Locker Questions

    Looking to upgrade the strength of my D30 and D35. Don't really do much off-road except the occasional mud and beach runs.(that may change eventually when it's not a daily driver) But with the urge to move to larger tires (33x13.50's or 35's), I have some concerns that my axles won't like it. That being said, I'm looking at something like one of the options here:


    http://www.4wheelerssupply.com…dex.php/cPath/470_496_528



    I wasn't really thinking about locking the front and rear but these Super kits seems to come that way. Which is better ARB/Detriot/OX? Do any (or all) of them require on-board air? How intrusive are lockers for on-road performance?


    Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

    after reading things a little closer, I understand the ARB lockers do require on-board air, but I still have all my otehr questions...............

    arb requiers air, the advantage of that is you can turn it off for street driving,
    ox lockers are cable operated, same advantage as arb but without noisy extra compressor,
    and detriot is locked all the time, i have a rear luchbox locker in mine, aussie locker, and i like it, its much cheaper 295.00 and works well... hopefully someone with those lockers ure asking about will help

    I run a Detroit in the rear and an OX up front. I have been very happy with both although for a DD I would probably opt for a selectable in the back also. Even though you get used to the bangs and sudden engagements, automatic lockers do handle differently and suck in the snow.


    The Ox has been very reliable for me and has been abused so I can't say anything bad about it.

    Quote from yankee19934


    ox lockers are cable operated, same advantage as arb but without noisy extra compressor,


    Yup, the whole 15 seconds the compressor runs every couple hours can get real annoying. :laughing:


    I have ARBs and yes they are expensive, but well worth the money on a daily driver.

    Quote from jwalk

    Yup, the whole 15 seconds the compressor runs every couple hours can get real annoying. :laughing:


    I have ARBs and yes they are expensive, but well worth the money on a daily driver.


    i agree...i had ARB's on my TJ ill put them in my next setup as well the compressor runs for about 45 seconds you have to engage the lockers about 5 times before it kicks on. i have aired up with the ARB compressor....took a while, but it did the trick in a pinch. you can also set it up to use CO2 (paintball tanks or powertank)

    I've looked at those kits so much in the past.


    I run 33s right now and have had no problems (although I bet I would if I was locked and had a heavy foot).


    I chose to go the route of http://www.drivetraindirect.com/assemblies_jeep.htm


    It's $1k more, but it's a direct bolt in Dana 44. It's far better than that kit.


    As far as the lockers go, I've heard that having a Detroit isn't that bad, thought I personally wouldn't want to have to park in a parking garage with one in the rear everyday at work. I hear going around turns the jeep'll jump 6 inches to the side, but is easy to get used to. I'm sure the ARB and Ox are well worth the extra money for them, making daily driving much more comfortable. They are both on-demand lockers. ARB just uses air. Ox just uses a cable. one's driven by air, the other mechanical.

    For occasional mud and beach runs, I would save the $$ and get a lunchbox like the Aussie or even consider a limited slip to keep your stock road handling without going to the expense of a selectable locker setup. I mean, most sandhogs run open difs with no problems so lockers is really overkill unless you're running the Dakar Rally.

    Scratch my post. I re-read your original and realized you don't do much off roading. Honestly, if you don't want the lockers, there's no need to upgrade the shafts. If you're nice to the jeep - not being a jackass on the gas pedal or what not - you'll be fine. I run 33x12.5s with a Dana 30 and Dana 35 everything is stock and open (3.73s). I've gotten the jeep in the air (all 4 tires off the ground) a few times, stomped on it a bunch trying to get up hills. Nothing's ever broken. It's also my daily driver. I think when people break things they're just being stupid. I think the main times people break is when they have lockers - a heavy foot giving a ton more power and all that grip means the stock shafts just can't handle it.

    Run 33's and stay open. When/if something breaks then fix and upgrade it. Save your money up until then. Lockers on the beach def not needed and does nothing but make you dig more if you happen to get stuck.


    Detroit in the rear sucks. Though as long as you let off the gas through turns it is fine, but when it unloads it is crazy and made me feel like I broke something for the first 2 months. Jeep not a DD or tagged anymore so it does not bother me. Makes the tires wear a lot more then normal as well. If you get to the point of really wanting to lock and upgrade, with 33s just put a lunchbox up front and leave the rear open. locking a 35 is just asking for something to break and it is better to be careful versus dumb. Unless you are offroading and rock crawling then your d35 will last you a long time.

    Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.<br />-Frederic Bastiat

    Quote from 04TJguy


    http://www.4wheelerssupply.com…dex.php/cPath/470_496_528



    When you buy a kit like this does all of these parts just replace what you have in your stock axle housing? If so this seems like a good choice yes?



    As for your question. My Jeep has 35X12.5QR15 BFG ATs with the stock axles and it is running fine on the road. I am worried that something might break this summer when I get it off road but that's life. If your not going to be doing a bunch of off roading yet I'd just wait on your axle upgrades. My plan is drive it till it breaks and then fix it. BUT this is not my DD.

    Thanks for the feedback. Leaning towards doing nothing upfront for now, except re-gearing. I'm kinda thinking it makes sense to upgrade the rear to a D44 though (with open differential). Set aside the durabitily factor, I'd really like to upgrade to disc brakes in the rear. With the cost of that plus regearing it kinda makes sense to go with a complete axle package doesn't it? I'm figuring the parts and labor of disc brakes plus regear is somewhere in the $1500 range. Seems like a waist to spend that if I'm eventually going to move to a D44 anyway. Unless................if I buy the teraflex disc brake conversion for my D35 will it fit a D44 I might buy in the future or is the kit axle specific??

    If your plan is to regear then getting a full D44 rear already built would be a great option and you should just get a selectable locker in it at that point in order to save you time and money in the long run. And if you were to just regear the front for now and leave it open, you can always add a lunchbox for cheap later on.


    The "Super" kits are nice but often still leaves a few weak points in the axles. In the D44 the super kit is real nice. With the D30 the tubes are still weka and flex so a truss could fix that but then you have ball-joint issues. With a D35, there are a lot of issues with the Super kit (I have heard and have no experience in it). I think i heard basically the same thing as with the D30 with the tubes flexing and the ring gears are still really thin/small so they become an issue. This is just stuff I have heard about them. When i looked into all of this stuff I ended up just swapping out my axles and called it a day...

    Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.<br />-Frederic Bastiat

    If you were to just get a complete axle assembly, you can install youself. It is easy to install. club members would help as well i am sure.


    It gets expensive, but that is why many others build the rears, but in that case if you cannot weld or set your own gears and so on, it can cost more then buying complete.

    Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.<br />-Frederic Bastiat

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