Locker installation advise

[Sasquach]

After going round and round on what to do with my diffs I have pretty much made up my mind to go with a Detroit locker in the AMC and the Tru Trac up front. I have been tempted to do the lunch box thing but decided I really need to get it right the first time.
I want to do the AMC first and go from there, I have the Warn full float axles and the stock trac loc w/ 3.54 gears. I have no experience with replacing a diff and was looking for any tips on what to expect, I did read the manufactures installation instructions and they seemed fairly straightforward and not "Rocket Surgery".

 

[Old Dog]

Not a bad job if your keeping the same ring & pinion.
You might need a friend that works in a machine shop or somewhere else that can take some measurments for you. You need to know the measurment from across the bearings of both to add or subtract shims for preload. And the distance from the bearing to the ringgear face to help set the gear play.
Measure the gear play in the old gears before you take it apart and set it the same after you put the detroit in.

 

[Sasquach]

Thanks Old Dog...I have the nessesary presision tools and the bearing width makes good sense but explain the gear play to me, I see you have in the ring with the dial on it but what are you doing? and how do you change the "gear play" if needed.

 

[Old Dog]

You adjust the backlash (play) by changing the shims on the ends of the bearings (thking them out of one side and putting them in the other side to keep the preload the same)
You put the indactor on the ring gear and turn it without moving the pinion gear to measure the lack in the gears. You should have between .oo6 to .010. I believe. Anyway what ever backlash you have in the old setup you want to have the same in the new setup so the gears mesh in the same spot.

 

[Old Dog]

Looking at my pix. if you took a shim out of the right side (pinion side) and put it in the left side your backlask would decrease.

 

[Sasquach]

You adjust the backlash (play) by changing the shims on the ends of the bearings (thking them out of one side and putting them in the other side to keep the preload the same)
You put the indactor on the ring gear and turn it without moving the pinion gear to measure the lack in the gears. You should have between .oo6 to .010. I believe. Anyway what ever backlash you have in the old setup you want to have the same in the new setup so the gears mesh in the same spot.

Got it, Thanks for the help!

 

[Sasquach]

Locker came today and of course I tore right into it.
Went pretty smoothly after some good advise and studying the FSM and took about 3 hrs. Went together exactly as it came apart with regards to shims, backlash before .0045" and with Detroit backlash is .0055".
FSM for the AMC calls for .005" to .009" with .008" ideal. I am glad I'm happy with my gear ratio and the fact that the ring and pinion were in excellent cond. cuse it looks to be somewhat of a pain to do the pinion gear and reset the whole thing.

 

[Old Dog]

Good to hear everything went well for ya.

 

[Sasquach]

I wanted to give some feedback after some use with the new setup and Wow what a differance! Was a little skeptical at first driving around the block and thinking "how do I live with this?" but after getting it in the dirt I was transformed into a believer! The CJ will no go effortlessly in 2W were it would not go before in 4W!
Now for the front, I was thinking Trutrac Limited slip but not so sure that's what I really want, Is it gona be much better than the open diff? Don't want to impact the steering with a locker either though so maybe an Elocker?

 

[Old Dog]

my truetrac has done me well and does make a difference. With that being said it only does well if both tires are on the ground, if you get one in the air it will spin the one in the air. (a little brake action can help sometimes)
I'm really thinking about changing to an elocker myself with the kind of wheeling I have been getting into lately.
The jeep would probally like it better if I took it a little easier though.

 

[Sasquach]

Thanks for the input Old Dog. I'm probly the type that's gona keep um on the ground so I guess I will stick with my plan A and do the Trutrac. I want to keep it simple were possible and wires coming out of my diff and swithes in the dash don't qualify as simple were I come from.

 

[Old Dog]

If you don't play in the rock gardens I think your be happy with the truetrac.
You can still streer good and have good traction. Theres only been a couple times I wished I had a locker instead. And to be honest I probally shouldn't have been where I was, but I like to test the cj every now and than.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

Thanks for the input Old Dog. I'm probly the type that's gona keep um on the ground so I guess I will stick with my plan A and do the Trutrac. I want to keep it simple were possible and wires coming out of my diff and swithes in the dash don't qualify as simple were I come from.

damn thats a thing of beauty

 

[Sasquach]

Got the new Tru-trac install completed this morning and will say this, changing the carrier in a Dana 30 is a whole lot more hassle than a model 20 for one simple reason...the shims being inboard the bearings instead of outboard. With the shim pack behind the now pressed on bearing to change your backlash means pulling the bearings back off and that is no easy task without a carrier bearing puller(that I don't have) or using set-up bearings(don't have them either), I determined that I needed only to pull one side and remove one shim and got lucky pulling the one side without ruinig the new bearing and got lucky again that it had the right tolerances when installed.
Now I have to wait till our Dec. Death Valley trip to try it out.

FWI, the carrier bearing puller set I found online was $400 and set up bearings are $80, double what reg. bearings run.

 

[73CJ]

Don't now how I missed this earlier. Well hindsight is 20-20. Take an old carrier bearing and grind the ID out so it slides on easily.

Nobody mentioned checking the wear pattern. Most important. Possibly still good cause you didn't change the gears. But worth checking when opened up.

There are copies of the Dana 44 axle repair manual on the Internet. Really does a good job of explaining.

I had a Tru-Trac on the front, but when 1 wheel went airborne, I had to put the brake on slightly for it to lock. Just can't beat a Detroit F & R. Hard to steer? Not with power steering. If you don't like that, then pull it into 2WD.

You can now go slowly where you had to Bonsai it before.

 

[Sasquach]

Grind the old bearing to slip on/off easily, Those are the the tricks the manuals don't tell you about. Thanks and with any luck I'll remember that the next time.

 

[CJ]

Don't now how I missed this earlier. Well hindsight is 20-20. Take an old carrier bearing and grind the ID out so it slides on easily.

Nobody mentioned checking the wear pattern. Most important. Possibly still good cause you didn't change the gears. But worth checking when opened up.

There are copies of the Dana 44 axle repair manual on the Internet. Really does a good job of explaining.

I had a Tru-Trac on the front, but when 1 wheel went airborne, I had to put the brake on slightly for it to lock. Just can't beat a Detroit F & R. Hard to steer? Not with power steering. If you don't like that, then pull it into 2WD.

You can now go slowly where you had to Bonsai it before.

Grind the old bearing to slip on/off easily, Those are the the tricks the manuals don't tell you about. Thanks and with any luck I'll remember that the next time.

An article I wrote about this in April of 2009... Wish I had seen this earlier also.

Diff Bearing Set-Up Tip. - Jeep-CJ Tech. Articles

 

[gert]

Locker came today and of course I tore right into it.
Went pretty smoothly after some good advise and studying the FSM and took about 3 hrs. Went together exactly as it came apart with regards to shims, backlash before .0045" and with Detroit backlash is .0055".
FSM for the AMC calls for .005" to .009" with .008" ideal. I am glad I'm happy with my gear ratio and the fact that the ring and pinion were in excellent cond. cuse it looks to be somewhat of a pain to do the pinion gear and reset the whole thing.

:rock:Im totally jealous I cant wait til I get to build my axles I also am going to do the Detroit rear and True Trac front...I had the easy locker in my AMC20 and loved it it is so wonderful to have both rear tires locked offroad

 

[Sasquach]

:rock:Im totally jealous I cant wait til I get to build my axles I also am going to do the Detroit rear and True Trac front...I had the easy locker in my AMC20 and loved it it is so wonderful to have both rear tires locked offroad

Make sure you use the above advise if you do the carrier in the Dana 30 .
I wish I did.