Hello. I have a 97 2.5L TJ. I'm pretty sure I have a D30 front and a D35 in the back. It's my daily driver but I do like to go off road when ever I can. Around here its mostly mud. I need help finding the proper gear ratio and lockers. I don't know what the difference is between different lockers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Yes you have a Dana 30 up front and a Dana 35 in the rear so any locker I'd install would go up front only. Do you have to use 4x4 during the winter to get around on snow or ice covered roads?
You can find a dana 44 with the same gear ratio as you already have. It must match the ratio up front. I would go selectable locker if you have the $$. ARBs are top of the line. I have an OX locker and I love it
You won't often get stuck with two lockers but I can guarantee you will get stuck all the time if you have no lockers... so you'd certainly need that winch you recommend if you don't have lockers.
Think of it this way... there's always someone in a wheeling group with a winch or strap you can borrow the services of to get unstuck with but you can't borrow the services of a locker or two to prevent you from needing that winch or strap throughout the day. People will come running to help you with their winch or strap but they can't loan you their locker that likely would have kept you from getting stuck in the first place.
20 years of wheeling says I'd give up my Warn winch before I'd give up my lockers. It's seldom I need to use my winch for my Jeep, it's most often used to help other Jeeps without a locker.
Never got an answer to the question of if you have to use 4x4 to get around during the winter for snow or ice covered streets. That makes a huge difference on the right front locker to install.
I was in the same position you are about two months ago. I did a lot of research on different types of lockers and what not. I was very close to getting a Detroit locker in the rear end but I decided that based off of mechanics alone the ARB locker was the best way to go. Thus I got a G2 D44 with 33 spline axles shafts/arb locker for the rear and I upgraded the axle shafts in the D 30 and regeared the front. I'm not into buying things based off of hype alone, I did a lot of research on this and Jerry also gave me some pointers.I don't do crazy offroading yet but my plan is to take some trails after the winter. I feel like I can do that now with ease based off of the set up that was recommended to me in the research that I've done
OX offers air actuated lockers with a small cylinder integrated into the differential cover now. They also offer manual cable actuated and electronic cable actuated options. I plan on going with the air actuated OX to replace my blown rubicon locker.
It's an automatic locker as is a Lockrite, No-Slip, and EZ-Locker is. That means its normal mode is to be locked, and it automatically unlocks (the outside wheel in a turn ratchets) so you can turn left or right. It automatically locks back up again once you're driving straight again. It easily does all that when it's in the front axle and you're in 2wd since there's no significant amount of torque passing through it when the front axle isn't being driven by the transfer case while in 2wd.
An automatic doesn't unlock nearly as easily when there's torque/power being transmitted to (through) it... like it's hard to pull a wrench off a bolt if you have pressure on it but easy once you release the pressure. There's torque being passed to (through) a front locker only when you're in 4x4, and there's always torque being passed through it when it's in the rear axle. Which is why lunchbox lockers are fine in the front when you're in 2wd but not desirable in the rear axle since there's always torque passing through the rear axle... which makes it hard for a rear automatic locker to unlock when you're on the street which is why they're not recommended in the rear for Jeeps that see much street time.
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