Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I just got my sierra on the road again and on the second day of driving it i broke the detroit locker i have in the rear! A little bit to happy with the right boot around corners... So i'm guessing its the locking pins in the centre that have sheared? i was still able to drive home the 2 k's from the 4bie track i was at because the diff was acting like a stock one again?
Is it ok to keep driving it like this? because i have to drive my car 80kms, back to my dads workshop. Don't really want some bits of steel getting lodged in the other parts of the diff

ask your dad

well assuming its sheered off then i would be a bit worried personally but if u need to drive it then drive it i guess dont take my word on it but in not to fussed if it brakes fix it but thats me

maybe wasnt setup correctly?

does sound like the sheer pin/s have gone. i think thats what they are.

suzuki boy has done them i think on here.

Its been in there for about a year and has been gettin a little clunky of late but i only jus put big tyres on... 32's+hightraction+heavy right foot=dead locker i guess. I have the rest of the week of driving to work before i can drive out to the workshop so i guess it'll jam up in that time if its gunna.

nicbeer wrote:maybe wasnt setup correctly?

does sound like the sheer pin/s have gone. i think thats what they are.

suzuki boy has done them i think on here.

Havn't doen them in mine but have fixed some in a wrangler before!

Not the easyest job you have to take whole gear set out and replace!

Buy the sounds it's a pin but it would of made a bang(When they went in a mates car it was pretty loud!)

I Wouldn't be driving on it if i didn't have to or i would atleast drain the oil and hope that the bits of metal come out!

mmm great so the bits of pins will be floating around in there? I got 2 loud cracks when it happened must have done a good job I've been quoted $70 or there abouts to get new pins and springs reckon thats a good price?

Well i think there around $30 bucks for each pin so the 2 of them and the springs sounds on the money!

Yeah the bits of snapped pin will still be floating around in there as they have no where to go!

wasnt a cv was it?

Could be didn't think of that but wouldn't it be clicking when driving and the wheel have a bit of movement in it?

if you're worried and need it as a daily driver take your rear shaft out and drive around in front wheel drive (4H)

Do not drive with the shaft out. Auto lockers rely on the force from the shaft to unlock/lock, taking it off can cause strange behaviour.

Layto....

I have tested to see and both the wheels will turn the driveshaft so i'm assuming its just the diff and not an axle. It just won't lock up, And i havent jammed the diff on broken bits of pin yet

Red_Zook

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:04 pm
wasnt a cv was it?

Cv? in the rear? Me only a noob but arent they only in the front?

I pulled the diff centre out and apart and all that seemed to have happened was a spring had managed to get past its pin and was floating around inside... Very strange All the pins and springs still look fine tho so i'm thinking just put it all back together as is and hope for the best.
Question: If it was only the one pin that wasnt operational wouldnt the diff still be able to lock up properly???

Maybe when you went around the first corner and it unlocked the spring came out and this made the pin not able to go back in?

While it's all out i would rplace pins and springs just to be on the safe side and keep the others as spares!

lay80n wrote:Do not drive with the shaft out. Auto lockers rely on the force from the shaft to unlock/lock, taking it off can cause strange behaviour.

Layto....

dont do what I said

Me again, I still have no idea as to why my locker isnt engaging properly The springs seem fine have tried heavier duty ones, No extreme wear on the gears, The pins are fine, backlash has been set up properly but still no positive locking....
I've only had the locker in for a year which at the most has been about 10,000 k's. Has anyone else had any troubles like this? I've had the diff centre apart about 5 times now trying out different springs etc and its not locking. I can get it to skip past the gears by holding onto one side of the axle and turning it by hand until it unlocks and skips past the locking plate gears???
It has me stumped i'm thinking of getting some extremely heavy duty springs to try and hold the plates out and locked together.
Anyone have some better ideas to why its been a PITA?

Bent housing will cause it, if you remove axles and centre and look through from one side to the other and try line up the holes you can generally see if its bent.

I've been testing just the centre tho on the bench and its the actual locker that won't engage properly even tho everything looks ok? Altho i will look at the housing when i go to put it back in cos it did get a large whack along time ago.

I have lockrights and are assuming detroits are similar?? if they are bench testing is difficult as you cant simulate the real load. I used to bend rear housings forward and when they would bend enough the locker would bang all the time.

As in bang do you mean snapping the pins? Mine still look new But when i first got bogged on a hill with 1 tyre spinning, i engaged the clutch and the diff could be heard spinning its gear plate against the side gear? Sounded sort of like a pokey machine

Kitika wrote:I can get it to skip past the gears by holding onto one side of the axle and turning it by hand until it unlocks and skips past the locking plate gears???

Mate, thats just what a lockright is supposed to do.... If you have the diff head held in a vice or on a bench, stick two axles in and test it. Have a mate turn one axle forwards, and while he's holding it like that, check you can ratchet the other axle the other way. Then have him turn his axle the other way and see if you can ratchet your axle the opposite way.

When you say the locker isn't working properly, what do you mean? Sounds like you are confused about how they work, and that it may be working perfectly?

Lockrights don't "lock" so to speak, they unlock, or ratchet. A lockright can not physically function like an open diff.

If its clumking and banging more than before, then as others have suggested, you probably have a bent diff housing.

Ben

Mate, thats just what a lockright is supposed to do.... If you have the diff head held in a vice or on a bench, stick two axles in and test it. Have a mate turn one axle forwards, and while he's holding it like that, check you can ratchet the other axle the other way. Then have him turn his axle the other way and see if you can ratchet your axle the opposite way.

This is what we were doing going one way it would ratchet but going in reverse to that it wouldnt lock up properly and would pretty much do the same thing... but with a little bit more notchiness but still fairly freely.

Kitika wrote:This is what we were doing going one way it would ratchet but going in reverse to that it wouldnt lock up properly and would pretty much do the same thing... but with a little bit more notchiness but still fairly freely.

What are the problems / symptoms when its installed in the car?

Ben

Well it'd act like a stock diff and let one wheel freespin while the other did nothing while letting out a loud clicking noise.

Not sure!

SOunds like its disengaging but then not locking in again!

The clicking does that when the car is jacked up to(like it was when out of diff pumpkin!) first time i did it i thought it was stuffed but then i thought about it and it wasn't!

The clicking is it dissengaging but then once both shafts are turned at same speed it should lock back in!

If you are spining both shafts but at different speeds it will unlock like it's going around a corner!

Worth a go or else take it to a diff place i guesse!

My 2c worth hope it made sence!

Kitika wrote:Well it'd act like a stock diff and let one wheel freespin while the other did nothing while letting out a loud clicking noise.

Yeah, ok, that is definately bad.

Hmmmm... Its not a late model diffhead with the side gears that have a ridge on them is it? I'm sure I recall reading somewhere that late model side gears don't work for this reason.

Otherwise I would suspect badly worn / chipped side gears or drivers, but you said they were OK, or maybe missing springs or not enough spring tension, but you've checked that... Did you swap the side gears from side to side as per the instructions?
Failing that I suspect a horribly bent diff housing.

Ben

Im going to give it heavy springs and give it the gears a little tickle with a grinder just to make sure they sit in square and flat and put it all in and hope for the best i think. Otherwise time for the welder or a

Fair enough!

Weld up a locked rear sounds wierd!

As far as i know the diff is a standard W/t from a 1994. (year of car manufacture)

Hmmmm... Its not a late model diffhead with the side gears that have a ridge on them is it? I'm sure I recall reading somewhere that late model side gears don't work for this reason.

This could be the problem... Whats the ridge? Cos the only spots that seem to be making contact on the side gears is the very top edge of the gear? Thats by looking at the wear spots on the detroit side of the gears.

Kitika wrote:As in bang do you mean snapping the pins? Mine still look new But when i first got bogged on a hill with 1 tyre spinning, i engaged the clutch and the diff could be heard spinning its gear plate against the side gear? Sounded sort of like a pokey machine

Bang as in a loud bang while driving under load no actual breakage its caused by the side gear sliping a tooth. I ordered a new set of side gears years ago and they had the ridge so I couldnt use them, this could be the problem if you replaced them as you mentioned prior to breaking the locker it worked fine. Have you checked the housing?