whcih axle to lock first?

[jared]

04 tj, 5 spd 4 cyl, 4.10 gears, d30 d35 both open

 

i am gonna buy an aussie locker, ut which one should i lock first.

 

a lot of people are saying the front is better, and weld the rear, but i don't know. i know d35's are weak, but its not like i have the power to break it on stock car tires :oops:

 

so my question is which would you lock, and why.

 

and what are the pros and cons of welding the rear.

[DirtyComanche]

You can break a D35 with just about anything. Locked or welded it really doesn't have a chance.

 

 

And if you plan to drive it on the street, a welded rear sucks.

 

 

But a welded front is worse.

[whowey]

Your kinda short of info for a real decent answer.

 

Any street use?

What size/style of tires?

 

Welded rear on anything but a full time trailer queen, is a bad idea. Too much of a drivability sacrifice. But a welded front is 10x worse.

[rockhardzj]

If it's going to remain street worthy, don't weld either the front or rear. I would personally say lock the front first, with a selectable locker, as the front is what meets the rocks first, It has to pull you over. you figure a tire with no power does nothing to get you over. once the front is up and over, the rear is doing a bit less work, IMHO.

That's my two pennies.

[comanchedude]

I have the front locked only on my Comanche and I have not been motivated as of yet to lock the rear,thats how well the front locker works for me

it is outstanding

and you will at some point break the d35 if locked,I have seen them go on the trail often

[JOMJ87]

If you want to do the rear I got a lockrite for a D35 for sale....

 

Cole

[LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW]

Some people would argue that if you are going to use only one locker you should put it up front. That way you won’t have to deal with the adverse on-road driving characteristics because you can unlock your hubs. I say that’s wrong. First of all, many Jeeps don’t have hubs to unlock up front. Secondly, if you are driving up a steep hill all of the vehicle’s weight is on the rear tires, while the fronts may be just scratching the surface instead of digging and pulling. A locker in the rear will dig and fight until you go up, tip over, and get stuck.

 

Now if your going with a selectable locker upfront we are talking something totally different...

[pingpong]

Lock the front... as pointed out if you are going uphill the front might not be getting full traction, but it is easier to pull then push, and more often then not the front will/ can drag the rear over an obstacle. At least from my experience if can get my front tires on it.. I can make it

[Pete M]

I would lock the front because it'd be invisible with normal driving and in the winter the back would be open for better stability on icy roads.

[Oizarod115]

I would lock the front because it'd be invisible with normal driving and in the winter the back would be open for better stability on icy roads.

 

assuming you either have a disconnect axle, or a selectable locker or auto-locker.

[Pete M]

My understanding of an automatic locker is that it only locks when you add power to it. I would never advocate welding up a daily driver (unless it had manual hubs on it).

[CWLONGSHOT]

I have always locked the rear first...then if necessary I add a locker to the front.

 

My TJ is locked F&R while my MJ is rear only.

 

I see the arguments for both, I choose the rear. No problems or regrets.

 

One thing against a front locker. If you plan to drive on the street in 4WD. A front only locker will give you some very strange handling. Could be unsafe under certain conditions, as you kinda need to be able to steer. :D Because of my front locker I won't use 4WD for any kind of extended driving. Just to get thur or over something than its right back to 2WD. But I have a selectable with LS when disengaged.

 

BTW, Any D30 will be invisible with a Aussie in it until you send power to it. I ran my TJ's D30 with a Aussie on the street for about a year, no problems or complaints.

[87manche]

I'm going to say front,

I typically would be in CW's camp, the MJ is getting one only in the rear.

 

I chose front because you've got a D35 in the rear, why bother spening money on it? The front d30 is more likely to survive locked, and if you break a front shaft while wheeling you can just use a spare stub shaft to get home with, unlike the c-clip rear.

 

if you had any other axle I'd say rear.

[jackel18]

just to throw this out there, i am building my truck to be my daily driver/mild wheeler. my plan is to swap in a 8 1/4 lsd rear, and then a selectable up front(down the road).

 

 

Rich