VAXJCOUNTRY

So, I have a 97 Cherokee. I was looking through the quadratec catalog and saw the posi lock kit for the older XJ's that had the Disco Dana 30 front axle. It sounds freakin sweet. I had forgot they put a disco axle in XJ. If I could find one cheap and install it in my 97 I would think it would be great....like having a front locker without spending $700. Why would I not want to do this? Obviously I could junk the vac powered setup for a home grown posi lock.

NGAXJING

Your 97 should not have a vacuum disconnect axle.

Mattpar

I think you are missing understanding what the disconnect does on the passenger axle shaft. It allow/not allows power to be transmitted to the passenger wheel. This disconnect will not LOCK the diff, so even with the disconnect connected, it will sit act like a OPEN diff, until you put a real LOCKER in it.

Posi lock does not lock the diff on the front axle. all the posi lock does is replace the vacuum lines to the axle disconnect with a cable.

The only way to achieve a selectable locker with a Disconnect axle, is the weld the spider together, and then use the disconnect to connect the passenger axle shaft to the diff

I hope that makes sense,...

whowey

Ding Ding Ding.... WE HAVE A WINNER.....

Here is an explanation of how it works and what it does.... and a cameo appearance of a Comanche

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/my...ana-30-a-6966/

OverlandZJ

Three are two advantages to a posilok. One is the elimination of the problematic vac lines that crack and cause a loss of 4wd and the other is the option of a true 2wd low range.

But as said earlier you dont have a CAD axle to accept this unit.

VAXJCOUNTRY

I know this, if you read the whole post you would have seen that I am talking about putting one in to a 97 from an early XJ.

Ok, I am misunderstanding it then. I know that posi lock is just a replacement for the factory vac disco, not a locker. I was under the impression that the diff was a spool and the disco was what provided the differential action. Why the hell would you want to disco the passenger side wheel from an open diff? From what you say above it seems that my understanding could be realised if you weld the gears. What would be the downside to doing it that way?

winston427

The only advantage the vac disco axle offers is the new combinations of profanity you develop when it malfunctions and leaves you stuck on a mild trail. You would be amazed at how long of a string of curse words you can string together consecutively.

dougy_fresh

i'm going to track down a set of axle shafts from a 95 YJ so that i can keep the disco feature and swap to 297x/760x u-joints. i'm going to build a homebrew posiloc

elkwagn

So all of that being said, what goes on in a 97 to engage the front diff? And also why do they call it part time 4X4 when you engage it? Seems that when you engage it it should be just 4X4, or 2X4 when not engaged.

Midwest_Mudder

does anybody know what the downsides are of just slidin the collar over and makin it "permanent" with the mod that u can do to the e clips? if its got an open diff in the front then it shouldnt make a darn bit of difference if the front wheels are turnin or if only one is turnin

caged

no downsides. worked for me for about 5 years.
i've tried 2 different posi-lok cable setups. real ones, not homebrew. none worked properly and had me removing the actuator on the trail just to slide the collar over and using a hose clamp, tightened it against the collar to permanently lock it. i haven't done anything else, works great. and i wheel it hard.
but now, it's permanently unlocked as i installed a locker, but started chewing up joints and shafts.

now to just get my d44/9" built and istalled...

Midwest_Mudder

im pretty sure my vacuume motor is goin out, weird noises sometimes when i go to engage 4x4, other times it goes in w/o noises. does that make the 4x4 light light up all the time then? or is that only when the handle is pulled? i havent traced all my wires to figur that one out yet. and just to be perfectly safe here, this is my DD so just makin sure that turning and everything will still be the same when 2 passenger side shafts are together

VAXJCOUNTRY

Any Dana 30 without disconnect is just constantly engaged. That's why I thought it was a kind of locker setup. I figured the diff was not open but a spool type setup. Thus the disconnect to create differential action. I can't really understand the purpose of a disconnect on a open diff. In that case sliding the collar over and permanently locking it would be a non-issue for performance.

dougy_fresh

disconnect makes it so that the front driveshaft does not turn while in 4wd.

Midwest_Mudder

That makes no sense. When in 4wd the driveshaft needs to turn... And I'm pretty sure the front driveshaft turns even when 4wd is disengaged, it won't have power to it but it still turns...