BatmanXJ

I had another thread on this but I figured since that one got out of hand I would explain in this one a little better.
All of this was done to a 8.25 27 sp thinking it was a Dana 35 27 sp

I bought a Dana 35 locker from a guy on here used. He sent me a new set of springs and pins and it was $125 shipped pretty good deal. I got the locker in and decided to install. I also decided to replace the axel seals and rear brakes at this time.
I went to Oreillys and got brakes and seals for the Dana 35. (not knowing I had 8.25)
Next morning I installed the brakes but couldn’t do the seals. I got the wrong ones from Oreilly's. (Should have been 8.25 still didn't know lol) Finished the brakes and went to part store old seal in-hand and got the correct seals. (Apparently 8.25 seals haha)

Installed Locker into rear-end.
I had one issue while installing and homebrew fixed on the fly. The C-Clips were too big to fit into the washer that is supposed to slide over c-clip and lip of other washer. I decided to grind down the outside of the C-clip. I ground down the outside to fit perfectly inside the washer. Leaving the inside diameter the same. Put everything back together and tested it out. It works great.
Went on a ride the next weekend and it was flawless. I never lost traction. Did get stuck but had traction the whole time.
This is how the locker acts
Under power it pulls both tires no click no slippage
Coasting Clicks some and stops when power applied.
Parking lot turning does not let loose under power.

This is a Dana 35 Locker 27 SP installed in a 8.25 27 Sp rear. I don’t know why it works or if it is even supposed to work but it does. I don’t know if it will tear up anything or not there is really no way to tell since I am apparently the first person to do this haha. I would think that it would be less likely to break since the Axle shafts are supposed to be larger on the 8.25 which means the Dana 35 locker side gear fits better on the 8.25 than it would on the Dana 35. I don't know why the slide gear fits onto the shaft if it is supposed to be bigger.
Here are some pics of the locker installed in the rear and of my rear also of the ride that I went on with it installed. I am going to try to contact Richmond and ask them about it. It is possible that the Dana 35 locker is completely compatible with the 8,25 and they just don't advertise it.

mr white

The axle shafts might be larger while the splines are very close to the same size. I don't really know. Would have to get both to compare

N20jeep

heres what i need you to do.

i need you to measure the inner and outer diameters of the side gears you pulled out, preferably with a mic.

ive got plenty of d35 parts at the shop to measure, but no 8.25

and measure that gap in the locker, just by the picture it seems WAY to wide

BatmanXJ

I will do that at some point. Hate to take the diff cover off and drain my new fluid just for a measurement you know? I do have the old spider gears that I can measure. My plan is to find a good deal on a 8.25 locker and pull the Dana 35 locker and put in the front dana 30

Yeh I agree with the gap looks wide. Mus be because the Dana 35 Pinion Shaft is smaller and I am using a 8.25 pinion shaft. Could be another reason that this works haha. Starting to seem that all the planets lined up just right for this to work haha

N20jeep

yea, just measure the old ones

BatmanXJ

My jeep is at my parents which is about 2 hrs from me and I will be working out of town for a little while but next time I go there I will get the measurement.

BatmanXJ

I used the 8.25 Pinion shaft. This could be the key to the whole thing. I don't know if using the Dana 35 shaft would have worked or not.

N20jeep

you mean the carrier pin?

BatmanXJ

Yeh that's proly it. Someone called it the pinion shaft one time but carrier pin sounds right haha

BatmanXJ

I spoke to a rep from Richmond and they informed me that it shouldn't work and that they are surprised that it does. He said that the gap look to be a bit wide but if its working then it must be within the limits. He also said that he can't say I should keep running this since its not designed to work. But since it is working he doesn't see any reason that it could cause damage to anything other than the locker if it decided to fail.