Spool vs. Lincoln locker

lomodyj

lomodyj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
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This is for my "trail Jeep" won't see much in the way of road time. Will get trailered to the trail most of the time.

I'm using waggy D44 front, AMC HD20 rear.

Was planning on welding up the diff (Lincoln Lock) on both of them...BUT...With the regear (2.0x to 4.11) I have to buy new (or used) carriers and spider gears. Looked at ebay...nothing. Looked at new, EEEKK! It looks like I can buy a spool cheaper than I can buy a carrier/spiders/pin...

This may sound like a stupid question, but, should I just get the spools and be done with it?
 
id just go ahead and spool it....especially if you have to buy a new carrier and spiders just to weld it. Plus, you always run a chance of a weld breaking or the carrier grenading. They will both have similiar chararistics.
 
Hands down a spool is going to be the strongest and more reliable than anything you can do to lock the differential. I have one in the back of my toyota and I simply love it.

The ONLY down side is it will wear out the tires on the street very fast.
 
I run spools front and rear in my dana 44's. They are great on the trails. Jeep hooks up like crazy. When driving on the street with my swampers, I can hardly tell that I have the spools. When I use the AT's that I bought for street use, the thing barks and bucks like crazy when I make a turn. I'd still do it again though.
 
you wont find a spool for the AMC 20........ unless you are running 2.73 gears in the AMC 20 right now you wont need a new carrier either to go to 4.11's.......

ive been running a lincoln locked 20 for going on 2 years now with no problems
 
I'm welded (REAR only, would never weld the front) only because I didn't want to re-do the gear setup. If you've got everything apart, spool that baby... ;)
 
77jeepcj said:
you wont find a spool for the AMC 20........
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Guess you have not seen Yukon Gears Spool So they are out there.

Thanks for all the input. I think I'm gonna go with the Spool in the rear...possibly do a lunch box in the front...not sure yet.
 
I'm spooled in the rear and love the predictability and strength of it compared to my old lunchbox locker. It does wear the tires faster but theres a tradeoff for everything you do.
 
What does a spool do and how does it work? Also how do you go about lincoln locking the rear?
newb question, but I didnt wanna start a whole new thread just for that
Ryan
 
A spool basically locks the diff up solid, always. Real simple, and strong. It's basically a splined piece of tube that connects the axleshafts.

Lincoln Locking is a nickname for welding the differential. (From Lincoln welders)
 
OOh, how do you lincoln lock the gears, I think I might get that done sometime in the near future instead of buying lockers for my turd 35
 
thebluyak said:
OOh, how do you lincoln lock the gears, I think I might get that done sometime in the near future instead of buying lockers for my turd 35
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welding a 35 is a bad idea. but sounds like fun, till the c-clip shaft comes rolling out. weld it and wheel it till it breaks, then save up for an 8.8 or 9 inch or something else....

weld spider gears...
 
pheery said:
welding a 35 is a bad idea. but sounds like fun. weld it and wheel it till it breaks, then save up for an 8.8 or 9 inch or something else....

weld spider gears...
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If you are gonna weld that D35, you should already have the 8.8 or 9 inch ready to go...the D35 won't last long.

There are several different schools on how to weld up a diff.
Fozzy locker- you only weld between some of the teeth on the spider gears, this gives you some rotation in the carrier...problem is inertia is not on your side and you tend to see these explode with great drama.
Weld spiders- this is what most people do, but it puts a great deal of strain on the carrier and most of the breaks you see (in the diff) with this is a genaded carrier.
Weld it up!- Weld the spiders together then weld them to the carrier. Good and strong. BUT...it has a huge amount of weight and mass...breaks usually happen very loud and there is a lot of collateral damage...

I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with the front D44...all advice is leaning to NOT welding it...Found a good deal on AMC20 spools so I think I'll go that way for it.
 
ah........... how long has that spool been out?.....I know two years ago i couldnt find one and every place said they werent any being made
 
The spool for the 20? Don't know how long it's been out...but I saw one on Ebay (ended last night for waaayyy to much $$$) so I started asking around. PORC (on POR) has them for $159. Peak Empire has them for $160.
 
lomodyj said:
There are several different schools on how to weld up a diff.
Fozzy locker- you only weld between some of the teeth on the spider gears, this gives you some rotation in the carrier...problem is inertia is not on your side and you tend to see these explode with great drama.
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Yeah, that's sort of how my 14 was welded. It's a bit of trouble to weld the spiders together in that two-piece carrier, so the next easist solution was to just fill a couple of the teeth with weld so that the spiders couldn't turn.

It was locked solid to start with.... zero slop. But the weld isn't nearly as hard as the spiders, and the load on the teeth actually started to deform the weld and push it out from between the teeth. It actually got pretty loose before I pulled it and put the Detroit in.

After it started to come apart, it would actually start to differentiate, rotate until it hit the weld, twist the axle, then recoil and repeat. It was really good for backing flange bolts out.
 
Well I would like to do something cost efficient right now, Im goin through a severe budget drought and I would like something to be done with the differtial to give that little bit of an edge, be it at ure or just out back in the mud. I had considered alunch box locker but I got some negative responses and reconsidered for the rear. But possibly the front, would that be to bad of an idea?
 
lomodyj said:
If you are gonna weld that D35, you should already have the 8.8 or 9 inch ready to go...the D35 won't last long.
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depends what size tires too. i think he is only running 31's if i remember right. if that is right, he will be fine....
 
alockright will work fine if you want to run a lunchbox locker......

my welded AMC20 has lasted for a few years and has no slack in it at all....of course the spiders are welded together and the teeth are filled in as well

contact Anthony at www.swissmountain4x4.com and get a quote from him on the spool
 
thebluyak said:
Well I would like to do something cost efficient right now, Im goin through a severe budget drought and I would like something to be done with the differtial to give that little bit of an edge, be it at ure or just out back in the mud. I had considered alunch box locker but I got some negative responses and reconsidered for the rear. But possibly the front, would that be to bad of an idea?
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Contact tim88xj, he has a cherokee d44 w/ a lunchbox already in it. See if he is still willing to sell it. :rolleyes:
 
Lomod... I had a spool in the front of my junk after the pins broke in the lock-right... it sucks... You need something up front...
 
Rich said:
Lomod... I had a spool in the front of my junk after the pins broke in the lock-right... it sucks... You need something up front...
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That's the way I'm leaning Rich. Was looking like a cheap alternative to ANY other kind of locker...I've got the powertrax in the front of my YJ, it's fine on the trail with the Posi-Lock disco (cheaters twin stick), so I may go lunch box for the Commando front as well (twin stick D300).
 
Saf-t Scissors try this guy for a 14 spool, lots of nice beefy stuff;

http://www.ouversonengineering.com/home

As for spooling a 20 or 35, you're just gonna spend twice as much 6 months from now when you shred that rear (if you're driving it on the street/rocks). My 2 cents :) .
 
SSWaters said:
As for spooling a 20 or 35, you're just gonna spend twice as much 6 months from now when you shred that rear (if you're driving it on the street/rocks)..
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I would agree with the 35, would agree if I had the Narrow track 20 out of a CJ...what I've got is the HD20 out of a waggy. Everything I've read and heard says it's stronger than a 44.
 
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