D30 lockright problems

so i've been running a lockright in my front axle (stock D30) for the last couple months and haven't had any problems with it. in 2wd it was completely invisible, and in 4wd it fully locked and was beautifull. unfortunately i haven't even been able to try it offroad yet, just in the snow since i've been busy with work.

anyways, the last couple days it started ratcheting when i'm driving low speeds and applying the breaks lightly like at stop signs/traffic lights.

i haven't been able to open the cover yet because i haven't had time the last 2 days, but i did raise the jack on my hoist real quick and put it in drive and COULD NOT duplicate the problem. i also made sure that my tire pressure was the same, but there was no change at all.

this is my first lunchbox locker, so i want to make sure i don't overlook anything. i've installed several in other jeeps, but personally never owned one until this one.


so the only problems i can think of might be

1)different tire pressure (already checked that)
2)low fluid level (not sure if that would cause it)
3)problems with the springs or pins not holding it
4)broken teeth

anything else???

i'm hoping to get the cover off either monday or tuesday if i don't find something else first.

The lockright doesnt have a sycro ring like the No-slip,so I would look at install clearances,Everything else is a "NO",

Some racheting should be normal. Mine when im going on dry pavement in 2wd and hit slush on one side it will rachet a little. Pulling the cover might not be a bad idea though for the 10 mins it takes uncase theres something wrong :thumbup:

If one front tire locks up (possible in ice and now) and the other one doesn't, it will rachet like that....the fact that it rachets indicates that one tire is turning while the other one is stopped.

Is it ratcheting when you go straight or turning?

i understand if 1 tire is on slick (ice/snow) but i'm talking BOTH tires on dry pavement in a straight line. i'll be driving through town coming to a stop sign or traffic light and slowly braking and it just continuously ratchets until i stop. and sometimes it will ratchet for the first couple feet while taking off after that.

that's what's been confusing me. and it just started the last couple days. before that it worked flawlessly for about 4 months.

i'm planning on pulling the cover today after work if i don't get off to late.

That's a new one. I can't, for the life of me, come up with a reason that it would behave like that. The ONLY thing that causes the ratcheting the happen is if one tire is rotating faster than the other one. I'm baffled. Let us know what you find out when you take off the cover.

jeeperguy21 said:

That's a new one. I can't, for the life of me, come up with a reason that it would behave like that. The ONLY thing that causes the ratcheting the happen is if one tire is rotating faster than the other one. I'm baffled. Let us know what you find out when you take off the cover.

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Are you sure it's the locker that's racheting?

You can try putting the jeep on jack stands and letting all the tires spin and then brake slowly (have someone else brake) and you can walk around the jeep and listen to where it's coming from (that's if you aren't sure it's teh locker). Also try swapping tires to the rear to completely eliminate the tires being related. One tire wearing more than the other can possibly cause that too so check tread depth.

The only thing i can think of is tire pressure being different. I though at first taht maybe one caliper is grabbing harder than the other and dragging one tire slightly but that should VERY noticeable and require steering correction.

ok i talked to tech support at power trax, and the only thing he could think off that i hadn't checked yet because i didn't have the specs on me was the gap between the center drivers. when i measured it, the gap was a little to big out of spec (so how did it work fine for 4 months???). anyways, i pulled the whole thing apart and started checking. there was no visible damage anywhere.

i pulled the locker and tried adding some thickness to the side trustwashers like the tech guy said. and i got it within spec. but it's still doing the same thing. i just took it for a test drive, and it's acting the same way. so now i'm really starting to wonder if it isn't something else making the noise, but i can't think/find anything else that is doing it.

one thing that i did notice was when i have it in neutral and the front in the air, BEFORE when i tried to turn 1 tire, the other tire would go in the same direction. then if i would sharply jerk the tire i was spinning in the opposite direction, the locker would allow it to ratchet (simulation wheel speed difference such as going around a turn).
NOW when i turn 1 tire, it rachets and turns by itself. i can't even get the other tire to lock in even if i try turning 1 tire very slowly. but if i turn the driveshaft by hand, both tires go in the same direction, and if i have somebody else stop 1 tire, and i keep turning the driveshaft, the locker stays locked.

so on one hand it seems to be working correctly, and on the other hand it seems like it's not. i'm really confused.

so does anybody see anything that i'm missing, or does anybody have any ideas what else could be making a "ratcheting/clicking" noise when going straight, but will NOT click/ratchet when it's in the air???

Was the locker purchased new or used? what condition are the springs in?


I know what you are going through. I spent nearly a month researching my dana 30 aussie problem. I had clunking in reverse for a reason no one could figure out, not even the tech guys at aussie. I tried everything and measured everything to no avail. I ended up swapping it out for a lockright and everything's fine.

I would check your brakes . It sounds like the front brakes maybe braking uneven ,causing the ratching in the locker.

ok so i "think" i found the problem. it doesn't seem to be the locker. i put everything back together and decided to refer to one of my old non-approved methods of "diagnosing". LOL wheel it till the bad part breaks.

so i went behind the shop where there is a long flat pile of plowed up snow that's about 4 XJ's long and decided to drive across it lenght wise knowing that i would end up getting it stuck in there eventually and really put everything to work. sure enough i burried the XJ up to the rockers and had 4 rooster tails of snow shooting up in DRIVE and REVERSE. so the locker is in fact working. i just kept turning the wheels slightly side to side while i was stuck and kept alternating betweend DRIVE and REVERSE. after working it hard for several minutes i used my wifes TJ to pull my XJ back out and go on another test drive down the road.

NOW.......the noise was ALOT worse and now was a combination of ratcheting/clicking/squeaking/grinding............directly under the drivers side.

so i pulled my front driveshaft and went for another drive. the noise seems to be gone. so i'm going to leave the front driveshaft out for the next couple days and see if the noise comes back at all. if not, i'll have to rebuild the driveshaft. all the joints seem tight, but so far driving the XJ from work to home it hasn't made the noise yet.

that is the first time i've heard a driveshaft make a noise like that (obviously it's hard to know what the noise is on a forum), and i would have put money on it that it was the locker if i would have been reading my own post over the internet.

i'll post back if the noise comes back or stays away and after i rebuild my driveshaft and re-install it.

What year is your jeep? Do you have the older style disconnect axle? I'm guessing you have the newer dana 30 cuz the older style doesn't have the driveshaft rotating in 2wd.

muddeprived said:

What year is your jeep? Do you have the older style disconnect axle? I'm guessing you have the newer dana 30 cuz the older style doesn't have the driveshaft rotating in 2wd.

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correct.....non-disco

it's a 95XJ, 4.0L, AW4, NP231

scorpio_vette said:

correct.....non-disco

it's a 95XJ, 4.0L, AW4, NP231

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You said no play in the joints but how easily do the caps turn on the u-joints? A bad u-joint isn't always shown by "play" in the joint but sometimes dried up and seized to the point where it doesn't turn or rotate freely.

before i even got to the bottom of the thread i was going to sugest checking all the u joints, sounds like thats your culprit. some people dont like em but spicer makes one with a grease fitting, if you do any water running its nice to squeze it out after with grease

i really like the greasable u-joints that tom woods puts in his driveshafts. those are sweet. i'll have to look on his website and see what brand they are.

but generally i'm not to worried about u-joints anyways because i usually go through about once a year and replace all the u-joints anyways. so i guess it's time to rebuild my driveshafts. and i'll wait to replace the axle joints until i install my new gears which should be going in the jeep in the next couple months.