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who runs a spool

jaysonsk5

jaysonsk5

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
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Location
eastern iowa
who runs a spool in the front of their trail only rig?
how do you like it? do you wish you had gotten a locker?
i have a welded rear and plan on a home made hydro set up.
i am also going to run yukon shafts in the 60 that i'm swapping in. give me some feed back guys
thanx
 
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I plan on running a spool as well, just have to get better gears first!
 
I will be putting one in as soon as I recieve it. I will be going X-over to help me steer.
 
Can some one explain what a spool is and pros and cons thanks.
 
I prefer a solid diff (spool/welded) over a locker for the rear..... but I would not run one in the front. My reasons are this:

1) It's a pain to steer in the rocks.
2) In soft sand, if you're in 2wd and try to steer - it's like putting on the brakes.

Rocks and sand are my favorite places to wheel.... :)

Marv
 
jaysonsk5 said:
who runs a spool in the front of their trail only rig?
how do you like it? do you wish you had gotten a locker?
i have a welded rear and plan on a home made hydro set up.
i am also going to run yukon shafts. give me some feed back guys
thanx
Click to expand...



As great as a welded rear diff is most folks find that a spool'd or welded front diff is just not the way to go - even on a trail only rig.
I see by your signature that you are running a D44 up front - if you do totally lock it up than get plenty of spare shafts ( even if you are using high dollar ones )the traction is so much more than most folks think it will be.
A locker up front will have a slight bit of slack that may help in certain situations but they will always be at risk when a shaft goes.....
My opinion is do not spool the front diff until you have driven several trucks that have one- than make your own mind on what is for you.

Tom
 
He is trading that out for a D60....I just might buy that 44 for the front of my DD....
 
tom, you always have good insight and value what you have to say. i am waiting to change out my 44 for a 60 just waitng on parts. i wheel mostly mud and trails, hill,ect. i was killing the short side shaft in the 44 with it being open, so i was wanting to run the yukon shafts and thinking about the longfeild joints with the spool. i was not likeing the chance of killing a $550 locker if a shaft let go. for the money saved on the spool i can get some beef for the 60 and the spool will not fail. i don't know any one around me that really wheels, most of the guys i know like to hit the mud roads and feilds. i want more for myself than to play in the mud in the rual area that i live in. so i can not drive some one's a spooled front rig cuz most of the guys i know don't even have a locker. i know one guy that is locked in the front only but he has a jeep with 31" rubber so i'm not shure how that would compare to me runing a spool and 44" boggers? thanx for the input, keep it comming!
 
Jason - thanks for da kind words !

I see that you have put some good thought into this already . You logic sounds real good .
The trucks around here that run locked up front ends in the mud really do well . turning the wheels in the mud is not a problem but sterering in the ruts is ( the trucks like to go straight forward instead of crawl up the side banks ). Just as Marv said up above sand running just plain sucks ! Wheel hop is brutal and there is no 2WD high speed running with the hubs locked.
Just be thinking of what the spool will help break when Ya' get throttle happy...... Some folks feel the motor working a lot harder at lower RPM's due to the tremendous traction of the front end not wanting to spin the tires as freely as before .
All in all the traction is both brutal and great ( depends on the situation ) just make sure the fun is more than the suffering.
Good luck and keep us posted !
Tom
 
i plan on runing my k5 hard, lots of throtle. so i was not wanting to blow out a detroit. it seems that i have read that you can brake them and just do not want to kill a part that is that much coin. so has anyone seen this in person? should i just order up the spool? swap it later if i don't like it? anyone run slugs with a spool, or is that too much? do you need to run the lockouts to make it easy to make the tight turns? anyone run a spool with big tires?
 
I have both front and rear welded in my 90. I love it. Ran the rocks a few times thi summer at a local 4x4 night and it the rocks I had no problems steering. But it is a little difficult to steer out on flat ground..

If you do either weld or spool our front, definately spend the $$ on some good u-joints like Spicers. Brute Forces will snap often.. Went through a couple sets. Went with the cold forged Spicers last time and tacked the caps in and haven't had a problem since...(on 35's)....
 
are you runing a 60? do you have any thing other than power steering? have tou had any other problems other than the u jounts? thanx-Jayson
 
Im welded up front and rear. As soon as I get the $$ I am going to put a selectable locker in front and rear, front first. Welded front is definatly hard on parts (power steering pump etc.) but the traction is worth it.
 
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