Squirrelmaster
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- March 4, 2004
- Messages
- 258
- Reaction score
- 73
- City, State
- Colorado
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1999 Sport, 4x4, SOHC
After running into perpetual frustration on the trails with open carriers front and rear, I found a sale on Amazon for the Spartan Locker for the 31-spline 8.8 for $235 and decided to give it a shot. I didn't document the install process, but I took a few before and after photos.
Locker packaging.
Open carrier.
Spartan installed.
The install was relatively simple, though I did run into issues with the carrier being slightly out of spec. Once I removed the pin and spider gears, the passenger-side side gear wouldn't slide outboard far enough to the allow the C-clip to disengage when the axle was pushed in. I used an old trick to spin the axle while pressing on the C-clip with a screw driver to slowly slide the C-clip out. Unfortunately, this became an issue again with the install of the Spartan Locker, as I was able to get the C-clip in with relatively little struggle, but the axle spacer that fit inside the toothed portions of the inboard locker segments would not slide outboard enough on the passenger side to allow the pin to slide in. I spent an hour trying everything I could to get the pin in, and in the end shaved down most of the pin to match the reliefs already cut into the pin to slide past the spacer.
Now for the review. Initially, and as expected, the Spartan exhibited extremely loud clicking (which I could feel) on the street when taking a turn, especially when taking a right turn or going around a roundabout. I took it into the mountains and ran some of my favorite trails, ones specifically that I either run in my more capable off roaders with lockers and bigger tires, or ones that I've taken the Explorer and got stuck. I put the Spartan to hard use and managed to make it on every trail I took it on without significant issue and, like every locker, made it almost feel like cheating. Once I made it back to the street, I was happy to find the locker had quieted down considerably to only dull thuds on tight turns.
So far it seems like an unbelievable bargain at $235, at least for off road driving. I fully expect for it to be squirrely in the snow as all lockers are, but fortunately the Explorer isn't my daily driver so that's mostly a non-issue. It obviously isn't as smooth on the street as a nice limited-slip like an Auburn or the TrueTracs I've used in the past, but it works almost as good as the ARB air lockers and Eaton e-lockers I use today at considerably less cost. Granted, it isn't as strong as a full carrier replacement locker, but by most accounts the Spartan in the 8.8 should be strong enough to last in a Sport with only 31" tires.
Locker packaging.
Open carrier.
Spartan installed.
The install was relatively simple, though I did run into issues with the carrier being slightly out of spec. Once I removed the pin and spider gears, the passenger-side side gear wouldn't slide outboard far enough to the allow the C-clip to disengage when the axle was pushed in. I used an old trick to spin the axle while pressing on the C-clip with a screw driver to slowly slide the C-clip out. Unfortunately, this became an issue again with the install of the Spartan Locker, as I was able to get the C-clip in with relatively little struggle, but the axle spacer that fit inside the toothed portions of the inboard locker segments would not slide outboard enough on the passenger side to allow the pin to slide in. I spent an hour trying everything I could to get the pin in, and in the end shaved down most of the pin to match the reliefs already cut into the pin to slide past the spacer.
Now for the review. Initially, and as expected, the Spartan exhibited extremely loud clicking (which I could feel) on the street when taking a turn, especially when taking a right turn or going around a roundabout. I took it into the mountains and ran some of my favorite trails, ones specifically that I either run in my more capable off roaders with lockers and bigger tires, or ones that I've taken the Explorer and got stuck. I put the Spartan to hard use and managed to make it on every trail I took it on without significant issue and, like every locker, made it almost feel like cheating. Once I made it back to the street, I was happy to find the locker had quieted down considerably to only dull thuds on tight turns.
So far it seems like an unbelievable bargain at $235, at least for off road driving. I fully expect for it to be squirrely in the snow as all lockers are, but fortunately the Explorer isn't my daily driver so that's mostly a non-issue. It obviously isn't as smooth on the street as a nice limited-slip like an Auburn or the TrueTracs I've used in the past, but it works almost as good as the ARB air lockers and Eaton e-lockers I use today at considerably less cost. Granted, it isn't as strong as a full carrier replacement locker, but by most accounts the Spartan in the 8.8 should be strong enough to last in a Sport with only 31" tires.
