Spool or locker

Im coming along very good on my 62 willys cj5. Got the frame sanded /primed 75%, tranny / tcase apart and all the parts i need to finish them are on the way. Now im eye balling the axels and scheming on what to do with them.I want to make it at lest a 3 wheel drive and all my previous 4x4 (which were full sized long bed high hp 1 ton and 3/4 ton trucks) have had lockers or spools in the rear with the exception on my daily driver now 94 yoda.Im planning on not driving on the street much at all and when its going to be onroad its not going to be getting over 40 mph much if at any.So I wanted the voice of experance from yall who have been around them a while. Jeeps are hell of lot shorter and lighter then what im used to . I want to do the safe thing while making my jeep better off road , its all a trade off. thank you in advance.

 

my buddy has a full spool in the rear of his cj, but he also has VERY heavy duty custom axles, but i will say this, he can go places in 2wd that most cant go in 4wd. id say detroit if you arnt going to beef up that rear end in a big way. Just my 2 cents

 

Seems like the spool makes for ill handling. Tends to make the jeep want to go straight when your trying to turn. I'm sure this is compounded when offroad, since the front tire have littel traction in the dirt as it is.

 

spool in jeep = trouble w/axle shafts. would go power lock or arb.

 

arb would be ideal, but man talk about $$$

 

I have ARB's. Yes, it's more difficult to steer with the rear end locked. Based on my experience I would not use a spool.

And yes, the ARB's are worth every penny.

 

Go with a Lock Right or Detroit, and upgrade the axles to 30 spline one piece, or full floater.

I have a spool right now in my TJ because I thought I had a LR failure. (I was wrong, but that is another story) I don't like spools or "Selectable Spools" much at all. They unload the suspension too much, and you can't use a selectable spool when turning and still get traction like you can with a real locker.

 

Stay away from the spool.
On ARB vs Detroit. The $ is not that much.
Price both. The 1 up for the ARB is the air comp.
Me I'd get a Loc Right and forget it. Save the $ for another part of the Jeep.

 

thanks for the advice guys :stout: I didnt think about them poor little axels Ill look into a loc right and compare it to a detroit locker /arb . ARB's are nice have looked at them many times for my full sized toys but the price has always out weighed the convinance. well thanks again yall


Ok i just added to this post because I wanted to know if yall run elec fans to reduce the chance of raditor damage in deep water plus get a little hp bonus with only 72 hp every little bit helps. Hate to keep bothering yall but if i dont ask now ill forget to ask then ill go and make a bad decusion all because i didnt ask lol thanks again

 

In case you don't check the intermediate board, Jeg's has Lock Rights for $209.99, should be 1/2 of a Detroit, even if you shop around- Click Here

 

well after reading up on detroits in offroad rigs. now i am a little scared of them, if you snap an axle shaft you run the risk of whiping the detroit out. i have heard/seen of this happening a few times. the thing is most times i have heard of it Richmond gear ( or whoever makes the detroit) has not warrentied it. ARB when locked is suposedly one big hunk of steel nothing to break except maybe a spidergear at worst.

 

Spool or locker

how about a "SPLOCKER" R)R)

 

I run a spool in the rear of my 66 cj5 and so far I love it. I sure don't go down the road, being that is only for off road use. I also have dana 44's from a scout II. I'll tell ya what, everyone says that the axle shafts will be a problem on the stock axles, but think about the drive shaft. A heck of a lot flimsier than those axle shafts. I would possibly beef up the axle, but I think your best bet would be to put a limited slip in the rear and the front. I run a limited slip up front and have never had just one wheel spinning when in the deep stuff. That spool did for sure wanna push straight ahead when in 2wd, but now that I have installed my buick 350 I think I should have enough weight to even turn well in 2wd. Good luck, and really consider the posi. Remember thought, use a good friction modifier in the diff.

 

You obviously haven't seen ARBs cracked in half yet.

Trust me, it happens.

Unless you are running 38s and a V8 with 80 to 1 crawl or better, you aren't going to snap a 30 spline shaft.

My TJ weighs over 4Klb, and I haven't hurt a 30 spline shaft yet, and I sure don't baby it.

 

The axle shafts will see 4.88 times as much torque as the driveshaft in your application.

Also, more weight on the front won't help a spool to steer, trust me on this.

 

See the 30 spline axles break at Tellico every year. Jeeps running 33s.
We see Dana 60s break here as well.

Look into a full float as well. Money well spent.

 

Usually TJs getting typical wheelhop with too much skinney pedal.

Spring under CJs are much easier on shafts, esp. when they don't stress the axle shafts with spools.

 

The only lockers I've run across broken down on the trail are ARBs. Never run across anyone with a broken Detroit.

 

Got one sitting in the shop that broke at Moab a couple of years ago, TracTech (makers of Detroit Locker) wouldn't warranty, so the owner welded it into a spool. This was on 33" tires and a somewhat mild 350 .
By the way, he didn't break a drive shaft, axle shaft, or gears in a Dana 44 30 spline rear with stock shafts. Nickmil.

 

i hate to disagree. i wish i could find the video of my buddy.
CJ-5(late) with a 360 automatic dana 60 rear detroit+37. out on the trail and snap no wheelhop very little skinny peddle just had the front bumper on a ledge and rears on rock. not even very low gears in the axles.