As I prepare to take over the 80 from my brother I have questions(lockers?d/l disco?)

[Arya Ebrahimi]

So I have tentatively sold my Jeep and am coming over to the darkside

My "new" '94 80 has lockers and I was wondering if there is a mod to make them lock individually. I'd like to be able to lock the front alone, but want to also keep a factory appearance in the cab. I will be installing the CDL switch shortly.

Coming from a part-time 4wd system, is there any sort of a driveline disconnect available to disconnect the front or rear(for front digs ) driveshafts? I know they exist for comp use, but I was wondering if anyone had adapted one to an 80.

Since the rear end has disc brakes, has anyone made up cutting brakes? This would be where a rear driveline disconnect and front locker only would really be useful.

I'm coming out of a Cherokee on a Tera 50 front, Toy 8" rear locked with 35s and tons of ground clearance and a TIGHT turning radius. I'm also not planning to get wild with the 80 as I sold the Jeep because of its impracticality and level of distraction from my schoolwork(going back to school in January). I do, however, believe in being prepared for whatever might come my way(guess that's the Boy Scout in me ;p ).

Thanks

Ary

 

[Scamper]

My "new" '94 80 has lockers and I was wondering if there is a mod to make them lock individually. I'd like to be able to lock the front alone, but want to also keep a factory appearance in the cab. I will be installing the CDL switch shortly.

Ary -- an 80 with stock lockers is already capable of independently locking the front or rear. If what you're looking for is a way to completely disengage the front or rear axles, then you'd have to drop a drive shaft and use the CDL to lock the transfer (in HI) or be limited to driving in LO all the time.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I was under the impression that in order to lock the front axle you have to lock the rear axle too. Is that not the case?

I am also looking for a way to disengage the front or rear axles, but that is more of a "that would be neat" type thing.

Ary

 

[Doc]

Welcome to the darkside!

I think you'll be impressed with the 80 series. I haven't found anything locally that I can't wheel. Plus, it looks so much nicer than any jeep ever did....

One of the very nice things about the 80 is the ability to run 33's with no lift. I'm currently doing that very thing. A small lift affords the ability to run 35's, and lifts for this thing are C-H-E-A-P (comparatively speaking).

 

[Scamper]

You can lock front, rear, or both.

 

[Doc]

I was under the impression that in order to lock the front axle you have to lock the rear axle too. Is that not the case?

Ary

The stock rotating dial necessitates locking the rear first, then the front's second. Why would you want to engage the fronts only?

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Welcome to the darkside!

<snip> and lifts for this thing are C-H-E-A-P (comparatively speaking).

Thanks for the welcome.

BTW, what planet are you from, where Jeep lifts are expensive? If I recall correctly my first lift to 6" on the XJ was accomplished for a little over $700 and included an SYE.

OH, btw, do FJs suffer from driveline angle problems like Jeeps? Also, are they fixed yoke or slip yoke at the T-case(I'm in DC, Cruiser is in Virginia Beach at the moment).

Ary

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

The stock rotating dial necessitates locking the rear first, then the front's second. Why would you want to engage the fronts only?

That's what I thought! The front only so that I can do front digs to make sharper turns(this would require line-locks at the very least, but preferably cutting brakes). I've also been in situations where having the rear open and front locked would have been nice to avoid sliding sideways(sidehilling).

 

[Doc]

Cheap, compared to lifting a leaf sprung vehicle, like my 1987 cruiser.

I had a jeep once too, but it was never more than a light wheeler and mall jocky.

 

[Doc]

The trick for tight turns is to lock the rear's only and stomp the gas.

(ok, this only works some of the time....)

I'm sure there is a way to wire up a front locker switch, but not sure of what would be involved. To my knowledge the truck does not need the rears to be locked to engage the front locker.

 

[MrZumma]

On the back of the locker switch, there are 5 terminals. Terminal 1 is the right most terminal when looking at the switch from behind. Looks like for the rears to lock, there is continuity between terminals 1 - 4 and no continutiy between 1 - 2. When switched to the FR RR position, there is continuity between 1 - 4 and 1 - 2. So, I think one could deduce from this that in order to lock the fronts without locking the rear, there needs to be continuity between terminals 1 - 2 only.

In the '97 FSM, see page SA-106..

 

[RavenTai]

Since the rear end has disc brakes, has anyone made up cutting brakes? This would be where a rear driveline disconnect and front locker only would really be useful.

talk to Trailcarnage he put a set of cutting brakes on an 80 rear axle, wound up with the wrong size piston (to large) and did not have enough leaverage or travel, there is one with a smaller piston that would have done better

he also has some info on a driveline disconnect althoug he was using tacoma drive shafts (buggy)

 

[Tooth Fairy]

I think what you are looking for is being able to have more options with your Xfer case shifting to disengage the front or rear. Am I right?

I don't know if anyone has done that or if it's even possible.

As far as I know that's how you *disconnect* a driveshaft, unless you're talking about something that people use for towing a car behind an RV.

I do, however, believe in being prepared for whatever might come my way(guess that's the Boy Scout in me ;p ).

Right on. You picked the right rig.

 

[cruiserdan]

As has already been pointed out, albeit in a bit of a fog, the OEM locking sequence is as follows:

Transfer shifts to low, Center diff automaticly locks. This step "arms" the front and rear diffs.

Diff lock swith is set to "rear" and rear diff locks.

Diff lock switch is set to "front & rear" and the front then locks.

The center must be locked before the computer will allow the ends to lock. As we know, it is possible to override automatic locking of the center so that it can be locked in high which would enable the ends to lock in high.

It is probably possible to fool the ends into locking without the center being locked but I view that as a potential problem. Locking the center disables the ABS. Locking a diff with the ABS enabled could get weird. The diffs should only be locked in low speed situations but it is still a concern.

It is likely also possible to fool the front into thinking the rear is locked but I do not think it very necessary.

D-

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I do not intend to attempt to lock one end or the other w/o the center diff lock engaged, so that is not a concern. I would however like to be able to lock the front independently.

Dan, I'm putting together a list of items to purchase from you, one of which will be a FSM. Hopefully then I'll be able to figure out a way to make this work. Where I wheel, we often have off camber hill climbs in the snow. With the front locked you can steer into the hill and still maintain course; however, with the rear locked as well, the rear of the rig will slide towards the bottom of the hill. These are observations I've made from other people's rigs, as well as my own. I was open in the rear before and I actually did better than those locked front and rear. Therefore, if I could leave the rear open and lock the front, it would be ideal.

Ary

Edited for spelling

 

[landtank]

Dan once he has this thing working I'd stock up on Birfs.


I smell a BIG bonus this year.

 

[cruiserdan]

Dan once he has this thing working I'd stock up on Birfs.


I smell a BIG bonus this year.

On a very slipery surface such as he describes the front axle may survive it. I would avoid backing up however.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Dan once he has this thing working I'd stock up on Birfs.


I smell a BIG bonus this year.

LOL, if I were able to wheel more than like 4-5 times a year, you might be right. I think I have a birf job in my future anyway since my seals are leaking, and they are undoubtedly the originals from 148k miles ago.

Ary

P.S. For those of you familiar with the u-jointed axle world. I never did break a 297/760 joint. So I wasn't terribly hard on stuff, just like to overbuild so I don't have to worry about breakage. Beef is good

 

[mabrodis]

I can see the advantage of locking the front only, but not always practical and undoubtedly a higher chance of breaking something in the front with it only locked and the rear open. You might have to put in some other switches, or maybe put some jumpers on the back of your's to add the functionality you want.

As for the cutting brakes, that is just where you can lock one end and not lock the other right? I've never heard the term cutting brakes. The only way that works is if you can disconnect power from the rear or front as you need to, then apply it again. Normally that's done with a t/c which supports that, however, I don't know of any easy way to get our's to support that. As far as the brake part, just install a drag-racing line-lock, push hard on the brakes, hit a button on the dash which activates the line lock, then let off the brakes and the rear will still lock. The same thing would work if you could hold the e-brake really good, but once again the real problem here is turning off the power to the rearend, not the brake issue.

If you could figure out the power issue from the t/c, then you could connect your linelock to the front locker, so when you hit a button it did the line-lock and also locked in the front. Another thing to think about though is the lockers don't always go in really fast, usually yes, but not like an ARB where you hit a button and it's in.

Welcome to the dark side? Ha, welcome to the ONLY side!

Oh, and what's a u-joint??

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I can see the advantage of locking the front only, but not always practical and undoubtedly a higher chance of breaking something in the front with it only locked and the rear open. You might have to put in some other switches, or maybe put some jumpers on the back of your's to add the functionality you want.

Agreed, this would not be used on a regular basis, but there are definately rare instances when it would be nice.

As for the cutting brakes, that is just where you can lock one end and not lock the other right? I've never heard the term cutting brakes. The only way that works is if you can disconnect power from the rear or front as you need to, then apply it again. Normally that's done with a t/c which supports that, however, I don't know of any easy way to get our's to support that. As far as the brake part, just install a drag-racing line-lock, push hard on the brakes, hit a button on the dash which activates the line lock, then let off the brakes and the rear will still lock. The same thing would work if you could hold the e-brake really good, but once again the real problem here is turning off the power to the rearend, not the brake issue.

If you could figure out the power issue from the t/c, then you could connect your linelock to the front locker, so when you hit a button it did the line-lock and also locked in the front. Another thing to think about though is the lockers don't always go in really fast, usually yes, but not like an ARB where you hit a button and it's in.

Welcome to the dark side? Ha, welcome to the ONLY side!

Oh, and what's a u-joint??

Cutting brakes are where you can brake on one side at a time, i.e. the right rear wheel only, or the left rear wheel only. When used with the front locked in and braking applied to the inside wheel with the rear unlocked(even if it still has power to it) you will turn much more sharply. I've been driving backhoes a lot lately it seems(superintendent for a General Contractor, so I do lots of random things BTW, 4wd off-road fork lifts with 4-wheel steer are BADA$$ ), and they have cutting brakes(actually just two brake pedals that can be locked together if you so choose, one for the right rear and one for the left rear). Anyway, I've tried all different kinds of maneuvers and they are really neat in a very functional sort of way.

A U-joint? It's one of those things that's stronger than a birf and requires a lot less maintenance (edited before someone quotes my stupidity )

Ary