exploding detroit locker
 

okay so i want to know if anyone has had an axle shaft break while running a detroit? if so did it tear up anything else besides the axle shaft?
iv heard that detroits like to tear up alot more than the shaft when a shaft breaks. anyone have this happen?
the guy telling me this has more experience than anyone i know of on here but i want to see if its happened in normal wheeling

yeah.... they can snap shafts... especially if you run them in the D35. I am running my second Detroit Locker and rear cover for the diff. When my first one went it was nearly dead when i got it and the actual housing broke and sent the pin through the cover mercifully and not through the casing of the axle.

the Detroit locker will only break if you run a sh!ty axle or small spline count shafts. the locker is not the weak point, everything else is. it is a very reliable and proven locker, but can be quite a beating on a rear end, so i wouldn't recommend it in anything smaller then a Dana 44. just a recommendation, i have no experience with the Chrysler 8.25 but when a shaft goes, the locker tends to take everything else with it. so if you snap a shaft (hopefully you will realize you broke a shaft) then it tends to let loose on the rest of the diff like the pinion and then the housing.

The soft lockers tend to be ok when a shaft breaks but the older Detroits had issues of a inner spring/gear breaking when you snapped a shaft under a big load. Those lockers were made for one ton axles so I doubt you'll have that problem. I had that happen in a rear 60 and the other wheel kept pulling and the part only cost me $75 to replace it. The Detroit No Spin for 14 bolts and Rockwells tend to have this problem as well but how often do you break one ton and larger shafts.

i was just wondering how big of a problem it is, i have a detroit in my dana 35 for now, im building an 8.8 to put in and im thinking the shafts shouldnt be a weak point and ill be fine with a detroit on 35s. i know the locker isnt a weak point but appearantly sounds like a destruction multiplier when a shaft goes.

it just started to think about it and was wondering if it is that big of an issue, but it sounds like once i get the 8.8 under it it shouldnt be an issue.


so a pin went thru the cover huh? that sounds a little interesting...

so would this situation occur every time a shaft breaks or just sometimes?

A Detroit locker is a very strong locker. If you have a lot of wheel speed when the axle breaks the axle end can damage other things. Mostly, the collateral damage I have seen and heard about was on high horsepower street machines and rigs trying to run big tires and high horsepower on smaller axles on trails.
The 8.8 axle is strong enough not to break easily, the only weak point on the 8.8 that I know of is the open carrier which is replaced when the Detroit is installed.

i was wondering if it is from high wheel speed or from crawling up something and when the axle shaft snaps. i wont be doing anything hard and fast in it until the 8.8 is in. if its only from high speed stuff then i guess i shouldnt worry. im supposed to go wheeling this weekend so i guess we'll find out:thumbup1:

so how "weak" is that 8.8 carrier supposed to be? iv been thinking about getting a luch box locker instead of a detroit to help save money

If you are locked with a lunchbox running 33s you are all good, if you are running 35s use your head, finesse is your friend.
Anyway that is what I was told.
If I was going to install a new R & P in the new 8.8, I would go ahead and go with the Detroit. That would make you Bullet proof up to a 37-39 inch tire and it really isn't that much more money if you are doing the ring and pinion anyway.

thats what i was thinking anyways, i mean im running a d35 with 35 inch tires so i must have a little finesse to keep it rolling under its own power lol but im dying to run harder stuff so i need the 8.8
im assuming an 8.8 with an open carrier is stronger than a dana 35 lol

Much stronger, the carrier is the weak point of the 8.8, but remember the 8.8 is rated for up to 40 inch tires so it is many times stronger than the 35.

okay cool, i know there was a guy with 39 inch iroks on pirate4x4 running an 8.8 with few problems so i figured id be fine with 35s, id only plan on going to 37s at the most. plus id consider my driving to be "smooth" compared to alot of people so ill give the lunch box locker a shot cuz im technically unemployed rightnow