aussie lockers just came in the mail! (pics)

[LONO100]

ok, just got back from kragen, went and bought 3 quarts of royal purple synthetic oil 75W140, i will return the other two quarts of valvoline synthetic oil, i was able to find the carrier pin retaining bolt too for about 3 bucks, and i got a new 32 blade feeler gauge. anything else before i take my truck apart!? i will be doint the install and pictures tomorrow as soon as i get home. thanks again everyone.

 

[Clusterpup]

i went and bought synthetic gear oil. i thought id spring for the good stuff since i dont plan on opening up my diff any time soon after this install. good idea? plus, how is your carrier pin retaining bolt holding up being that you didnt replace it? i will try to look for one locally today since i need to get another quart of gear oil. is the synthetic stuff a waste of money? should i return it and just get the cheaper stuff? it will end up costing me about 60 bucks compared to under 20 bucks for the regular oil. anyone just use the cheap stuff? i think i will pull the wheels off before i put the truck on jacks, then if i will need to pull the calipers, i cant just unbolt them and then i will have slack on the axles.

I submerge my diffs completely in mud and water and have decided to change the oil in them once a year so I'm just using standard gear oil from now on.

 

[LONO100]

are the measurements for the pinion clearance and the spacers notated in the aussie locker instruction manual referring to mm, or inches? i need some confirmation!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Was Lynchy in there too?

 

[LONO100]

hey clusterpup, what were your spacing measurements when you put in your locker? i am in the middle of doing mine, and it seems that my thrust washers are a little too thick by about .010. i dont know if this measurment is being thrown off by the grease i used to make the locker pieces stick. any suggestions?

 

[Ronin8002]

Yes the clearance is in inches.

Clean ALL the grease off, reassemble, THEN check your clearances. If they are good then take it apart, re-grease the locker, and reassemble.

If you're still out of spec, don't worry too much. It's not uncommon to find that your thrust washers are a bit too thick. You can try a couple of things:

Option 1: Lay the thrust washers flat on some emery paper and sand them down....sometimes they get "coned up" from wear prior to installing the locker and that keeps them from laying flat when you install the aussie and gives you less clearance.

Option 2: Get some carrier shims from a limited slip diff in the correct thickness and use those. this is what I did. I had to grind down the outside diameter until they fit in my open carrier.

Option 3: if you are able to assemble the locker and insert the crosspin with the tighter-than-spec clearances, just throw it in there and go for it. Aussie apparently doesn't advertise this but they build a little fudge factor in there where the locker can run fine with clearances tighter than spec. The main things is that it HAS to pass the spin test once it is assembled.

Definitely do NOT leave out the thrust washers to try to get it in spec.

 

[gmanpaint]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229174&highlight=rear+locker+instructions

 

[Clusterpup]

The gap in mine ended up being .135. I figured close enough, the locker unlocks just fine. Only wonky thing mine does sometimes is it makes a somewhat loud clack sometimes, usually soon after I change gear and I can feel it in the drive line. The paperwork that came with the locker said it may make the occasional clank or clang sound and that it would be more frequent with a manual trans. I wish I knew exactly why it does that though, I may call and ask.

 

[LONO100]

thanks everyone fro all the tips, they have been a huge help to a mechanical noob like myself.

hey ronin - ive been up and down your write up, i actually had my laptop on in the garage with your write up on the screen. i read how you were able to get around it, i think im going to try to sand the thrust washers down again, and then assemble it without grease and see where i stand with the spacing.

cluster - im just 1 100th away from spec and the cool thing is that my carrier pin slides through no problem, it actually will slide through all the way down and out the other end if i let it, so i know i have space, but just not within spec according to the aussie instructions.

thanks for the link gman, im going to finish the install tonight or friday morning and i have been documenting and taking pictures and video of everything so when im done i should have a nice little write up for aussie locker install for solid axle 8.8.

thanks again everyone, oculdnt do it without the forum!

 

[Ronin8002]

LONO since you can get the pin in I'd say just put it together and do the spin test. If it passes then you should be able to run it fine. Main thing is you don't want the clearances to be too big as I understand it.

 

[LONO100]

DEF NOT too big on clearance. the pin slides in easy but just doesnt meet aussie clearance specs. ill elt you guys know how it goes, thanks everyone

 

[IZwack]

Search around - the clearance issue with the Aussie has been discussed a few times. I think at one point, someone contacted Aussie about it.

 

[jd4242]

DEF NOT too big on clearance. the pin slides in easy but just doesnt meet aussie clearance specs. ill elt you guys know how it goes, thanks everyone

mine was on the tight side,outside the spec.every thing in my rearend is new though so figure it would wear into spec.i havent had any problems with,been off road and put some good miles on it.i love it

 

[LONO100]

thanks for the perspective jd, i finished the install and im loving the new lockers. i ended up taking it apart and cleaning all of the grease off of them. i installed it again and found my self just within spec by less than a hair!