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lockers! what ya running and why?

Surprised no one has mentioned manual hubs upfront changing the possibilities. You are going with 44s right? Waggy 44s? If they were rubi 44s you'd have elockers in em stock so likely you have manual locking hubs... and its mainly offroad ya? You can throw anything up there! If so man... grizz, Detroit, spool, hell you could even weld the damn thing! My buddy runs spools front and rear with hydro assist, I've drove it and steering is actually easier then in my rig with Detroit rear lunchbox front with manual hubs. I def intend on adding hydro assist asap to hep that. On the street I never use 4x4 and hubs stay unlocked. In the snow, I don't need 4x4 here in CO. With 35" mts its fine with steering unaffected due to hubs not engaged up front. Its better then my 2 w drive work van thats for sure! If I go heavy throttle ya I can drift, but its better then my rear drive cars on smaller less aggressive tires.

Without manual hubs your steering will be effected even in 2 wheel drive with a full time locker. How bad? It varies. Just because the tcase isn't engaged doesn't mean your front axle is now open though. I know others have posted as such. But with out a selectable locker the wheels are still locked together in the center and so they want to rotate at the same speed. Less so than with the tcase engaging power to the front but still noticeable. Just food for thought

Hey shooter. Yes waggy 44s.

They have drive flanges. I see locking hubs as another likely failure point. Down in Texas where snow is rare. Wouldn't believe it this week....

Mostly trail as well.

Yes hydro assist going in

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I thought I did notice the grizzly with tcase disengaged ounce but only tge ounce. I think there's a huge difference driving and being driven in how the grizzly responds.

If tge tcase is unlocked and front is being pushed id say its atleast 95% of thd time unlocked.

If tcase is engaged its about 99% locked. It doesn't ratchet pop or make noise its just locked.



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99% locked is perfect.

OX showed up, grizzly here today after a 2 week delay for snow.. time to get these puppies installed!
 
I ran an Aussie locker in my 2wd w/8.25 for years. Probably put 200K on it with no problems whatsoever. However, I just picked up a 2001 XJ 4wd with Dana 30 front/Dana 35 rear diffs. Not sure which transfer case I have.

Planning to run 33's with lunchbox lockers front and rear. Off road is mainly sand and occasionally mud. Sound feasible? Anything I need to look out for?
 
33s stock gears sand will suck all life out of the rig.
I ran alittle sand with 33s with both 307 and 355 gears.. not even worth attempting unless in 4low. I didnt mind always being in 4low
Everyone likes the lunch box lockers.

Denverd
Looking forward to hearing how you like the grizzly.

I've become curious if the characteristics unit to unit are very similar or if they all act alittle differently.
When it was brand new I heard a few clicks ratchet sounds. Ounce it had some miles on it it seemed to get silent

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I ran an Aussie locker in my 2wd w/8.25 for years. Probably put 200K on it with no problems whatsoever. However, I just picked up a 2001 XJ 4wd with Dana 30 front/Dana 35 rear diffs. Not sure which transfer case I have.

Planning to run 33's with lunchbox lockers front and rear. Off road is mainly sand and occasionally mud. Sound feasible? Anything I need to look out for?


Don’t run lunchbox lockers. Honestly, for the price of a lunchbox locker you could buy a stronger axle than the Dana 35 and swap it in. The mud will eat your lunchbox ‘locker’ and you’ll be $300 poorer with a broke locker.

You have a NP231 transfer case.
 
You have a NP231 transfer case.

With respect to 89Mock, while the NP231 is the most likely (by virtue of it being the "standard" and the NP242 the "optional" case), it's not entirely impossible that boncrshr has a 242.

The NP321 has 4 modes: 2Hi, 4Hi, N and 4Lo. In 4Hi and 4Lo, an orange "Part time" light should illuminate in the instrument cluster. These modes, being part-time, are NOT to be used on-road/high-traction surfaces as with no center diff in the case you risk severe driveline damage. Only use on surfaces where at least one wheel can slip a little.

the NP242 has all the modes the 231 does, but adds a "4 Full-time" between 4Hi and N. As with the 231, 4Hi and 4L are part time and illuminate an orange "part time" indicator on the dash. In 4-Fulltime, a green "full-time" light illuminates on the dash instead of the orange "part-time" one. The full-time mode can be used under any conditions as the 242 does contain a differential between the front/rear outputs.

Generally the shift bezel on the console and the light(s) on the dash are sufficient to identify your tcase, but if you are missing those (or have reason to believe the vehicle may have been "messed with prior to your ownership), the ultimate answer is to climb under the truck and look at the circular red/white metal tag on the rear of the case itself, which will identify the unit as either a "231J" or a "242J".


Rob

P.S. I chuckled at your username, boncrshr - liked the reference in it. Do you by chance drive a green jeep with purple trim, and hang out with 5 other similarly-colored XJs? :D
 
P.S. I chuckled at your username, boncrshr - liked the reference in it. Do you by chance drive a green jeep with purple trim, and hang out with 5 other similarly-colored XJs? :D

No, not me, I'm in Texas and only have 1 other buddy with an XJ. I'm a chiro so my buddies gave me the nickname.

Thanks for the info, sounds like I have the NP231 because the shifter goes 2WD>4Hi>N>4LO. So was 89Mock saying that it would be better to change differentials because the Dana 30/35 were insufficient to handle lockers with 33's? Like I said, having a 4x4 XJ is a whole new experience for me.
 
No, not me, I'm in Texas and only have 1 other buddy with an XJ. I'm a chiro so my buddies gave me the nickname.



Thanks for the info, sounds like I have the NP231 because the shifter goes 2WD>4Hi>N>4LO. So was 89Mock saying that it would be better to change differentials because the Dana 30/35 were insufficient to handle lockers with 33's? Like I said, having a 4x4 XJ is a whole new experience for me.
Playing with fire locked 33s on a D35 IMO

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Of course it depends on what ya do with it

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Never broke it. Also ran stock k5 blazer axles welded

Yes on the scenic trails. 35 was welded for a few years

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I still have my 2wd XJ with 8.25, and from what I have read here, with any lift at all it is a direct swap. Would switching the D35 out for the 8.25 be a good move?

Yes
 
I still have my 2wd XJ with 8.25, and from what I have read here, with any lift at all it is a direct swap. Would switching the D35 out for the 8.25 be a good move?
8.25 is definitely stronger than a 35. I also firmly believe if it ain't broke don't fix it.

For most ppl a 35 is just fine

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No, not me, I'm in Texas and only have 1 other buddy with an XJ. I'm a chiro so my buddies gave me the nickname.

Ah, ok. I thought maybe you were an old-school Transformers fan...
 
Everything is worth it in thd eyes of the one doing it

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Don't disagree. For all that trouble I would aim for a 44. My intentions a very likely different.

That's why every build is cool. Purpose built for a million different reasons.

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