Detroit locker

[Tinman22]

Has anybody found a good reliable source for Detroit locker replacement parts? I've tried all the local parts stores,Dutchman axle,Randy's ring and pinion, and Yukon. I keep getting the same info. It seems that all the replacement parts (and maybe the complete units) are made in Mexico and replacement parts are made to order.( kinda like a whopper?) and hard to get, I keep hearing "buy a new one" kinda silly to spend 4-5 hundred dollars for one side gear and a spring retainer! The axle is a gm 14 bolt the whole locker p/n is 225s10 .Anyway if anybody has any ideas I could use them I really don't want to reassemble with an open diff just to redo it in a week or month.

 

[GARGOYLEJEEPER]

No such thing, because when you break 1 of those bad boys it becomes scrap.

 

[Tinman22]

Yeah I know. There not supposed too break but they do. The last one fractured the center and rather than save the parts I gave them to a friend that needed them to fix his. They did come oem (rare) so I've been thinking if I found a 14b with one for cheap I could fix the rear and build a 14b steer axle from the carcass using parts from one of these scrap 60,s then at least I only need to have one set of spare parts. Right???

I think I'll drive the stock one that never breaks too the junk yard on Saturday and dig for an axle.

 

[GARGOYLEJEEPER]

Yes that is what I did before. I read a article on the Detroit and they did not want the liability of someone repairing it then getting sued. Put a add in the classifieds. I had to search for a long time to find the right parts.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

There ain't any.
I've run front and rear DL's for 23+ years, and have never had any issue.
LG

 

[Tinman22]

They are a good locker and the set in the 440 jeep are as good as new and never been a problem but it doesn't quite see the use That this one does.as far a breaking things goes this ones a clear winner. 360 worn out several times front 30 gone,front 44 gone twice,front 60 gone, narrowed 60 new this winter made with better parts this time (fingers crossed) 435 4 speed rebuilt several times, Dana 300 two times (4:1 failures) two tattoos rear drive shafts (bombproof yes bend proof no) the first 14 bolt got bent pretty badly and blew the locker (due to the bend it burned up a side gear and center) second 14 bolt lost a spring in the locker which took out the retainer and side gear. So you see it all breaks (at least for me!) and I hope it keeps breaking.

 

[Peanut Butter]

... 360 worn out several times front 30 gone,front 44 gone twice,front 60 gone, narrowed 60 new this winter made with better parts this time (fingers crossed) 435 4 speed rebuilt several times, Dana 300 two times (4:1 failures) two tattoos rear drive shafts (bombproof yes bend proof no) the first 14 bolt got bent pretty badly and blew the locker (due to the bend it burned up a side gear and center) second 14 bolt lost a spring in the locker which took out the retainer and side gear...

I've been blessed with joints in my body that are falling apart at an alarming rate as I increase in age. Please don't ever ask me if I want a ride! I don't think I could take the abuse. Rod

 

[Old Dog]

Tinman try giving terry a call at tkh fab he might have a broken one laying around. TKHFab

 

[Tinman22]

I'll give them a call. Kind of a hike but maybe I'll go to rustys and make a day of it. I called drive train "specialists" who actually have many Detroit parts on their site like a replacement h.o.a and parts for other detroits. When the girl answered I told her I needed parts for a Detroit locker and she sent me to someone else. I told that Pearson I needed a side gear and spring washer for a Detroit locker for a 14 bolt gm and gave him the locker number 225s10. He then asked me for the part numbers for the parts I needed??????? Uh umm duh. "I don't know" I said "don't you" "no" he replied and then asked me if I had a pen and something to write on and then proceeded give me a tutorial on how to navigate the eaton website and find my part numbers so I could call him back with them,then he could order them. The problem is I'm not really that smart. The fact that I spelled navigate without it turning blue on the screen impresses only me. So I think I will go the route that has always worked before.......the junk yard. If I'm lucky I will find one in the immense pile of 14 bolt axles at my favorite yard for a couple of hundred bucks. And end up with a housing to make a front axle in the process. At the very least it's snowed a foot here and it's supposed to be 40 on Saturday and this yard lets me drive the little jeep into there 80 acres of junk and mud!!!

 

[Hedgehog]

Sorry, sort of off topic, but what do you do with this jeep? Are you racing? No put down or negativity here, just wondering what your doing to tear up equipment that most believe are about as strong as parts get.

 

[Tinman22]

I dont think my stuff breaks anymore than the other guys stuff. Every time we go out some wonderful piece of college engineered goodness breaks. 14 bolt axles were given lousy plug welds to hold the center section to the tubes that will allow it to twist even if the tubes are welded given the right conditions. Weight/torque/traction/lack of skill. A friends 50 Chevy 468/GM Turbo 400 /205 on 44" boggers twisted 4 times in one weekend. Finally he got rid of them and they were replaced with a set of plated h072's FIXED. The Dana 300 is strong for sure, fill it with parts like welded 4:1 gear sets and they too break then believe the manufacturer when they say "we've never seen this before" and replace them with a warranty set and then they break. Finally you replace them with some lowmax gears. FIXED. Amc motors another engineering exercise in Stupidity, regardless of what dad says or what your grandpa,cousin or sisterwife says they DO need more oil pressure than ummm 0 at idle. So after you grenade two you port the oil pump then drill,tap and restrict the drivers side lifter galley (which only feeds lifters and rockers) forcing it to the pass side wich feeds everything else add a couple of bypass lines and you guessed it. FIXED. Buy a used 14 bolt, pick the one that when the perches were removed the remover cut into the axle tube and his "certified welder buddy" welded the cuts shut using the latest in welding equipment and no skill. Now go fall off of a ledge in Attica in. Land on the rear axle so that it bends where the aforementioned hack welded the crack and the "indestructible 14 bolt bends , placing a bend on the axle shaft itself, thereby putting stress on the locker and destroying it. TAH DAH! No not racing,not hard core wheeling, not awesome power. More like Lemony Snickets goes wheelin. I don't remember any wheeling adventure where I didn't break something, I'm not saying they never occured I just don't remember them. I do remember running to the store with a friend in the little jeep once, we got too close to a local wheeling place so we had to go "see who's there" ended up shoving a stick through the sidewall with no jack and no lug wrench. So we drove it up onto ledge till the flat was hanging took it off with an adjustable wrench we found on the floor and put the 33" jcpenny high rider spare on with the other three 235/75/15's and drove home. I remember that.

 

[Old Dog]

Tinman, lol
Yea I've seen people break a little bit of everything, Detroit lockers and every
kind of rearend you can think of. Sometimes you think to yourself "how did he do that".

 

[Tinman22]

Oh! So you've seen me out wheeling! Really none of this stuff should break. Usually it doesn't and everything goes "well"

I guess I'm of a different line of thought. I hardly ever remember the easy/good times. The time that went right.

I don't remember one single time my wife buying potato chips. But I do remember the time she made her own. We were living in a rental with an old stove (think June cleaver era) and the knob for one of the burners wasn't indexed correctly after she was done she turned the burner "off" wich was really high and she left the pot of oil on the burner. Our daughter was 2ish at the time and on her way out of the living room into the hall way she looked into the kitchen,turned to us and said "kitchens on fire" and walked away. No big deal I guess to a 2 year old! We got it out only lost the curtains over the sink ( that's where I put the flaming pot of oil) and the oven hood was kinda burnt. We remember that from time to time and laugh, funny... I know we've bought potato chips before I just can't remember when.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

3:73 R&P, and 37" tires is not the best combo-
LG

 

[Tinman22]

Depends on what your wanting I guess. Probably not for a crawler I agree,same goes for a 200hp six. But the 440 jeep with the 727 has no problem pulling them in any range. Likewise the other jeep with the 360 and the np435 has no problem. With a stock 2.62:1 low the effective crawl would be 65.28. But Both have 4:1 low ranges putting the 360 jeep at 99.66 making 1st gear almost useless and the auto jeep at 37.46 still good. (Like I said the 440 wasn't built to wheel hard).

Take a common automatic build up 2.45 first 2.62 low and say 4:88:1 gears you've got 31.3:1 crawl now who would think or say 4:88 gears are not low enough commonly run with 35" tires heck even 5:13 gears only get you a 32.9 ratio still not as low as my 37.4. And I can run 80 on the turnpike at 2800 rpm while the 5:13/35 combo is at a gas sucking 3800! Besides that 3:73 geared 60/14 bolt axle sets from a dually c/c are cheaper and are easier to fit into a jeep using h1 wheels.

 

[Tinman22]

????? T-5 1st gear-4.03:1 x 4:1 low x4.88:1 = 81.03???? And many would say that a T-5 is not the best choice. But not me. The little jeep has an early heavy block and crank AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l ,T-5 ,Dana 300 ,3.54 gears and 31 inch tires it is my favorite jeep to drive.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

A T-5 lives longer when there's the least torque load on it.
I'm on my 2nd T-5 in 30 years.
Pull'd the OEM T-5 at 80K+ miles to R&R the seals due to a leak. Went through it and rebuilt it-just cause
Had just bought my buddy's T-5 and rebuild it(nut'n major)and his is still in my Jeep.
Mine is sit'n on the self. Ready if ever needed.
LG

 

[Tinman22]

I think the T-5 gets a bad rap mostly from lack of understanding and poor judgement along with a healthy dose of plain old abuse.

The wrong lubricant being the first and foremost. Followed closely by abuse.
Mine has 150k plus on it ( the odo quit 3 or so years ago) without failure. It gets wheeled more often than not and has been a daily driver/wheeler since I have owned it. basically stock on 2.5 inch springs and 31" dura tracks. And still gets 20mpg or so.