? For those who have a Detroit in their D30

For those of you who have a Detroit locker in your D30 I have a couple of questions.
1. How does it handle on the road, do you ever notice it at all?
2. Are you running a warn hub conversion?
3. What type of locker if any are you running in your rear axle?
4. Do you regret not going with a selectable locker in front?

Thanks
Sean....

Hello Sean.

My Father N Law is running that setup. It does tend to push him around when he gets on and off the gas on the road. He is running 35's. It is NOT a DD, but he does want to put hubs on it when he goes to a D44 (or 60). He is also running a detroit in the rear. He has no plans to put a selectable locker in, as he likes the no thinking required aspect of the detroit.

What setup do you have. Year, Axle, etc.

I have a 98 Cherokee with a D30 front and Im going to put a D44 in the rear as I have it right now but am waiting to make a decision on which lockers I go with. I am either going to go with Detroits front and rear or Ox lockers front and rear. This is not my daily driver though.

I have a Detroit in the D30 w/231 w/Terra 2Lo TC and 8.8 limited slip.
And use it for a 55 mile round trip DD - no regrets.
Absolutely silent - in both 2 and 4wd. Zero bad road manners.
Off road I use 2/lo alot otherwise you have some front end plow in 4/lo turns.
Eddie - 2k xj

I love the Detroit in the front except when getting on it around 50+ mph on dirt roads, then it's touchier than an open diff. Silent in 2wd, silent most of the time in 4wd. I ran it with an open diff in the rear and with a Detroit in the rear as well. I don't like the Detroit in the rear at all, but I like it in the front. No warn hubs or anything on mine.

xj92 said:

I love the Detroit in the front except when getting on it around 50+ mph on dirt roads, then it's touchier than an open diff. Silent in 2wd, silent most of the time in 4wd. I ran it with an open diff in the rear and with a Detroit in the rear as well. I don't like the Detroit in the rear at all, but I like it in the front. No warn hubs or anything on mine.

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Why dont you like the Detroit in the rear?

sjd78 said:

For those of you who have a Detroit locker in your D30 I have a couple of questions.
1. How does it handle on the road, do you ever notice it at all?
2. Are you running a warn hub conversion?
3. What type of locker if any are you running in your rear axle?
4. Do you regret not going with a selectable locker in front?

Thanks
Sean....

Click to expand...

1. When driving normally, dont notice it at all. Only really know when I turning sharply such as U turns, or parking garages. Even then, its not that bad when in 2wd.
2. Not running the conversion kit.
3. Running a detroit in the rear 44.
4. Only time I really wanted a selectable was on the slabs of the rubicon. Hated turning, and I was waiting to pop a Ujoint. Thankfully I didnt.

Its easy to just pop it into 4wd, and not have to check and make sure you have the ARB, etc, engaged.

sjd78 said:

I have a 98 Cherokee with a D30 front and Im going to put a D44 in the rear as I have it right now but am waiting to make a decision on which lockers I go with. I am either going to go with Detroits front and rear or Ox lockers front and rear. This is not my daily driver though.

Click to expand...

If it is not your daily driver (and probably even if it is) I would not be so concerened as to put hubs on it. Put Detroits in it and wheel it! I have a Detroit in the Rear as does my father N law. I do not notice mine. He does, but he has a stroker and loves the skinny pedal! I think that is why his pushes around a bit on the road.

xj92 said:

I love the Detroit in the front except when getting on it around 50+ mph on dirt roads, then it's touchier than an open diff. Silent in 2wd, silent most of the time in 4wd. I ran it with an open diff in the rear and with a Detroit in the rear as well. I don't like the Detroit in the rear at all, but I like it in the front. No warn hubs or anything on mine.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna x2 this one except in the rear I only found it annoying at times.

In the front it pushed a little through tight turns as was already mentioned, but that only means reverse will be needed occasionally. So what? Also, the steering could be a little more difficult on the slickrock, but not enough to annoy me. In 2wd it's invisible.

In the rear it would pull from one side to the other depending on if I was getting on or off the gas. Being more gentle with the accelerator pedal cured most of this, but on occasion (winding mountain roads, mostly) it would start to get on my nerves.

If I were to do it again (which I am now that I'm building up the ZJ) I would go selectable in the rear and detroit in the front. Selectable front and rear would be ideal, but as I mentioned, the front wasn't too annoying and I could spend the extra couple hundred saved on alloy shafts!

Israel said:

In the rear it would pull from one side to the other depending on if I was getting on or off the gas. Being more gentle with the accelerator pedal cured most of this, but on occasion (winding mountain roads, mostly) it would start to get on my nerves.

If I were to do it again (which I am now that I'm building up the ZJ) I would go selectable in the rear and detroit in the front. Selectable front and rear would be ideal, but as I mentioned, the front wasn't too annoying and I could spend the extra couple hundred saved on alloy shafts!

Click to expand...

Exactly why I don't like it in the rear. It's when you press on the gas again halfway through a turn and it engages and wants to throw you a little from one side to the other. I have a different brand tire for my spare, and when I had to use it one time it made the entire Jeep extremely scary & squirrely because the diameter was different, even though it was the same official tire size. Obviously that part can be fixed by buying 5 tires at a time and rotating the spare.

Thanks for all of your help everyone! I am still tossed up between going Detroits front and rear or going OX front and rear. The Detroits are deffinately cheaper but I wont have to mess with cables and levers but on the other hand it would be nice to have selectables? I need to make up my mind so I can order everything already! LOL

Do what I'm doing and split it. OX in the rear and detroit in the front!

Israel said:

Do what I'm doing and split it. OX in the rear and detroit in the front!

Click to expand...

I would like to run the same in each axle. I need to run the numbers again and see how much of a cost savings it will be and maybe that will sway my decision. :laugh:

Go detroits, won't be disappointed. Oxes are $200 more each axle. they have their advantages, but are expensive. If i had the money, i'd do ox in the front. It's the most noticable when in 4wd. you can still manage in 4wd with detroits, just a little more trouble.