General Tech Need help installing Lock Right on Dana 44

[popdizzle]

I have a 2000 Wrangler TJ. It has a stock Dana 44 on the rear with a fairly new limited slip diff. I picked up a Lock Right locker for it last week (used) and I need some guidance on getting all the right parts I'll need to get it installed. I plan to do it myself, unless ya'll tell me I'm crazy.

I have the locker itself, but it came without any additional parts or instructions. I found the instructions on the vendor site, so that's a good start. But the directions are written from the perspective of an open diff and they make it sound really easy. Since I have a limited slip, I'm not sure what all I need.

Can you guys share with me what parts you think I'll need, along with any special tools or procedures I need to be aware of?

I know I need an open carrier. Do I need to buy bearings? Which ones? Do I have to shim anything? Do I need a pin of some sort? (someone mentioned a pin to me)

I've never worked on a differential, but I have replaced the axle shafts. I'm okay on some things mechanically, but not a mechanic, per se. I'm willing to tackle stuff, but I don't want to get in over my head and do something stupid that will cost me more money in the long run.

It's also not too late to tell me if you think a Lock Right isn't any good. We drive on the road with it, but just local around town. No real highway driving. We get it offroad just about every week.

Thanks for any help.

--Jason

 

[jevyguy]

You either need new bearings, or have yours pulled from the limited slip carrier. You will probably want to pull them to know what shims you have and re-use them on the new carrier, and you need a special tool to do that. You can take your old carrier to Six States to have them swapped over, but it may require more then that to get the gear tooth pattern correct. Too bad you dont have the open carrier in your TJ now cause that is an easy swap
Pesonally I hate... and absolutly hated my lockrite in my d44 on the road... especially around town. IMO, if you are going through the trouble of getting a new carrier and having it all swapped over spend the extra $$ and put in a locker that wont clang and bang all the time.

 

[chans]

I did the same thing on a front Dana 44 on a Jeep I had except I used the Aussie locker. You need a cross pin to go with an open carrier along with carrier bearings since the old ones will most likely be destroyed trying to pull them off. I only saved 150.00 over a Detroit and both would take resetting up the gears so I should have went with the Detroit. Since the Lockrite is more then the Aussie you will be better off selling the Lockrite and picking up a Detroit since you will only save less than 100.00 to go with a weaker locker.

 

[eatrocks]

Ah just swaped the rear diff on my 05. the shims were outside of the bearings not in Nothing under the bearings. Had to drill the holes for the ring gear out to the right size. Got a new carrier off ebay bear for 20.00 plus shipping Since I was not changing gears I left the pinon gear in place play was .009 when i opened it and was .006 with the new bearings carrier installed with the same shims

 

[skippy]

not a huge fan of lock rites either if i were buying a lunch box locker i would look at the spartan locker

 

[popdizzle]

How well does the Lock Right do when climbing? I'm hearing it's annoying on the road. How's it do offroad?

Thanks for all the input. Very helpful!

--Jason

 

[chans]

How well does the Lock Right do when climbing? I'm hearing it's annoying on the road. How's it do offroad?

Thanks for all the input. Very helpful!

--Jason

Pretty much the same as any locker. Either both tires turn or you broke something.

 

[Chevycrew]

This could be a large task with learning to set up gears. Read everything you can. You need dial indicator, torque wrenches, etc. etc.

You are basically starting from scratch with the gear and locker install.

Bearings (unless you can reuse), cross pin, open carrier, shim kit, not sure what else will be needed on that 44.

I would ask around for some help, or a shop to do it. Im sure I could, but I dont mess with gears. Fronts are more forgiving, but rears are pretty picky when street driven.


I also agree with upgrading to a full locker since you are doing a carrier swap anyway.

 

[Too Far]

What lsd do you have? I think the lockrite will fit in some track loc carriers. If so it greatly simplifies the job.
You learn how to tailor your driving to minimize the quirks of the lockrite.

I have a 4.10 open carrier you can have if you need it.

 

[iamsparticus]

the lockrites arent bad at all. I have drove several detroits and they have way worse road manners than any other auto locker. Id go with a aussie or spartan locker instead. I run a lockrite in the rear and a spartan in the front the spartan was wayy easier to install and is a smoother operation but i havent wheeled with it a ton so we will see. If you have the cash go with a ARB or OX locker selectable is great for a street machine that sees the trails too

 

[OrvisKrawler]

the lockrites arent bad at all. I have drove several detroits and they have way worse road manners than any other auto locker.

Hmmm funny, my detriot has far better road manners than ANY of the lunch box lockers Ive ever had...

 

[iamsparticus]

Hmmm funny, my detriot has far better road manners than ANY of the lunch box lockers Ive ever had...

that may be the kind of rig you have makes a difference but the two tacomas ive driven with them lock up when you dont want them to and make more noise then my lockright. Didnt you blow up a detroit in you yellow blazer orvis?

 

[eatrocks]

What I installed is Spartan locker its nicer than the lockright but I still dont like it. But there is not a lot out there for 3.73 gears

 

[iamsparticus]

What I installed is Spartan locker its nicer than the lockright but I still dont like it. But there is not a lot out there for 3.73 gears

the spartan is better to install, how long have had yours? Since this thread is for a guy with a jeep how does your spartan compare to the lockrite in your jeep?

 

[OrvisKrawler]

that may be the kind of rig you have makes a difference but the two tacomas ive driven with them lock up when you dont want them to and make more noise then my lockright. Didnt you blow up a detroit in you yellow blazer orvis?

interesting, my detroit locker in the ZJ makes no noise at all, the blazer had a detroit true trac, which was covered under warrantee, Ill just say that thing took some abuse before it let go

 

[iamsparticus]

interesting, my detroit locker in the ZJ makes no noise at all, the blazer had a detroit true trac, which was covered under warrantee, Ill just say that thing took some abuse before it let go

It is intresting that there is such a difference from vehicle to vehicle with lockers, i know you also had a lockright but i didnt think youve had any other auto lockers. I forgot it was a true trac, and i didnt even know you put a detroit in your ZJ i thought you still had the limited slip

 

[thenag]

Well since this has hijacked into a locker discussion...

The axle I have just put under the xj is a 14 bolt with a detroit. I had that axle under my bronco. The first 5000 miles with a detriot seem to be more obnoxious than after that. I have talked to a few guys with detroits that had similar experience. all of the sudden at about 5000 miles it gets a lot less noisy and obnoxious.

Beyond that. there is a noticeable difference in the xj and the bronco. the bronco was 6500lbs and leaf sprung, the xj has a 4 link in the rear. My wife noticed that the detriot in the xj pushes the xj around a lot LESS than the bronco. I think the difference is between coils and leafs. with the leafs when the detriot would engage and disengage the axle would move a bit, with the 4 link the axle doesn't move the diff just engages, you can still feel it but it doesn't rear steer the vehicle like it did in the bronco. I still think that weight does play a roll so if the bronco had rear linkage suspension I believe the detriot would have been almost unnoticeable.

so take that for what you want...

I also have a lockrite in the front axle. I had to drive home from moab in front wheel drive with the lockrite. It is hard to compare from front to rear but it does seem the detriot is more predictable and just feels more reliable, but it is also more money so it should.

I have been keeping this comment to myself until now, if you want to drive it on the street a lot, put a lockrite up front be careful off road, use 2wd a lot. and put the regular spider gears in for the winter if you drive it on snow covered roads. (I am also of the camp that if you are going to lock only one axle you should just do the front. lets not get into that hear, you can search other threads for comments on that) If you put the lockrite in the front you don't need to buy a carrier, don't need a case spreader, don't need to worry about setting gears... just drop the diff cover, drop the pin out drop the spiders, install the locker... that's the real advantage of a lunch box locker, cheap, easy to install.

nathan
-99 xj

 

[iamsparticus]

that makes sense why the tacoma would have bad road manners with the detroit and the ZJ which has coils does not

 

[RockChucker]

i have a detroit in the rear of my tj, and it isn't bad at all. is it as nice as open? heck no. but you have to make sacrifices if you want the performance offroad. and that can be either sacrifices in the wallet for an arb, or in daily driving if you get a detroit or other auto locker. with that said, my uncle had a lockright in the rear of his tj for years. he said, after driving my jeep, that the detroit behaved much better, but his lockright was liveable for sure.

oh, and from what i have heard about spartans, they are worth it just for how much easier they are to install. i'd go that route.

 

[Chevycrew]

I have a detroit in the back of my trailblazer. It was out of a military truck, so it has its share of miles. It works flawless and I can barely tell its there on the street. (42s though)