Lock Rite - is it junk?

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PabloCruise

PabloCruise

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I got a used Lock Rite and the following damage concerns me - is this useable?
MVC-070F.webp
 
WHo ever sold that to you is not a very nice person..


I would think that it would not last too much longer looking like that..
 
Send it back to LR and see what they say..
 
isn't this the place where the snap spring sit at??
I'm very interested in gathering info on lockers to see if it is worth saving for the ARB or if I would be happy with something cheaper...
show more pics please...
 
That is the 90 degree hole that holds the little springs, so why not weld it up and grind it down. If it works then you have a 200+ locker for free and if not you are back to sqaure one. You could also slip a sleeve in there and just use a thinner stronger spring to account for the smaller hole. Just a thought and if you dont want to mess with I would be happy to give you beer for it lol. Good luck, Eric
 
i have arb's on my truck and they have some great anvantages. one is if you are on a slippery surface and you want to cut wheels back and forth to gain traction you simply turn off locker and you do not have to worry about birfield as much. you also do not get as much driveline bindage because you can turn it off. also when backing up and you have to cut wheels. alot of people brake birfs that way. and when on road you can turn off rear and not feel like you are rinding on a trampoline. plus driving a locked 4 wheel driv in snow on streets not very fun. but they are very expensive i spent 1500 clams on mine with compressor. and if you go through alot of water change that diff grease. nothing kills those seals faste than water it makes them crack.
 
dacicci said:
i have arb's on my truck and they have some great anvantages. one is if you are on a slippery surface and you want to cut wheels back and forth to gain traction you simply turn off locker and you do not have to worry about birfield as much. you also do not get as much driveline bindage because you can turn it off. also when backing up and you have to cut wheels. alot of people brake birfs that way. and when on road you can turn off rear and not feel like you are rinding on a trampoline. plus driving a locked 4 wheel driv in snow on streets not very fun. but they are very expensive i spent 1500 clams on mine with compressor. and if you go through alot of water change that diff grease. nothing kills those seals faste than water it makes them crack.
Click to expand...
that's what I'm thinking, you don't need the axles locked at times, (like you do 4WD, for example) and since the manufacturer did not design these with lockers in mind ...
 
ABRs are great. You wont find many people, that will argue with you about that, but they aren't cheap.

You could buy a Aussie Locker and you would be happy it.

Or you could buy something cheaper and you might be happy with it.

Or you could weld it.

But for free, I would just run it.
 
Pablo,
bcon is right. If that's one of the little spring holes in can be fixed up to work. I wonder how it broke, did the owner say anything about that?
 
my buddy put a lock rite in his 40 and it broke after about a month of average wheeling. i have arb's and love em, but also learned the hard way about water breaking down the seals. i have to love em since i have em, but i think next time i would go with detroits.
 
missipboy said:
my buddy put a lock rite in his 40 and it broke after about a month of average wheeling. i have arb's and love em, but also learned the hard way about water breaking down the seals. i have to love em since i have em, but i think next time i would go with detroits.
Click to expand...


water breaking down the seals.
???????????????????
 
yes when water gets int your diffgrease it creates crakes in the o-ring seal that supplys the air that locks the diff and when they fail you no longer have a locker you have an expensive jacuzzi for your ring gear. my buddy runs a lock-rite in his front end on 36's it does work but he has broken four birfs since, not saying you can't brake a birf with an arb but when you can not unlock your diff the chances are higher that can get expensive too. and those fine spline birfs are getting harder and more expensive to obtain. and those detroits have downfalls too like o if you run a clutching detriot and the clutch goes out. or something that spaceghost told me down in jellico. he said that when you get binding from the inner axle it can create a twisting efect on the locker and it will make the pressure of the clutch like snap back and clutcho go springo. then you are replaceing a detroit almost as expensive as an arb minis comp. :bounce2:
 
I have lockrites front and rear on my FJ40 with 38 swampers. They have been in there for 5 years? I have not broken a birfield, axle, or diff, but I am a pretty conservative driver. No wild stuff. What I like about the lockrites is that they do slip. They are not locked in all the time, which I think is an advantage. I have absolutely no complaints with them.
 
i think your right too. It does matter how much you like the pedal and how wild you get. i can not knock a lockrite for the price. they do give and some people have great luck with them. heck i know a guy with a mini with double t's and 35's he is welded on both ends. he has yet to brake a birf but he has broken the welds he just cleans it up and has his buddy reweld. he laughs at a real locker. to each his own i guess. he is also a carefull driver thow if it gets to crazy he just lets off. i would give that freebie a shot what do you have to lose ( :doh: a ring and pinion)
 
Lockrites are pretty simple and reliable devices when properly set up.

The hole looks ovaled besides being broken. If so, it is trash unless you can machine a new hole and sleeve the hole back to the original size and braze the sleeve in place. The parts have been surface hardened and are extremely hard, but you may be able to machine it with a carbide end mill. Because of hte hardening, I wouldn't recommend welding it.
 
If that's the only busted piece see what the cost of a new one is from PowerTrax and replace it.

I had a LockRite in the rear of my 40 for close to 40K miles. Wheeled some of the more difficult trails in New England and at Paragon in PA with no problems at all in several different trucks with both a V8 and a stock 2F. I pulled it and sold it cause I got fed up with the normal behavior of the locker on the street. I moved the ARB to the rear in the LR's place and plan to get another ARB for the front. AFAIK the locker is still working fine in someone else's DD/weekend wheeler.

A friend runs a pair of LockRite's in his trail-only FJ40 on 39.5 Swampers/SM420/Toybox. He's broken more pinions, axle shafts and birfields than I can remember but the LockRites are still working fine...

Nick
 
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