I've got Spartan lockers in my XJ, front and rear for about a year now. I dont have any issues with steering bind, or turning radius. Except for the clicking when one side disengages in turns, they're barely noticable.
You got it shimmed properly then, whoever installed it knew what they were doing. I do know a bunch of folks who got their locker installed by someone who didn’t have the slightest idea on what they were doing, so they ask me to take the locker apart and shim it properly.
Very good presentation. Well done. My 94 XJ doesn't have locking hubs, but I am planning on installing a lunchbox style locker in both front and rear at some point. Thanks again for taking the time to do this. God bless and stay well.
sorry, i dont know if i understood you correctly should my xj cherokee with unitbearings, no locking hubs be fine? i will be replacing the unitbearings/ball joints when i do this job as well.
@@gamer78full i am thinking of going with the no slip or torq locker now leaning more towards the no slip becuase i would rather not hear it, thanks for the response!
Yep! Manual hubs are ideal since you completely disengage the front axle in 2wd, but even in vehicles with unit bearings like jeeps, the locker is not noticeable in 2wd.
I'm having problems with my Spartan Locker on my YJ Dana 30. And one piece Cherokee axle. I was told my locker may be out of spec. Would th as t be the gap. If it's too much. Then what?add shims?.HELP !!!! You have a contact no. I can ask you? Thank you
Thank yo Roberto. I had that problem with my Spartan front locker. A few days ago I had to flat tow my jeep close to 40 miles. Drop my van off, come home in my jeep. I dont k ow what or if the flat towing did, or had anything bvb to do with it. I got on the jeep,made the first turn. Heard a big clunk. I said .oh crap.well. something got un stuck. Knock on wood. It is actually not M too bad. I love my Jeep again. Thanks
I try to stay in the midrange. Naturally the locker will wear out over time, specially if its installed in the rear axle, so you want to compensate for that.
I had just put in Chrome Molly axles and a lunchbox locker everything was fine for months, I had a switch brake I fixed it took it around the block and now the jeep won’t turn at all in 4x4 and it’s binding and grinding I’m hoping anyone on here got any ideas
We don’t get snow in Central America so I can’t tell from own experience but talking with other folks they say it’s livable, you just gotta learn to cruise through turns to prevent the locker from locking and loosing control.
@@gamer78full i also heard from some people they lock only one hub and the other is unlock. I don't know how good it works like this, might be like open diff with only one hub locked because only one wheel turning. Maybe the only difference from open diff is always the same tire turning whenever you turn left or right.
@@stavroschristodoulou9221 when I first installed my locker I tried to drive with only one hub and I didn’t like it, in fact the steering wheel will fight you more.
@@gamer78full thanks for sharing your experience. Very helpful. Do you have lunchbox locker in the rear also? If yes how is behaving in 2wd driving on tarmac road. Do you feel the steering trying to keep straight every time you turn?
@@stavroschristodoulou9221 in the rear I kept a limited slip differential. A few days before ordering my locker I asked a friend of mine who had a rear locked if I could drive his truck around town, and I completely hated the locker. It bangs aggressively if you’re not careful around corners, and parking in tight spots was a pain. If you’re not going to use it to drive around town then you’ll be fine.
I thought lunchbox lockers were auto locking Yeah I thought that was the whole point of them simple and cheap you'd just install them. Can a lunch Box locker also be activated by manually locking hubs? And if so I didn't know that I thought lunch Box lockers were one thing and manually locking hubs were a different thing
They are not the same thing you are right, a auto locker uses spring to make pressure to hole the locker sleeve open when no torque is being applied. Once you put it in 4wd the torque applied to the locker makes the center pin push the 2 sleeve outwards and locks the splines on the locker together making your axle locked up. Once you turn the steering wheel the force from the springs will unlock one side while in 4wd allowing you to turn but losing the locked axle, once you straighten your wheels the center pin will be able to separate the inner plates and alow them to lock with the outer spline. A locking hub is a spring loaded sleeve on the end of the axle that has a spline sleeve, once you set it to lock the spring pushes the sleeve over the splined axle shaft end and locks the hub to the axle in the axle itself. When you set it to unlock the spring will let the sleeve separate from the axle and go back to independently rotating. If you have a locker but only want 1 wheel to turn you can just lock one of your hubs, if you want both then you can lock in both. If you dont have a locker and you have a open diff you must lock in both hubs or the one that isnt locked in will get all the torque and you wont be doing anything but rotating the side that isnt locked in. So by locking both hubs you will have power but only to the wheel with the least amount of traction. In sum a locker will send power to both wheels, while a locked hub only engages the the axle to the wheel. A open diff still acts like a open diff without a locker. Regardless of you have locking hubs or not.
