Front Locker noises

I recently installed a Detroit EZ (got it new for dirt cheap) in my XJ D30 and on the street/highway it is relatively quiet but making sharp turns or u-turns the damn thing clunks like I've broken a u-joint or something. I haven't had a chance to use it off road yet but at this point I, quite honestly, hate it! I KNEW that it was going to make noise when I installed it but I was expecting more of a ratcheting sound rather than the carnage sounds I'm hearing/feeling now. My wife drives the XJ from time to time and is familiar with the sounds a full detroit can make in the rear but I'm afraid she's going to jump in one day and call AAA to tow her home because of the noise/feel.
Are the Spartan / Aussie / Lock-Right lockers pretty loud when making u-turns/sharp turns as well? How about a full Detroit? Some ratcheting I can put up with but the sounds that the EZ make is making me pretty leery of any of the lunch-box lockers.

Opinions?

the noise will subside as it wears in. also run a thicker oil. my spartan and aussie were just as bad as my EZ up front, spartan being slightly better. if alignment is off it canmake it worse as well....

change the fluid check alignment and put some miles on it (not highway miles, that defeats purpose - need it to ratchet around some)

my spartan clunks a bit too, but only when its really cold out and the gear oil is still cold. after that, pretty quiet ratcheting. I suggest breaking it in as ^^^ and then hopefully it gets better

Thanks guys,

I'll run it for a while and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll start my beer can collection for a selectable.

Cliff

My aussie isn't THAT loud when making sharp turns. sure it clunks a bit every now and then, but nothing too dramatic, and nothing i worry about.

MyAussie sounds like someone is inside it with a 10lb. sledge banging away...
It's well over two years old... probably only about 10k miles with about 3K off-road...
I wish it would quite down... works well, just bangs LOUD...

Curt

My aussie is pretty quiet, i only hear it when spinning one wheel on jackstands

Then again "quiet" is a relative term. Pull your carpet and you probably wont hear the locker anymore, or anything else for that matter

How quiet an auto locker is or isn't has a lot to do with the setup. I hardly notice mine now but with my old gears it was much louder, same laocker, just new gears and carrier. If anything is worn at all (carrier, center pin, bearings, thrust washers) it will increase the amount of noise it make. Also on the setup making the effort to get the tolerances so they are not on the outskirts helps a lot. You may need to buy a shim set to get it perfect but it's not too much to ask to do it right. You may need to buy a new center pin or carrier if it's a sloppy fit, the pin should fit snug in the carrier if not something is worn. In the directions the center pin side play tolerances are fairly tight if it's not good then you will get extra noise as the center pin is at the heart of the lockers operation, it's what makes the locker lock, if it's loose then your in for trouble. Just my .02

robsjeepxj said:

How quiet an auto locker is or isn't has a lot to do with the setup. I hardly notice mine now but with my old gears it was much louder, same laocker, just new gears and carrier. If anything is worn at all (carrier, center pin, bearings, thrust washers) it will increase the amount of noise it make. Also on the setup making the effort to get the tolerances so they are not on the outskirts helps a lot. You may need to buy a shim set to get it perfect but it's not too much to ask to do it right. You may need to buy a new center pin or carrier if it's a sloppy fit, the pin should fit snug in the carrier if not something is worn. In the directions the center pin side play tolerances are fairly tight if it's not good then you will get extra noise as the center pin is at the heart of the lockers operation, it's what makes the locker lock, if it's loose then your in for trouble. Just my .02

Click to expand...

I agree with you 100% When I installed the unit everything fit together as per the directions and the center pin had to be tapped in/out (not pounded in/out nor did the pin fall out either) and did not have any apparent wear to it or the carrier.
My first Jeep (a CJ5) had a lock-right in the front but I had the benefit of locking hubs so it was, quite literally, invisible on the street. My YJ has an ARB which is also invisible on the street, although the detroit in the rear likes to let me know it's there. This is the first time I've had an auto locker in the front of a rig without the benefit of either locking hubs or a switch to turn it on/off so I may be more sensitive to it than I need to be. I did install it with the knowledge that it was going to make noise when making sharp turns or u-turns. I just didn't expect as much as I've noticed.
I'm going to give the EZ the benefit of the doubt and drive it around for a couple of hundred miles before I decide on what to do. Since it's not a daily driver I have time to decide on what I want to do with it. As suggested, it may quiet down after an initial 'break-in' period or it may never, who knows?

Thanks,

Cliff

Just take it easy with sharp turns. Or u turns andit will be a lot happier