Detroit is the best

it sucks doesn't it! Don't know what's going on with them.

@@freedomin4low344 I talked with Powertrax on the phone and they told me that I just needed to get a thrust washer that was .015 thicker to bring that driver gap into spec. Told them that adding that much would cause my pinion shaft to not clear the spacers. The guy on the phone said “well I don’t know what to tell you”

in all likelihood you'll be fine. There are plenty of those out there working, I think I just got one that slipped through the QC cracks and it was easier to return it than to find someone at their HQ that would believe that I'm capable of using a caliper.

If you watch my follow up video where I compare the different lockers, you'll see where I test it at the end, how I make it luck vs unlock and see how much effort it takes to make it unlock. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it doesn't read to me like yours is working correctly.

@@freedomin4low344 Youre probably correct. thanks for the info & reply I'll be sure to watch

I have a lock right in a front 60, I could never make it ratchet or turn opposite but it works perfect and has been in use for 7 years of medium wheeling. 🤷‍♂️

What brought me to your vid was, I just installed one in my other truck and had a hell of a time with the small pins. They refuse to seat in the opposite driver. I used way more force than what I feel necessary to drive them over and they still only went about ¾ of the way. JUST far enough that I could get the springs in, even so the springs are almost fully compressed and I'm worried they're not effectively captured in the little window there. As it is, I'll probably not be able to get it apart, since I drove the pins in so hard.. 🙄.. I dunno, the first one I installed was a breeze and this has just been a total fuck lol

I actually ended up ordering the Torq once I learned more about it. It went in perfectly with the washers I had, even toward the tight side of the tolerance at between 0.145-150" driver gap. Still gotta finish buttoning everything up but it passes the operational test so it looks like I'm good to go!

@@freedomin4low344 how’s it been working out?

@@dad3562 I really like the Torq locker. I can't hear it ratcheting around corners unless I clutch in and let it idle, with doors off, in a neighborhood so the sound bounces back to me off the curb. I like it a lot on trails where there's a lot of soil, sand, lose rock, etc. and I've barely even needed the rear locker. The only time I've wished for a selectable locker is when I took it to Disney, OK last weekend and drove around on 25 acres of solid bare limestone below the lake spillway. It was super grippy and my power steering pump was letting me know it wasn't happy about it.

@@freedomin4low344 that’s so cool! Think it would hold up good in the rear? Manual transmission.

@@dad3562 I would hesitate to put one in the rear. Even if it held up I don't think it would be much fun to drive. A lot of the reason it works in the front is because it's not driven in 2WD on the street. Put it in the rear and you're likely to have a lot more pops and bans, and weird steering behavior at driveway, parking lot, and residential speeds.

Actually it was too loose, so the pins would get sideways and bind up, preventing the sections from moving. End result is the same, locker won't unlock.

@@freedomin4low344 Tanks for the quick reply man! I just installed a lock rite in my CJ Dana 30. The carrier was original so the shim surfaces were worn, replaced those and checked pinion to spacer tolerances and each side was .013" which is within spec. However I did not check for that final gap of 5/32"...Have to test it out today and see if it will unlock when I turn!

I don't know if you read any of the literature that came with the directions, but short wheel based (and Narrow track) vehicles like a CJ5 will definitely get 'funky' either getting on the gas OR abruptly getting Off the gas. I put an Aussie Locker in my CJ5 (Dana 44's front & Back) and yes, she made noise going around corners, and she would 'Bang" every now and then. People would look, and I'd just smile and say that when the Jeep is off-road, it'll go places that you can't ;-) Living with a locker shows that you have upped your man-card into driving, and handling a vehicle that is ready for off-roading adventures, and you could care less what other people think! Enjoy that CJ, I wish I had mine back 😞

Yes, Torq is in and working. I'm not sure I'd want an auto locker in the rear though, unless it's a dedicated trail rig. It's mostly invisible in a non-driven axle but I would expect a lot more "behavior" in the rear axle on pavement, such as pops and bangs in parking lots, understeer, unpredictability in snow/ice. It's easy enough to change back so I guess it's only a little time and money to try it out, and living with those quirks may be better than an axle swap. I know nothing about the axle options for a WJ but if an axle swap means taking something from a different vehicle and having to weld on all the brackets I could probably live with those quirks.

If you look at my channel there's a follow up video to this one where I compare several lunchbox locker options.

@4Low Garage only bolt on axle options for the wj are d44 aluminum which I have, pretty much a d44 with an aluminum center section but uses a d60 ring gear I believe so cant use standard d44 lockers or d60 lockers its its own thing, and a d35 that you can't even put a super 35 kit in because the axle shafts need to be longer, a jk d44 swap is fairly easy bracket kits are sold for front and rear that allow use of factory control arms/linkage but like you said that requires welding and would be cheaper/easier to try out the aussie for a few thousand miles to see if I can live with it or not, alot of people don't seem to mind them on a daily driver in the rear, and I drive like a grandma anyways lol

yes, spider gear washers were removed, side gear washers were still installed (per the instructions). I have a followup video where I installed a Torq locker, in the same carrier, and it stacked up perfectly fine and operates normally.

That was their excuse but it was almost new with 5k miles on it and their competitors lockers fit just fine, on the tight side, even.

Trutrac is a great option for snow and pavement race application but its a torsen style limited slip and still has issues if a tire is completely off the ground. Ultimately I'd like another e-locker but this will do for now.

That's not what my install manual said, and if I had done it without washers it would have been even farther out of spec and still wouldn't have worked.

I put the old side gear shims AND the spare pinion gear shims I had left over from regearing to get my lock-right in spec. I think the powertrax is right for some vehicles, but is a very lazy design for many others (they make an initial design, and refuse to make any improvements or redesigns to fix original design flaws). It works for me, but I've already had to weld the pin holes because they were cracked and broken from the forces from ratcheting. Also, the caps for the axles heads were cracked and breaking apart (mine is c-clip design, so a cap goes over c-clip between side plate and drive plate). Many axles are different, and require different lock-right plate designs and set up. Some may not require shim washers, but mine did, but they don't provide shim washer kits, so I had to improvise.