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DANA 44 Trak Lok

rws

NAXJA Forum User
I have a dana 44 with a trak lok diff. Does anybody know how to tell if the trak loc is worn out. I have raised the rear end and spun the tires and they both spin in the same direction. I do minor amounts of off-roading and do not want to put a locker in.
 
That is the accepted way of determining it is functioning. If the wheels spin in opposite directions, it's toasted (or an open diff) another way is to find a slick (safe) area and breifly nail it in low gear... you should see evidence of both wheels spinning.

In some places it may take a little brake pedal applied to get both back wheels to grab. zSince you don't want to go in deeper, I'd advise to stick with what you have in there, and have fun!
 
"do trac loks act like posis?"

When they are functioning they do, or so I'm told. I haven't & don't plan to wheel the D35 one in my 88, so I have no personal feedback...other than both back tires spin on sand & wet surfaces. :)

The Trac Lok is Jeep's factory offering for the XJ & TJ (ZJ?) it's a clutch driven limited slip.

Many folks have pointed out that these get ineffective (or will wear out the clutches sooner) with larger or grippier tires.

I personally wouldn't go out of my way to put or keep one in a trail rig, but for a mostly street &/or mild trail rig a working one is better than open imho.
 
Trak-lok is Dana's version of posi-trak or limited slip diff. In the dana the clutch packs are not hard to replace however they are expensive and it is a time consuming process. I was hoping that there was some sort of sure-fire method to test how worn they are other then taking the carrier apart and looking at them. The manual says nothing about testing. What a great forum this is!
 
These also need additive in the gear oil

A liquid 'friction modifier' sort of stuff.

Small one-shot bottles of this can be found at the parts counter at any Jeep dealer & simply add it when refilling the gear oil.
 
Somewhere there is a torque spec for checking clutch type limited slips. It was easy on the old AMC cars because the two-piece rear axles had a nut on the outer end of the axle and you could put a torque wrench on that.

With an XJ, you would have to make up an adapter to bolt onto the hub, with a 3/4" nut welded in the center, on axis with the axle. Then use a torque wrench to try to spin the axle with the opposite wheel on the ground. The accaptable number was surprisingly low, IIRC, something like 25 lb-ft. If it broke free at less than that it was deemed to be worn out.

Those numbers were posted some time ago -- don't know if a search would turn up the thread.
 
Re: These also need additive in the gear oil

woody said:
A liquid 'friction modifier' sort of stuff.

Small one-shot bottles of this can be found at the parts counter at any Jeep dealer & simply add it when refilling the gear oil.

Also, aren't ya supposed to change the diff fluid & additive like every 3rd oil change or something like that? :eyes:
 
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