Chrysler Track-lock worth a darn?

i know, get a locker. i want one, but my wallet isn't playing nice right now. got a chance at a "new" track lock for $50. i'm doing a gear swap soon so no biggie on the setup stuff. think it'll help or do i need to just bank that $50 and sit on it till i can swing a locker?

I put a new one in my 8.25 last year and it works pretty well. The price is right, unless you have to pay to install it.

na, i can do it myself. i do axles for guys in my club in my spare time....

When I bought my jeep it was bone stock other than a RE 5.5 lift and 33x12.50 claws. It had a D35 with a trac loc. Took it wheeling the day after I got it, really didn't expect much from it since I had a locked Toyota before this. Damn! That trac loc worked good. I can honestly say the ONLY time it would ever give up and spin one rear tire was if one of them was off the ground. I went lots and lots of places I never thought I would go without a rear locker. It had 190K on it and would still drag a tire on a tight turn, above and beyond any other factory junk I have had. My Old 99 Ram would barely spin both tires on jack stands its trac loc was so bad lol.

My 8.25 has the stock trac loc in it and I've been fairly impressed with it. I'm still on stock tires and haven't done any serious wheeling yet, but it's great on the street and has worked great on the few trails I've been on and in the mud.

For 50 bucks, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I didn't already have it.

on a side note I will never even consider running a non-selectable locker in a vehicle that sees street duties again, and I've ran just about everything they sell. I'll stick to limited-slips or ARBs.

I have a 2000 XJ with 33" Toyo AT's and a 6" FT Kit with the stock track lok in the 8.25 and it works really well. I think if I get a trutrac for the front D30 I will be set.

Ide do it for $50...if you ever decide to swap it for a detroit or ARB, you can resell it.

How much do these go for new?

Mine seemed only to work when it wanted to. Some days it would work good some days it would not work at all. It is better than nothing at all IMHO.

how do you know if you have it do you have to open that shit up or is there an easy way to tell?

If you won't be doing any rock crawling or serious off roading then the trac lock will work well for you. If you want to rock crawl or do some serious off roading I would wait and get a lock right.

lancey3 said:

how do you know if you have it do you have to open that shit up or is there an easy way to tell?

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You can lift the rear diff off the ground and turn one tire, if the other tire turns the same direction then you have some kind of traction device. If you let one tire down and turn the other and hear clicking then it has a lunchbox locker.

Do a burnout...if both tires start to spin...you have it lol

Motorvated said:

Do a burnout...if both tires start to spin...you have it lol

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hahaha EXACTLY!

where do you buy these? do you have to reset up your differential again? how much for a new one?

i got the trac loc in my 97 and it actually has a sticker in the glove box warning to keep the jeep in neutral or park when jackin up one of the rear tires do to a "locking type differential" which for us its like "uh duh" but i guess for those who dont know sh*t about what they bought then its neccessary. thats how i knew that mine had it that and the guy at the dealership looked up my jeep in the computer and told me it had it

I've heard a lot of things spoken about the factory LSD, ranging from "they're trash" to "mine's awesome". Here's my take on them.

My previous (2001) XJ was open/open with the 231 transfer case. God bless its drowned soul, but the lack of anything in terms of traction enhancements in its drivetrain were, well, embarassing. Until you've ever had to sit there and watch FWD hatchbacks deal with wet grass better than your Jeep, you haven't lived.

Fast-forward to the current (2000) XJ, which, until recently, had the factory Trac-Loc.

DEAR GOD, WHAT A DIFFERENCE.

Granted, it's not a full locker by any means, but that sucker ploughed through things that the previous one could only hope to get stuck in. I ran it from 75,000 to 123,500 used miles, and it just worked. The only reason it was swapped out for a selectable locker was that I was doing an axle swap, and the Trac-Loc wouldn't carry over.

Is it the ultimate traction-enhancing device? No.

Is it better than an open axle? Damn straight.

Does it die ten minutes after it hits the pavement? No, but that depends on how it's treated. Lack of friction modifier, wrong weight of gear oil, idiots doing burnouts with it, etc. - all will contribute to its early demise.

Your call as to how you want to proceed, but I'd recommend going with it and seeing what it can do before sinking hard-earned cash into other options.

clutch packs dont last ranging from 60 to 160 k and they ll need to be replaced