I'm pretty excited to be locked front and rear now, so I just had to share.
I did a lot of searching online, and I had narrowed my choices to Aussie or Lock-Rite. I went with the Aussie for a couple of reasons.
I found people who sang the praises of Lock-Rites and also those that cursed them to eternity. I didn't find one complaint about the operation of the Aussie locker.
The only complaints I found on the Aussie were installation problems, and every one of them I found ended with the original complainant thoroughly impressed with Aussie Locker's tech support, and all issues resolved.
I noticed that they are very quick to actually post on a couple of different boards when people have problems or concerns. One that I found was very interesting. The topic of how the Aussie Locker was identical to the Lock-Rite, and the owner of Aussie Locker had been the one that the developed the Lock-Rite came up in a thread on some board, I think it was for classic broncos. The actual president of Aussie Locker posted and he did help develop the Lock-Rite and later left the company. Then he met some Australian engineers that had developed a design for a locker, and that's where the Aussie Locker came from. And he also said there are 21 points of difference between the two lockers.
The price is right too, $239 from www.offroadlockers.com
There's quite a bit of info on the Aussie Locker over on Pirate.
The only drawback for us GM guys is that they are currently only making lockers for the D44. GM corporate axle applications are supposed to be coming soon.
My good buddy from CK5land, jiminycricket, drove up to help me out.
It took us a good part of the day, but we spent some time with what I call analysis paralysis. Also ended up having to do some repair on my spindles.
A couple of places in the proceedure calls for checking gaps. The final one is .145-.170, so it requires combining several guages together, at least with my set. Well somebody kept having problems with the calculator - um yeah that would be ME
. We probably spent a total of 2 hours scratching our heads and deliberating about whether or not we were doing the measuring right and if it was within tolerance.
I would recommend to anyone installing an Aussie in the future, that they purchase new side gear thrust washers, I found them online at www.completeoffroad.com, couldn't seem to find anyone local.
I didn't actually buy new thrust washers, and James & I ended up pulling apart another D44 I had to scavenge thrust washers. Actually we took one from each carrier. Both carriers had one washer that had a concave shape to it, and this was messing up the first tolerance measurement they ask you to check.
Another thing they have you check is the hardness of the cross shaft, but mine was fine. If it's not, you need to replace it; be ready for that possibility. According to some searching I did online, Aussie feels that the Dana 35 is really the only axle that commonly has this problem, so currently it is the only kit they sell that includes a new cross shaft.
With the Dana 44, you will have to remove the ring gear to get the cross shaft out. I was a little leary about having to pull my carrier out, since I've never done more to a differential than pull the cover. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected.
I went out and tested things on the dirt piles in the empty lot next to my shop. I was able to take some lines that I had failed at before. In the past I had just dug in with 3 tires, and this time I crawled over with all 4.
Couldn't tell that the turning radius was affected. The only thing I really noticed with the steering is that the front tires were much more forcible about wanting to go back to straight, let go of the steering wheel and it's spinning back to straight.
Here's a few poser shots:
Again huge thanks for the help from jiminycricket
- yes he does more than just post in the lounge 
. Without him I don't know if I'd ever finished, at least not without pulling all my hair out.
Can't wait to try it out on the trail.
I did a lot of searching online, and I had narrowed my choices to Aussie or Lock-Rite. I went with the Aussie for a couple of reasons.
I found people who sang the praises of Lock-Rites and also those that cursed them to eternity. I didn't find one complaint about the operation of the Aussie locker.
The only complaints I found on the Aussie were installation problems, and every one of them I found ended with the original complainant thoroughly impressed with Aussie Locker's tech support, and all issues resolved.
I noticed that they are very quick to actually post on a couple of different boards when people have problems or concerns. One that I found was very interesting. The topic of how the Aussie Locker was identical to the Lock-Rite, and the owner of Aussie Locker had been the one that the developed the Lock-Rite came up in a thread on some board, I think it was for classic broncos. The actual president of Aussie Locker posted and he did help develop the Lock-Rite and later left the company. Then he met some Australian engineers that had developed a design for a locker, and that's where the Aussie Locker came from. And he also said there are 21 points of difference between the two lockers.
The price is right too, $239 from www.offroadlockers.com
There's quite a bit of info on the Aussie Locker over on Pirate.
The only drawback for us GM guys is that they are currently only making lockers for the D44. GM corporate axle applications are supposed to be coming soon.
My good buddy from CK5land, jiminycricket, drove up to help me out.
It took us a good part of the day, but we spent some time with what I call analysis paralysis. Also ended up having to do some repair on my spindles.A couple of places in the proceedure calls for checking gaps. The final one is .145-.170, so it requires combining several guages together, at least with my set. Well somebody kept having problems with the calculator - um yeah that would be ME
. We probably spent a total of 2 hours scratching our heads and deliberating about whether or not we were doing the measuring right and if it was within tolerance.I would recommend to anyone installing an Aussie in the future, that they purchase new side gear thrust washers, I found them online at www.completeoffroad.com, couldn't seem to find anyone local.
I didn't actually buy new thrust washers, and James & I ended up pulling apart another D44 I had to scavenge thrust washers. Actually we took one from each carrier. Both carriers had one washer that had a concave shape to it, and this was messing up the first tolerance measurement they ask you to check.
Another thing they have you check is the hardness of the cross shaft, but mine was fine. If it's not, you need to replace it; be ready for that possibility. According to some searching I did online, Aussie feels that the Dana 35 is really the only axle that commonly has this problem, so currently it is the only kit they sell that includes a new cross shaft.
With the Dana 44, you will have to remove the ring gear to get the cross shaft out. I was a little leary about having to pull my carrier out, since I've never done more to a differential than pull the cover. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected.
I went out and tested things on the dirt piles in the empty lot next to my shop. I was able to take some lines that I had failed at before. In the past I had just dug in with 3 tires, and this time I crawled over with all 4.
Couldn't tell that the turning radius was affected. The only thing I really noticed with the steering is that the front tires were much more forcible about wanting to go back to straight, let go of the steering wheel and it's spinning back to straight.
Here's a few poser shots:
Again huge thanks for the help from jiminycricket
- yes he does more than just post in the lounge . Without him I don't know if I'd ever finished, at least not without pulling all my hair out.Can't wait to try it out on the trail.
Ya, that was fun!
