Traction up front

[Kaffeene]

Certain lockers or partial lockers such as the Detroit truetrac are not recommended for the 2 piece vacuum disconnect dana 30's beacause they can cause damage to the diff. or shafts.
How does it do this and is there a fix for this?

Does the posi-lok have anything to do with fixing this problem or is this just a better way to engage 4wd instead of using vacuum?

[ROCKREADYXJ]

scrap the posi lock and get the vacum elimination kit it includes a one piece shaft. If you wabt to use a full time locker on the street get the warn front hub conversion. Other wise get a selectable locker ( OX, ARB, Eaton eletric)

As far as the Posi lock it has nothing to do with it them not recomending a Detroit. The detroit or non selectable locker with a vacume disconect can cause premature failure due to wear of the r&p. if you had hubs to unlock or a selectable locker it would not be a problem.

[Kaffeene]

DC4wd has ring & pinion gears by "Genuine Gear". Are these a good quality gear. Should I look into Superior or Yukon instead.

[sentinal02]

there's enough guys running auto lockers in the front of YJ's and TJ's both that i don't think it's worth worrying about. i can't see any reason that the vac disco would cause the locker to fail any more than a one piece shaft would. the only difference is the locker doesn't ratchet as often because both the DS and the inner shaft free wheel in 2wd. sounds like a good thing to me since you're putting less wear on the locker itself. the one piece would certainly be stronger because of its design, but unless you convert to the selectable hubs like Rock mentioned, your R&P is still going to be spinning all the time. the only hub conversion kit i know of for the YJ D30 is made by warn and i haven't seen it any cheaper than $500. tack on another 50-100 for the one piece shaft and you might as well swap in an axle that already has the hubs built in.

personally i like the idea of having a disco in place since it gives me the option of normal open style 4wd in the snow so i should get less understeer problems since i don't have to lock in the posilok. without it locked in the pass side tire just free wheels. there's guys who've been running the D30 locked for years with no ill effect. email the company you want to buy and find out why they don't recommend it for a vac disco axle. as far as i know neither torqmasters (Aussie) nor powertrax (lockright) specify that you need one piece shafts for a safe install. are you sure you're not confusing this with the Full time 4wd system issues when installing a locker?

[ROCKREADYXJ]

I just explained why it is not reconended The problem is because the locker never ratchets. The driver side tire is constantly jerking the d-shat and carrier fowards and backwards. This is what causes failure. I have intstalled alot of lockers and an quite experienced with all the recomendations and the ill effect of doing things. Thats why when people who are lost and need help I give them my proffesional opinion. Not well I know a guy who did it and had no problem and so on and so on.

TJ' are non disconect axles so don't use that as a comparison.

I have seen YJ's and XJ's come in for detroits and lockrites breaking things. If you read the Detroit installation manual it say on the first page of cautions NOT RECOMENDED FOR FLANGED STEERING AXLES ON STREET USE. SERIOUS DAMAGE, INJURY OR LOSS OF LIFE MAY OCCUR. Now me as an installer will not install this because of that. It also goes on to say that selectable hubs are highly recomended.
The same thing thing is in the lock rite manual.

So Kaffeene Brother take my advise if you don't want to buy a selectable locker upgrade to hubs or get a new axle. It will work out better for you in the long run. As far as the gears you asked about Genuine gears and Yukon Gears are excelent gears. I sell alot of them and the quality is the same. If you want to spend a little more money for a slightly stronger gear.then you could buy a Superior. But the Yukons and Genuine Gears are My Favorite.

Yukon 4.10 gear is about $125 depending if its HP or LP I will get you a GG price but its about the same sometimes less

[sentinal02]

I have seen YJ's and XJ's come in for detroits and lockrites breaking things. If you read the Detroit installation manual it say on the first page of cautions NOT RECOMENDED FOR FLANGED STEERING AXLES ON STREET USE. SERIOUS DAMAGE, INJURY OR LOSS OF LIFE MAY OCCUR. Now me as an installer will not install this because of that. It also goes on to say that selectable hubs are highly recomended.
The same thing thing is in the lock rite manual.


one more reason to be glad i went with the aussie i guess. no qualification of that sort anywhere. as for the lockright, i downloaded the installation manual, and couldn't find any warning of that sort. just one in the application guide pertaining to the front axle applications.

"The powertrax Lock-right locker works well on the front axle of 4-wheel drive vehicles provided a couple of important guidelines are followed. The Lock-right locker should be used only on vehicles equipped with locking hubs on the front axle or with front axle disconnect. In addition, the vehicle must not be equipped with full time 4-wheel drive. Vehicles equipped with a Lock-right Locker on the front axle should not be operated on the highway with the front hubs locked and 4-wheel drive engaged. Following these guidelines will ensure very on-road drivability while still providing maximum off road traction."

word for word from powertrax at the bottom of the file:
http://www.powertrax.com/jeep1lr.pdf

i don't mean to question your expertise as an installer Rock, but think about this; people don't bring working equipment to the shop. and since by your own admission you don't install these things on these axles, you don't know if the locker was installed correctly in the first place. So while it's certainly possible that YJ's and XJ's are more prone to failure than say a TJ, you're still only seeing the percentage of those installs that fail and can't accurately say how many are out there working just fine without saying "I know a guy who...". That's MO, take it with a grain of salt like everything else. i did enough research on the aussie before buying it to satisfy myself that it would last as long as I need it to without causing other problems. That's good enough for me. Hubs are certainly nice and will definitely take the "what if" factor out of the equation, but for me, the price is too high. Like the old saying goes, wheel it til it breaks then build it better.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

one more reason to be glad i went with the aussie i guess. no qualification of that sort anywhere. as for the lockright, i downloaded the installation manual, and couldn't find any warning of that sort. just one in the application guide pertaining to the front axle applications.

"The powertrax Lock-right locker works well on the front axle of 4-wheel drive vehicles provided a couple of important guidelines are followed. The Lock-right locker should be used only on vehicles equipped with locking hubs on the front axle or with front axle disconnect. In addition, the vehicle must not be equipped with full time 4-wheel drive. Vehicles equipped with a Lock-right Locker on the front axle should not be operated on the highway with the front hubs locked and 4-wheel drive engaged. Following these guidelines will ensure very on-road drivability while still providing maximum off road traction."

word for word from powertrax at the bottom of the file:
http://www.powertrax.com/jeep1lr.pdf

i don't mean to question your expertise as an installer Rock, but think about this; people don't bring working equipment to the shop. and since by your own admission you don't install these things on these axles, you don't know if the locker was installed correctly in the first place. So while it's certainly possible that YJ's and XJ's are more prone to failure than say a TJ, you're still only seeing the percentage of those installs that fail and can't accurately say how many are out there working just fine without saying "I know a guy who...". That's MO, take it with a grain of salt like everything else. i did enough research on the aussie before buying it to satisfy myself that it would last as long as I need it to without causing other problems. That's good enough for me. Hubs are certainly nice and will definitely take the "what if" factor out of the equation, but for me, the price is too high. Like the old saying goes, wheel it til it breaks then build it better.

You can do what ever your little heart desires. I will continue to follow all the guide lines set by the manufacture. A axle disconect is not the same as hubs. You need to disconect the carrier from the drive wheels meaning both of them. An axle disconect only disconect one side and it is a weaker design. I can't even under stand why you are even arguing over this. And you are right there are probably people out there who do have this but it does not make it the right way to do it. check your back lash on your R&P I bet its worse now than it was before you installed your half locker. If you want to. It also does hell on your drive shaft and t-case input bearing to have it spinnning all the time.

Your aussie locker works on the same princables as a lockrite. They are not much different. The aussie is a cheaper version made out of the US. Not saying that its bad just thats how they can keep the price down.