Locker Options Front vs rear

[stephenspann27]

Do you have a vacuum disconnect on your front axle? If so you can weld your front spiders too and whenever the vacuum disconnect is disconnected you will have two wheels that can spin at different speeds then when you lock the disconnect the axle will be solid just like it you had a spool.

What is the downside to doing this? I have an '87 with a disco 30.. and have wondered about doing this. Would the downside be that the carrier and front drive shaft will now spin even in 2wd? And loose the part wear/fuel savings?

 

[1990heepxj]

front locker is great in rocks my rear locker definately made it tougher in rocks when trying to push up a rock. a rear lunch box locker isnt bad on road at most you get a couple chirps but a rear spool eats tires and is annoying as hell i was rear spooled for over a month til i got tired of it swapped a lsd in rear and a front locker in. and there should be no reason a front locker would be bad with a 242 other then if you put it in full time. when the 242 is in 2wd its no different then a 231 in 2wd so a front locker will effect it the same as a 231. research or have expierence with what your going to say on befor you post it please.

 

[1990heepxj]

stephenspann27 yes the only diff will be that the front ds will turn with it. i get crap gas milage anyway so i dont care that mine with a power trax no slip and 1 piece pass side shaft spins.

 

[stephenspann27]

stephenspann27 yes the only diff will be that the front ds will turn with it. i get crap gas milage anyway so i dont care that mine with a power trax no slip and 1 piece pass side shaft spins.

I guess it is probably quite a bit harder to turn when in 4wd...

 

[truck7575]

the inner passenger side axle is a c-clip and still slides in and out a little. I had my front spiders welded with the disconnect for over a year and I couldnt even tell it was welded while driving unless I had the disconnect connected. Then it was a little harder to turn the wheel. I have since switched to a solid dana 30 and an aussie.

 

[WebDog]

But with a 242 wouldn't you always be using 4wd, seeing as to how it's full-time? John's statement can stand uncorrected.

The 242 has 2H 4HP 4HF N 4LP, so it just has one extra selection vs the 231.

 

[rm89xj73xl]

I've been running a front locker only, 242,33's and 4.10 DD for bout 5 1/2 yrs. I have done a lot of runs in the Bald Mountain area trails and drive it every where(work and out of town) with no problems. I'd do the same next time around if it came to build budget.

 

[Darky]

The 242 has 2H 4HP 4HF N 4LP, so it just has one extra selection vs the 231.

I see. I've had no experience wiht the 242, just knew it had full time, so I assumed that it was always on full time.

 

[Goatman]

I guess it is probably quite a bit harder to turn when in 4wd...

Depends on whether the rear is also locked, and what surface. I hate my front spool when pulling out of the garage to load it on the trailer, the front really binds on the asphalt with sticky tires. But, on the trail it turns really well with the front spooled and the rear open. My experience is that front locked and rear open turns sharper than front open and rear locked. The locked rear wants to push you straight, but the front locked pulls you around. Of course, if both are locked then it's different.

However, it's really not recommended to weld up a D30......but some get away with it for a short time.

 

[billulsund]

not true in all cases the jeeps with the 242 t case give alot of feed back when turning sharp on the pavment, sand or dirt . i have both front and rear lockers love it i say x2 on the welding its free and if your gonna go f/s then dont waiste ur money.

I have a lock right in my D30 and have the 242 transfer case. I have not notice any difference at all when in 2wd (except for the occasional click from the locker). Even when I make a sharp turn on the pavement it does not feel any different than before I installed the locker.

 

[billulsund]

front locker is great in rocks my rear locker definately made it tougher in rocks when trying to push up a rock. a rear lunch box locker isnt bad on road at most you get a couple chirps but a rear spool eats tires and is annoying as hell i was rear spooled for over a month til i got tired of it swapped a lsd in rear and a front locker in. QUOTE]

X2 on this. I have my rear welded and it makes a lot of noise and can get annoying. If I don't air up after leaving the trails it will squeal around every little corner. I have to run at 35psi on the street or else it really starts to bug me. I am gonna re-gear soon and want to do a selectable or automatic locker instead.

 

[winkosmosis]

I have a lock right in my D30 and have the 242 transfer case. I have not notice any difference at all when in 2wd (except for the occasional click from the locker). Even when I make a sharp turn on the pavement it does not feel any different than before I installed the locker.

He's talking about when you use full time 4WD

 

[soyjer]

Front locker is better for daily driving as it has no effect until you use 4WD.

Newbie question: Is the above statement correct?
Doesn't an engaged front locker disallow different front wheel speeds (and therefore cause binding on dry pavement), regardless of whether they are powered or not?

 

[denverd1]

holy dead thread

it's true, but sounds like you need some explanation. an auto locker only engages when power is going through it. so you wouldn't notice in 2wd on dry pavement. once you hit 4wd and apply power, the two front tire spin at same speed, but you won't be on dry pavement... when you let off power, the front tires can spin at different speeds even when engaged in 4wd

 

[devildog0]

+1 If there is torque being applied though thepinion gear you will get the locker to lock. When you are in 2wd and no torque is being applied the locker will unlock.

For what it's worth even though this thread is 9 years old. I ran front and rear on one Jeep then just front and have now ran just front lockers on my last 2 Jeeps and will probably do that forever barring switching to selectables or going with something like a Trutrac in the rear. To me its the best way to setup a multi-use Jeep on a budget. If you have the money for selectable lockers than by all means go that route. I also preferred how the locked front pulled me over obstacles vs the rear pushing me over. Kind of the same concept of a front wheel driver car in the snow.

 

[soyjer]

Sorry...never mind...now I get it...automatic locker uses a ratchet-like mechanism to allow the road to cause forward rotation of the wheels, but not rearward rotation, so outside wheel is able to rotate in forward direction faster than inside wheel during a turn.
When one wheel is simply slipping, the automatic locker does not allow that wheel to rotate in a rearward direction, and so the differential then applies all power to the other wheel with traction.

 

[soyjer]

+1 If there is torque being applied though thepinion gear you will get the locker to lock. When you are in 2wd and no torque is being applied the locker will unlock.

For what it's worth even though this thread is 9 years old. I ran front and rear on one Jeep then just front and have now ran just front lockers on my last 2 Jeeps and will probably do that forever barring switching to selectables or going with something like a Trutrac in the rear. To me its the best way to setup a multi-use Jeep on a budget. If you have the money for selectable lockers than by all means go that route. I also preferred how the locked front pulled me over obstacles vs the rear pushing me over. Kind of the same concept of a front wheel driver car in the snow.

I have the 231 Command Trac part time 4wd TC, and so my thinking would be that with a rear AUTOMATIC locker I could drive in 2WD on alternating icy/dry pavement without ever having to worry about the binding that would occur using 4WD with the 231 TC. True?
I don't understand why so many XJ's were sold with the 231 instead of the 242...were they that much cheaper, or are they that much stronger, or were all of the people buying the 231's planning on lifting their XJ's, or what? I can see not worrying about binding if you never have to deal with alternating icy/dry roads (or alternating paved/dirt roads), but otherwise it would seem that the 242 would be the better choice.

 

[denverd1]

231 is cheaper. no additional diff in the case.

from what I understand (i'm in texas) you don't want a rear locked vehicle on icy roads.

For a while, I ran just the rear locker. I liked it so much I installed another in the front just for the hell of it. I may have had 2 trips on the rear locker alone. I do some fairly long hill climbs and can really feel the rear is solid and pushing me up a hill. I don't drive mine on the road much, but really noticed a difference with the rear locked. If you're doing a good bit of road time, do front first as you wouldn't notice it. other than some ratcheting, you don't notice either honestly, once you learn to keep off the power in corners.

 

[devildog0]

I don't understand why so many XJ's were sold with the 231 instead of the 242...were they that much cheaper, or are they that much stronger, or were all of the people buying the 231's planning on lifting their XJ's, or what? I can see not worrying about binding if you never have to deal with alternating icy/dry roads (or alternating paved/dirt roads), but otherwise it would seem that the 242 would be the better choice.

It was just a cheaper option. 99 percent of people who were going in to buy these things new probably had no idea what the difference between the 2 were and just went with the cheaper of the two or trim levels that came with the 231 standard.

There's some argument that the 231 is stronger than the 242, but since a HD version of the 242 was used in the HMMWV with a cooler and a 1/4inch wider chain. But even in standard format I don't see the 242 as being the weaklink in someone's drive train.

 

[soyjer]

holy dead thread

it's true, but sounds like you need some explanation. an auto locker only engages when power is going through it. so you wouldn't notice in 2wd on dry pavement. once you hit 4wd and apply power, the two front tire spin at same speed, but you won't be on dry pavement... when you let off power, the front tires can spin at different speeds even when engaged in 4wd

So I (finally) did some studying, and now I am pretty sure that I understand how the thing works, which fits what you describe above...but now I'm wondering how a person could have one inside the REAR differential and still be able to turn going uphill or under acceleration on dry pavement without binding occurring, since the rear driveshaft would be powering the differential under those circumstances. Are the axles still able to "ratchet" on the cams, even when they are "fully" engaged? And if so, doesn't this wear out the teeth a lot faster than they would wear out in a locker inside the front differential, where they would less often be required to "ratchet" while "fully" engaged?