Detroit EZ-locker install write-up

Hey kids!

My buddy carsonm from the site decided to get a Detroit EZ-locker for his 8.8. We did the install last night.
I did a lot of looking around here, and figured we needed a good write-up for the site.

His axle is an OPEN type, so this is the proceedure for it.

They don`t call it EZ locker for nothing!
Was it easy?
-Fo`sheezy!

We both have virtually no experience poking around in an axle. We tackled the job with just a little unease and some nervous laughter. Turned out to be a snap, easier than my body lift, or both our suspension lifts.

Tools:

Apart from a socket set, we needed
-a small flathead screwdriver
-a pick
-torque wrench
-pliers

Step 1:

Support with jack stands, and remove both rear tires.
We put the stands near the leaf spring connection towards the forward part of the Ex.
here`s Carson happily undoing some lugs.

The locker is sometimes referred to as a "lunchbox" type, everything fits inside the stock parts of your axle.

Step 2:

Open the cover up and get the old oil out. The gasket sealer kept it on there kinda tight after the bolts were out. We pried on it with a flathead screwdriver a little at a time till it finally gave up it`s lifeblood to drain into our catch-pan.
To make it a little easier, we undid the sway-bar, so we could move it out of our faces. (Carson refused to get rid of that thing altogether, we gotta talk him into it)

Once you got all the oil out, you undo the pinion shaft lock bolt, then take the pinion shaft out. If you rotate the axle, two of the gears will fall right out for you, they are held in by the pinion shaft. The two on the ends of the axle shafts can be pulled out after removing the C-clips.
Make sure you get the thrust washers out that are behind the shaft end gears, these need to be re-used, along with the pinion shaft, and the pinion shaft lock bolt.

Once the pinion shaft gears are out of the way, you simply push the axles into the axle as far as they go, this allows you to grab the C-clips with pliers and pull them off. Remember, there is an O-ring on the shaft end that helps keep the C-clip in place. They are supposed to sit on the outside (tire) side of the shaft when you put it back together.

Once the clips are out, take out the shaft gears and pull the shafts out enough that they are out of the way.

You will end up with these parts sitting there, the thrust washers are still on the shaft gears, if yer wondering:

For ease of installation, the instructions say to coat the locker parts in light grease. We just gave them a bath in the old gear oil.
Here Carson is taking one of the thrust washers off the shaft gears to put on the locker parts that will replace them.

Next, you put an outside part of the clutch mechanism on the ring gear side of the axle, push the axle back in nice and gentle so you don`t mess up any seals, put the part on the end, and push the C-clip back in place. Use a liberal coating of gear oil and it should slip on easily, remember the O-ring goes on the tire side of the axle, It`s a snug fit.
The two halves of the locker are identical, so it doesn`t matter what side you use, make sure to put the thrust washer on the end of it though, you`ll know what end.

After this pic was taken, I pulled back sharply on the axle, to ensure that the clip is seated well, and it gets it out of the way and into it`s proper position:

Next, you have to put the next parts on that side, the other part of the clutch with two dowels in the ELONGATED holes, and the spacer, which fits over the end of the C-clip, inside the clutch half. You can take the time now to put the end caps on the springs if you want. DON`T LOSE ANYTHING, or yer in trouble.

The dowels, springs and end caps can be seen circled in the pic, you can also see the spacers, they fit on only one way, with the larger opening towards the axles, covering the C-clips:

Here`s a pic of the clutch half with two of the dowels in place, the other side has the teeth that mate with the other half you already installed. the spacer fits in the opening, of course:

Here`s the tricky part. You have to get the second C-clip in with all the the locker components in place. The ring gear side will just be sitting there on the end of the shaft, and you will have to hold the other clutch part in place with the gap in the teeth showing. You then have to get the shaft to the proper position so that you can slip the C-clip on.
Remember to have the dowels in place, there is two on each side remember, and coat that C-clip in gear oil so it slips on nice. AND that O-ring has to be on the tire side of the shaft remember. Don`t worry, it is quite easy.
I used my pick to push the C-clip in.

Then, you pull back sharply on the axle shaft to ensure it is seated correctly.

Once the C-clip is done, do a little happy dance, you`re almost finished!

Next, you have to turn the clutch halves so that the pinion shaft hole lines up.
When the pinion shaft hole lines up, it also lines up the dowel holes, I hope you remembered to set those dowels in the ELONGATED holes.
Now you will see that you can see the dowels through the side of the clutches.
What you do now is use a pick to push the dowels into the adjacent clutch, opening up the holes again for the installation of the springs.
The pic is kind of blurry, but you can see I`m about to push a dowel over with my pick:

The next step is a wee bit tricky. You have to get the springs into the holes you just pushed the dowels out of.
Be careful here, because you have to compress the springs to get them in, if it slips, it could fly away and get lost, that would suck.

The spring seats that you put on each spring (1 per spring) is what will make contact with the dowel when the locker is in operation.
We found the best method to compress them into place was to use a small flat head screwdriver, put in between the spring`s coils as close to the end without the seat as possible. I put the end of the spring with the seat in first, towards the dowel, and compressed the spring with the screwdriver so it would fit, then I let off enough pressure to slip the screwdriver out.

guess what? almost done!

Now you should look it over a bit. Rotate it to make sure those springs are in properly and just visually inspect what you`ve done so far.

Next, you slide the pinion shaft into place, and install the lock bolt. The shaft should slide in smoothly, I just guesstimated the tightness of the lock pin because I couldn`t find any specifications on torquing it.

We then cleaned up the diff cover and gasket surface on the axle housing, which was the worst part of the job, seriously.
Then we applied the gasket sealer goo, and snugged the bolts using a cross pattern for even tightness, and Carson then torqued them to 35 ft/lbs which fell within the range mentioned in his Hayne`s manual.

We had those bottles of gear oil that have the pointed ends for squirting into tight places, and filled until it was to the fill hole. It`s a little tricky because you don`t have much room.

Carson got the wheels and sway bar back on while I was filling and then we tested the locker out.

It pulled out of the garage, which was a good sign, then Carson drove in tight circles under low power to see if the locker disengaged properly. I could hear a click click sound of the clutches ratcheting, which told me it had released. Then he did some tight circles while putting some power behind it, and the tires chirped and grabbed, showing us that the operation was a complete success!

I got to say, with all my worries about doing this, I would tell everyone to do it themselves.

Hopefully Carson will post and tell us how he likes it.
I hope he can finally keep up with me now!

Nice write-up! Plus his Explorer looks just like mine! The rear sounds alot easier than the front. I put the EZ in my front and had to do some things the instructions didnt include. Sometime in the future I plan on locking the rear of mine and this should help.

Good job guys, heres to you



Now come do mine


Oh yeah how long did it take start to finish?

one more to cross off my list....

Next, if someone will show me how easy (cough) it is to replace the gears with a higher ratio, I'll be super happy!
At least I can install a locker for the snow/ice we get around here.
Speaking of which..... there's some more on its way!
Karl Burns

We started at about 8 pm, and Carson drove away at about 1 am in the morning.
We had a couple coffee breaks, and of course there was a lot of re-reading of the install manual because it was a little hard to understand at times. The clean up up the gasket surfaces ate up alot of time, we weren`t in a hurry.

As for replacing gears, you have to mess with backlash adjustment and bearing pre-load and all sorts of stuff I want nothing to do with.

thats a great right up, would a limited slip be just as easy?