I just purchased a Detroit for the sterling under my Cherokee. I was wondering what I should get for the front and I've heard experiences vary with different axles.
My jeep will travel on the road for short trips but if I keep the hubs unlocked the front locker shouldn't effect it right?


I know there's some rock crawling F250's out there so what is working good locker wise. I would like to avoid the costs of an ARB if possible.
Lockright or detroit would be best.



The axles are out of an 03 PSD.
Also the GVW of the Jeep is less than 5000 lbs loaded so it should be a bit easier on it than the PSD they were made for.

Thank you

 

Correct - with the hubs unlocked, there should be no binding of the front axle drive train on the pavement.

I'm installing a Detroit locker on my Dana 60 kingpin front axle, which is being swapped into my 2001 Ford SD to replace the factory Dana 50.

The factory Dana 50 that was in my truck blew apart the carrier that contains the spider gears. The truck has 40" Nitto Mud Grapplers on it. The Lock-Right mounts within the carrier. So the carrier remains in use in the differential when using a Lock-Right locker. The Detroit replaces the spiders and the carrier containing the spiders. Does away with the carrier that blew apart on my Dana 50.

 

Awesome thanks a lot! I guess I'll pass on the lockright then lol.

 

As long as its noty a daily driver on the street in bad weather conditions in my experience unlocked you'll be alrught. Wet roads, snow, ice not a good idea if you want to be safe. In the sand, excellent, but just not hard surfaces or ice etc, steering un safe and you could break something.

 

Even unlocked?

 

Nope. The front tires shouldn't break traction with the manual locking hubs on the front axle in the unlocked position. Not even on ice.

Now with respect to your rear axle with the Detroit locker; if you break those tires into a spin on winter ice then the vehicle can fishtail in a hurry. When both rear tires break traction with the road surface, the rear end tends to swing around to the direction of lower road surface elevation, and can do so startlingly quickly. I live in Alaska and have experienced snow and ice covered roads for up to 5 months of the year. A Lock-Right or a Detroit locker in the rear axle on icy roads keeps you on your toes. I wouldn't let others borrow or drive my truck with the locker in the rear differential on icy roads.

On roads with decent traction, the locker in the rear axle hasn't posed any control problems. Same with the locker in the front axle, provided the manual locking front hubs are disengaged.

 

What front wheel bolt pattern will you have with the kingpin Dana?

Pop

 

I drove it with a rear detroit locker before when I was running a D44 but I had tru-trac up front. D30 (stock front) don't unlock either.

 

Ha! Didn't think anyone would think or ask about that. The 1988 kingpin Dana 60 has the 8x6.5" wheel stud spacing. I had to drill 1988 kingpin rotors to match the 2001 SD lug spacing - 8x170mm. Also had to have the outside edge of these new lug holes milled out because there was some interference with the head of the lug bolts. Luckily my brother has a milling machine and did that work for me at no cost. And I wanted to maintain the same wheel stud size and threads on each vehicle. All four wheels on each vehicle needed to have the same studs and lug nuts. So I swapped wheel studs from axle to axle. 9/16" x 18 thread for the 1988 F350. 14mm x 2.0 thread on the 2001 SD.

So it does take a little planning and work to convert from the 6.5" lug spacing to the 170mm spacing.

It was easier going the other way. Taking the 170mm spacing down to 6.5". Simply had to drill the holes into the 2001 rotors for the tighter 6.5" spacing. No milling of the rotors required.

The new wheel stud holes are drilled mid way between the original holes to maintain rotor strength.

Another difference is that the frame spacing on the 1988 F350 is 36", while the frame spacing on the 2001 Super Duty is 37". This requires that the mounting plates on the axle tubes be shifted slightly (1/2"), in order to get the axles centered on their new frames.

And finally, I won't have any anti-lock brakes on the front axle of my 2001 Super Duty following completion of this axle swap. But it was still worth it to get away from the unit hub bearing on the Super Duty Dana 50 front axle, and return back to the serviceable front wheel bearings. The kingpin Dana 60 wheel bearings are separated about twice as far apart as they are in the unit bearing hubs. Which means they'll have less torque on them and should last longer under the relatively heavy SD running those large tires. Running 40" tires, the priority was to get the stronger axle and wheel bearing system on the 2001 SD.

I'm actually placing a 2003 Ford Super Duty Dana 60 axle back into my 1988 F350, but that truck is only running 285/75 R16s. The original Dana 50 that came from the factory in my 2001 SD is being scrapped.

 

A very comprehensive explanation!

We watch every little thing around here, and was the reason for my question.

Good work!

(Must be nice to have a brother with a Bridgeport!)

Pop

 

i suspect your cherokee is not a full time 4wd, therefore the front locker will never engage until you go into 4wd via the transfer case. the front locker will only engage when power is applied to it. so wether you run locked or unlocked hubs does not affect the locker.

unless you lose a rear driveshaft, the rear detroit will always engage. this can/will pose driving issues depending on the terrain you are driving on. the rear detroit tends to plow, which is to say, it wants to push you straight. so, in slipery road conditions, you have to be very careful and go slow to overcome that plowing force. on snow/ice, the only way to overcome it, is to stay in 4wd.

just to be clear, drivability will not be hindered with a front locker when driving on the street in 2wd. unlocking the hubs only stops the axle shafts and carrier from turning which is a drag on the engine lowering mpg.

another point. if you lose the rear driveshaft, you can still go into 4wd, effectively front wheel drive, to get off the trail. without a front locker, it is even streetable. with a front locker, front wheel drive is dangerous at best. as you drive, and press and release the go pedal, the front locker will cycle making the jeep bounce all over the road.

just things to consider. i run full detroits front and rear on my jeep, but it is trail only.

hth.

 

Maybe I'm missing something, but are you saying you consider it dangerous to drive your vehicle down roads that have good traction with a full detroit in the front and rear differentials while manual hubs are disengaged/unlocked on the front axle?

I drive 450 highway miles with the front hubs unlocked (I also place my part-time transfer case in 2WD for fuel economy). Then I head offroad. I engage the front hubs, place the transfer case into 4WD and offroad 30 miles in and 30 miles back out to the highway. Then another 450 highway miles with front manual hubs disengaged and transfer case back in 2WD to get back home. I've not experienced any handling difficulties due to the active locker in the rear differential while on the paved highways, gravel roads, or any road surfaces have good traction.

Icy highways are the only road conditions that have posed danger/difficulty with the locker active full time in the rear differential. That's been my experience.

 

nope. of course not. just clarifying when the front locker does play a part. sorry for the confusion.

 

Gotcha.

Thanks for that clarification. Was wondering if you might have had some bad experiences.

 

Roger that! And even nicer when he's willing to operate it to modify my brake rotors! I had him do a third rotor for me so I'd have a spare... while he was in a good mood.