works good and its cheap. I plan on adding the new Auburn Ected in the front D30. I drive my XJ in the snow around Lake Tahoe and on the rubicon during the summer. I like having the idea of a locker and LSD in one. The Aubburn Ected has both LSD and Electric Locker so best of both worlds. Auburn is well known in the racing world such as Sprint Cars and Super Modifieds. They are the best out there in racing and the Ected is also rebuildable. The best thing about the Ected is the clutch plates that are used for both the Locker and LSD. The clutch plates alow for just a little slip under extreme torque when the Locker is engaged so it will help keep the D30 from snaping.