A few questions on lunch box lockers so I'll go quick. Good value for money? Ok to daily? Worth it in a Dana 30 (front)? Is it ok to put it in the rear? If so, is it worth it to put it in a Dana 35? What to be careful for when wheeling with them? Thanks

 

yes to all but the dana 30 ?

never had one in a D30....had 2 in d35's that were DD's

 

Gotcha.in terms of strength, does it hurt or help the Dana 35, or does it not change anything really?

 

I run them in both axles they work great for daily driving and off-road. I wouldn't put one in the Dana 35 it's a weak axle and your best bet would be to swap in a Chrysler 8.25 out of another XJ and put a locker in that if you want one for the rear. The Dana 30 front is plenty strong enough to handle a locker.

 

Yes to all questions. I have one in a D35. You just cannot run huge tires is all. It has held up well

 

I've heard very mixed reviews. They're either great or horrible depending on who you ask. The behavior seems to vary from brand to brand, and even in the same brand based on how aggressively you drive and how sensitive you are to the locker.

I ran a lunchbox in the back of a different vehicle (77 SJ Cherokee) and it was noisy and not great for a daily driver. I don't remember the brand but that was 15 years ago and they've gotten better.

In 2HI, a front locker should be hard to notice on the street assuming you get a quiet one. You have to hit the gas in 4wd for it to lock up. In 2wd, no power goes to the front to do that.

Any kind of automatic locker will add stress to the axle shafts that wasn't there before. For the most part, it's not a huge deal but you may need to swap out ujoints every 125K miles instead of every 175K miles or something like that.

Of course, if you're heavy on the throttle a lot, you will break things faster with lockers. But if you're more relaxed, you can make almost anything last.

 

I'm running aussie lockers in my 8.25 and hp30, they are amazing. I've had them for a few years and they drive like nothing is there on the road and feel like a goat climbing a mountain off road. I wouldn't buy a new locker for a d35 being such a cheap and weak axle, keep the build cheap if you're tossing money at a d35. Best would be find a 29 spline 8.25 and swap that in with a locker, only lock the front, or both.

 

Don't think it makes a difference.

I've run 'em hard and easy.....still working just fine.

Wouldn't run big tires, but w/31's like I got, not really worried

 

I only run them up front now. On my 2nd XJ I ran locked rear, locked front and rear then ran locked front only and stuck with that on all my daily driven XJs. The 2 I purchased after that got the same treatment, open rear locked front. When talking lunchbox lockers I wouldn't run mine any other way. If I had selectables I'd run them in both ends, same for a limited slip setup like a Detroit TruTac

 

If I could only lock one axle it would be the rear, unless it was a Dana 35 rear, I would lock the front first in that case.