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Lockers hrm what to choose? Frnt n Rear

M

motofool

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well i been reading that recent Lock Right post and that seems like a nice unit i want some more opinions

why choose one unit over the other

which is stronger a detroit or a lockright?

when a stock dana 44 or 14boltff dif fails is it usually the housing or the spider gears?


air lockers are outa my price range at this point.

truck gets daily driven so keep that in mind.

if you have a locker suggestion that isn't a detroit or lockright post up why it would be a good unit to try..
 
Detroit for the 14bff and a lockright for the D44.

A detroit is stronger then a lockright because it replaces the carrier also where a lockright does not.

A 14bff usually doesn't fail. A D44 will fail at the axle ujoint or the inner axleshaft near the splines where it necks down. It can fail other places but those are the most common.

Housings usually don't fail. You can break housing but it is usually from jumping the truck.

You choose the detroit for strength. You choose the lockright for the cash shavings and the ease of install.

To install a detroit in a D44 or 10 bolt front you must have your axle gears resetup because the detroit replaces the stock carrier. In the rear a detroit is drip in just like a lockright.

Harley
 
The 14B lockers are all within $50-$75 of each other (when I bought my detroit <7/03 the lock right was only $10 cheaper) The cheapness of a detroit is the biggest benifit of a 14B IMO.
 
I had a lockright in the rear of my 74 blazer DD and it worked fine off-road. The only thing that I noticed was some occasional binding when parking in tight spaces on the street. I just bought a used Detroit (e-bay $200) for the rear of my 75 and so far it's much better on the street (hardley notice it's there), then the lockright. Jeg's sells the lockright for the Dana 44 for $192, and I've seen two used Detroit's for the 14 bolt sell for under $300 in the last month on ebay. Good luck.
 
The Detroit is stronger.

A Detroit for a Dana 44 is only $50 cheaper than a ARB. A Detroit in a Dana 44 would then be blatantly stupid in my book.

Dana 44s and ten bolts blow up at three points: Spider gears, universal joints (usually taking out the ears on one or both shafts), or inner shafts.
 
That is the beauty of the locker. It replaces the spider gears. Making a weak point stronger. You can break a lockright, but you can break any locker. It usually happens when an axleshaft lets go. The binding force gets released and rebounds. That is very hard on a locker.

Marv Springer ran lockrights front and rear in his Green Blazer, and I think he only ever damaged 1 lockright after an axle broke. I know he wore one out. The teeth wore down from passing each other and it wouldn't engage anymore. He said he just switched the locker 180* inside the diff so the non worn side of the teeth engaged now and he ran it some more.

Harley
 
I agree 100%. Dan (aka krazie87K5) broke his stub shaft and his Lock-Right survived. I have another friend that used to have a detroit up front--and his broke when an axleshaft failed.

Anything can break if you beat on it hard enough. I ordered the lock right for myself and we'll see how it holds up.

The comparison to the above ARB doesn't make much sense to me. Sure, the detroit for a D44 might cost close to the same as the ARB, but then you need a compressor, and it's much more involved to install an ARB.

I personally think I'm going to be very happy with the front lock right. It allows your right foot to turn it on and off, and it will give me the traction I desire at a very attractive $319 to the door. Can't beat that!

If I break it, I'll choose something else next time, but I would like to at least try this Lock-right and see how it goes.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The comparison to the above ARB doesn't make much sense to me. Sure, the detroit for a D44 might cost close to the same as the ARB, but then you need a compressor, and it's much more involved to install an ARB.


[/ QUOTE ]

The ARB will cost substantially more if you buy it instead of build it. Otherwise you save a grand total of $30 when you buy a Detroit over an ARB. If you can handle the gear setup of a Detroit then you can handle installing an ARB. The air requirements of an ARB is miniscule. It's not like you need a York that delivers 7 cfm at idle to keep it locked up. You can run an ARB on a 5 gallon tank of air for an entire weekend if you don't have leaks.

I have no complaints about my LockRights. I put them in my truck for quite a bit less than what one Detroit or ARB would've cost. And LockRights have gotten even cheaper in the last 9 months. But an ARB is far superior to a LockRight or Detroit in my mind.
 
so i think what im hearing is detroit for the rear and lock right for the front..

im gonna get new shafts for the dana 44 later maybe moser or superior i dunno yet..

why is an arb stronger i hear of people having to replace solenoids and them breaking them the first time out n such.. im sure if i had a professional install it and had a compressor they might be a good round but 2000$ or more is too much for me.
 
I totally agree that an air tank could be used, but if you run out of air, or it leaks, or you rip the lines off, all of a sudden, no locker.

As long as I have a right foot, I can easily engage my automatic lockers. That said, it would be nice to be able to shut the front one off and still have 1 wheel drive up front...but I think simply pulling the shifter into 2wd will accomplish that task easily.
 
Well, a electric air pump you buy at walmart for airing up tires out of your cigarette lighter costs about $20 and will air up your tank no problem. I'm trying to remember, but if you lose an air line to the ARB chances are you lost your brake line.

I'm working off memory, but isn't the pneumatic actuator able to be moved from outside of the differential case? I've seen the ARB carrier for a Dana 30 but I've never actually physically seen the part that makes it move.

Better yet, do you have any pictures of the pneumatic actuator? I'm willing to bet I can make an electric one unless it is something crazy.
 
I've never felt the need to research an ARB as I'm not that rich, however, I've never experienced any situation where I'd want to shut off my rear locker. Front remains to be seen as I haven't installed it yet, but I doubt I'll miss being open up front.

Besides, if I wanted 1 wheel drive up front I'd just unlock a hub, although I do agree that open diff beats locked with only one hub locked in.
 
I bought a Noslip locker from power trax for my front D60, it's great, easy install. i got it from Summit for $297 + s/h /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've never felt the need to research an ARB as I'm not that rich

[/ QUOTE ] I hear ya there /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif IF I had the money, a ARB in a D60 up front would be nice, but I don't see that in my near or far future, LOL.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I bought a Noslip locker from power trax for my front D60, it's great, easy install. i got it from Summit for $297 + s/h /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

And I thought mine for $304 was a steal. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif
 
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