lockright problems

Elliott

Elliott

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
Well I hate this effing lockright in my 8.8, it has given me nothing but problems. I changed the fluid this weekend and put on a fresh gasket and new oil and have driven it around about 150 miles so far. On the way home from work tonight I get a wierd vibration in the rear. When I pull off the exit the lockright is continually clicking even when going straight. It does not click when generous throttle is applied (like on the highway). I felt the rear diff cover and it was BLAZING hot but they diff fluid was full as could be. The pins and springs appeared to be in good shape when I checked them. WTF is going on here? TIA!
 
How old is the locker? Have you had any major breakage?

I've seen similar symptoms in the front of a vehicle. The guy had broken both front hubs. When the hubs broke, the shoulders on the teeth of the locker rounded slightly. You couldn't really tell they were rounded unless you were specifically looking for it.

Anyhow, the exact same symptoms occured. Going straight, the locker would click and pop which turned out to be one side of the locker slipping. It sounds like yours may be doing the same thing. When you apply "generous throttle", additional outward force is applied to the coupler teeth which keep it from slipping.

Powertrax or the original retail vendor replaced the locker in the case I'm talking about under warranty. It's worth checking into.

Just my .02
 
I really don't think this is it, but it's something to double check in the process of elimination. In the installation manual there is a spec on the distance between the drivers. .140 ish to .170 ish.
 
Elliott said:
Well I hate this effing 8.8, it has given me nothing but problems.
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you.

Check your tires. Then check to see if your carrier is cracked.
 
While Shawn doesn't like the 8.8's, he's right, the carrier is the weak point in it. If your running a lockright inside the carrier, chances are that you might have cracked it. (the carrier, not the lockright) Most people running 8.8's replace the carrier with a detroit locker.
 
I know the carrier is the weak point unfortunatley but I have no $$ for a detroit right now. As for the lockright, me and shawn are pretty much on the same page.

I did just recently get a new set of 35's. What do you mean check the tires? they are the same size and aired up properly.

BTW the locker is about a year and 1/2 old and has quite a few tellico and uwharrie runs on it. Anyone have an old 8.8 carrier and spider gears laying around?? thanks.
 
Even though the tires are new, shit happens in manufactoring. Powertrax manual call for the tires to be within 3/8" circumference of each other.
 
rbo1577186 said:
Even though the tires are new, shit happens in manufactoring. Powertrax manual call for the tires to be within 3/8" circumference of each other.
Click to expand...


Not picking on you (because you are basicly correct) but this is a pet peeve with me.

To me this is just a way for them to cover their @$$.
(AKA - duck out on the warranty)

For 3/8" difference in circumfrence to mean anything.
You would have to ALWAYS be on smooth, flat roads, and never drive around a curve, or on a crowned road, or or or...

Come on - ANY curve in the road is going to make a greater difference in rotational travel than 3/8" in tire circumfrence. (Or even 3/8" diameter. Which would make it more like 1" diff in circumfrence.)

I have never bothered to do the math, but for one of our engineering students... Figure out the difference in travel for a 35" tire when one tire is 60" outside of the other (Typical WMS) going around even a few degrees of turn.

Sorry -
[/RANT]
 
Rob said:
While Shawn doesn't like the 8.8's, he's right,
Click to expand...

How many spare or broken 8.8s do you have at your house?

Now, how many working, ready to hang 8.8s to you have at your house?

Right.... that's what I thought. :flipoff2:
 
To me this is just a way for them to cover their @$$.
(AKA - duck out on the warranty)
Click to expand...

No Doubt.

OK, I'm missing something...... I thought that the resistance from a tightened turning radius (while off the gas) is what allow the locker to disengage. If the difference of the tire's circumferences are off too much wouldn't it simulate turning thus causing the locker to want to disengage (clicking) while going straight? Or am I way off base....??
 
I have never bothered to do the math, but for one of our engineering students... Figure out the difference in travel for a 35" tire when one tire is 60" outside of the other (Typical WMS) going around even a few degrees of turn.
Click to expand...

take this for what its worth, as i have no idea what a typical radius of curvature is for a curve in the road, i used a radius of curvature of 200 feet, which seems like a fairly sharp curve, and found that for every 100 feet the outside tires travel, the inside tires will travle about 97.5 feet, the distance in travel will not depend on the tire size, only on the width of the axle, and the radius of the curve

popped some numbers in for a 500 foot radius curve, and for every 100 feet the outside tires travel, the inside ones will go about 99 feet,

so the differences we are talking about here arent huge, but a traveling in a straight line on 35 inch tires , with one tire being of 3/8 inch circumference larger than the other, for the small tire to travel 100 feet, the larger tire will want to travel about 4.1 inches farther, much less than the 2.5 feet difference from going around the turn i calculated above, or the locker will have to ratchet about 13degrees of a complete rotation, obviously not hardly enough for one or two teeth to skip on the couplers, so i think that 3/8 thing is complete crap
 
rbo1577186 said:
No Doubt.
OK, I'm missing something...... I thought that the resistance from a tightened turning radius (while off the gas) is what allow the locker to disengage. If the difference of the tire's circumferences are off too much wouldn't it simulate turning thus causing the locker to want to disengage (clicking) while going straight? Or am I way off base....??
Click to expand...


good point, but from looking at some numbers, it seems like a tire beign slightly off is not at all different from going around a long curve in the interstate, which will be a much larger radius than the ones i punched in the calculator, but nonetheless, if you stay on the gas the whole time, at some point its going to have to differentiate, its just what we get used to driving with lockers, they do some funny stuff
 
You're forgetting about scrub, though. Big turns on the freeway, the tires will scrub off most of that difference. It'll wind up the axles a little and twist the suspension a bit, which is why push changes when you get out of the gas.

But if you've got a defective tire or a tire that's low on psi, it'll give a locker fits. Every time you get in and out of the throttle, the locker is locking and unlocking to relieve the bind in the axles, which changes the steering push, causing the vehicle to pull one way, then the other, etc. Small differences in tires work like wide curves.... big differences in tires work like tight turns.
 
I had the same problem, except for the heat, in a gm10 bolt. I took it apart and measured everything several times. It ended up being rounded teeth on the lock-rite. If you can't get a new one under warranty, you may as well throw it away. I put mine in the front where it doesn't affect highway driving.:driver:
 
rbo1577186 said:
No Doubt.
OK, I'm missing something...... I thought that the resistance from a tightened turning radius (while off the gas) is what allow the locker to disengage. If the difference of the tire's circumferences are off too much wouldn't it simulate turning thus causing the locker to want to disengage (clicking) while going straight? Or am I way off base....??
Click to expand...
You are right on the money. Also if a tire is 3/8 different ,every time the tire rotates it will ad 3/8 of travel ,after so many rotations the locker has to jump a gear. Driving at highway speeds how often will the locker click?
 
Just a thought, but it seems like some of ya'll are thinking that the difference in travel between the tires will need need to be equal to or greater than the width of the gear teeth to cause them to skip. correct me if i'm wrong but i'm thinking the difference only has to be just enough to make the tooth pop over the edge of the opposing tooth. so instead of saying the difference in travel has to be maybe 3/16ths it only has to be say 1/32nd or something.
 
These lockers are designed to ratchet.
It shouldn't hurt them.
In off-road use or other slow speed turns, they will ratchet a few times to make a turn.

I think the problem lies when there is a missmatch from one side to the other, on the open road, the ratcheting is constant, creating heat and accellerated wear. And of course at higher speeds the ratcheting is more violent.

I do know that with a low tire on one side, the locker will raise cain.
But I still have a hard time with the idea of a small difference in circumference making it work that much harder than the curves on a country road.

Not saying it isn't a problem, just that IMO it shouldn't be a problem.
 
how do i get the c-clips out of this thing?

I bought the locker already installed in the carrier and just installed it with the new ring and pinion. Now I'm trying to get it out but I see no way of getting out the c-clips to pull the shafts. The springs and pins are out and all the brakes pulled so i can move the shafts around a little bit.
 
i dont know why I can edit posts but yea i got it taken care of. The teeth on the locker appear to be in good shape (looks new). Perhaps it was the crappy wheel spacer that was making all the binding type noises. I will post pics of the teeth though so you can tell me what you think. THanks!
 
If the jeep is in neutral what would cause the carrier to spin easily (in the forward direction) but incredibly difficult in the opposite direction? maybe problems with the transfer case? i want to fix all of this before I get back out on the road. Thanks!
 
Elliot, you need to learn to troubleshoot issues. If you suspect the t-case, disconect the drive shaft, seperating the different componenents from each other. Spin the carrier, and see if you have the same issue. Start seperating what you think might be the issue, and go from there.
 
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