I just scored a D44 out of a 87 XJ to throw under my 95 YJ. I've been running a PowerTrax No-slip w/4.56s in my D35. Since the No-slip tends to not lock-up when I really need it, I was considering a full Detroit for the 44. But 1)the 44 Detroit is friggin expensive & 2)I've heard the Detroits are weird/scary on the street, especially w/a manual trans.

So, I'm thinking of just spooling her up. Always locked, much cheaper & no parts to break. What do you guys who run spools think of 'em on the street? I know they'll wear tires faster, make a bit of tire noise around corners & induce a bit of understeer. The YJ is my DD, doing about 150 mi/wk, back & forth to work.

Am I not seeing/missing something here? Any weird caveats I should be aware of? I ran a search, but couldn't find a lot of info.

Thanx.

I have a minispool in the rear of my bronco, and love it. Traction all the time, and much more predictable than a detriot IMO. Definately noticeable understeer, and tire wear. I simply rotate my tires often, including spare. Also air the tires up more whenever "driving" around 35psi. Then drop it down whenever I'm going on a trail run. I've put around 3200mi on it since I've dropped the spool in. It was my daily driver, but I've since bought a 2wd pickup to drive daily.

Definately takes some time to get used to, but well worth it. Also driving in snow on the road with a minispool, is very interesting to say the least

i have welded rear 60 in my bronco. i don't dd it, but i do have to drive it to the trails. you hit the nail on the head...it'll wear out tires quicker, the rears chirp all the time, but other than that it's predictable and not bad at all. I definitely recommend it, maybe not for a DD, but hell if those things don't bother you, go for it!

-Steve

doesn't wheelbase affect this as well? i think the tires'd wear out quicker on a TJ with a spooled rear than a longbed pickup with a spooled rear. the longer the wheelbase, the less of a difference the wheels will have to make in a turn. i think i'm gonna weld my AMC20 rear and if that doesn't work i'll just stick in a LSD or something...

I have a spool in the rear of my 4Runner and it is my daily driver also. You get used to the chirping during tight turns. At speeds above 20 moh with my rear tires aired up to 35 psi I don't even know it is there. I have heard that wheelbase makes a difference though.

OK:D

My D70 is welded. It drives better on the street than it did with the lock-right, much more predictable. Tire wear and understeer are the only complaints that I have

I put a Full spool in my rear 44, and i love it, i had a lockright and a Ez-locker in it before and they sucked on the highway, with the spool i don't have any wired handling like i did before, i really don't noticed the draging of a tire when turning, i do when trying to get in a parking space. I wish i would of went Spool years ago, when i get the full width axle under it the rear 14-bolt is getting welded.

I've had the spool in the back of my toy for a little over a year. My DD too, so i've got about 10,000 miles on it already. So far I've broken one rear axle shaft (in the drive-thru at wendys:rolleyes:). This weekend it also destroyed an axle bearing. When i pulled it out to replace the bearing, the splines were worn down to a sharp point, giving the axle some play in the spool. I put in a new axle and bearings and its like new again. The spool's splines were fine. I was thinking about using chromoly axle shafts, but now i think that might wear the splines in the spool too, so i don't know.

Anyways, overall i like it better than the lock rite i did have, but the drawbacks seem to be faster axle/bearing failures as well as tires.

No complaints with mine

Welded for almost 10 years. Daily driver, never broke an axle. Absolutely love the spool. The most predictable of any diff, no surprises, ever.....

My only complaint is the tire wear. New tires every 2 years is cool, but I just can't afford it anymore. For my dana 60, I'll be going with an ARB for the sole purpose of saving tires. I believe it will "pay for itself", if you want look at it that way. If I manage to pick up a new daily driver, the 60 will get a spool, no question.

Spools aren't as noticeable with new tires, especially if siped. Won't even chirp around corners. The lugs just flex. At about half tread, they can get a little annoying at times. Depends what kind of pavement you're on.

I have a full spool in my eb w/ a 9 inch , no problems at all just
locked all the time ! :) :flipoff2:

Another vote for the spool!

I had a lockright and hated it. Then again, I also destroyed it as soon as I left the pavement. Damn thing was always popping and banging and would shoot you into another lane if you downshifted. Generally not a pleasant experience. The spool is transparent unless I am going less than 20 or so. Mostly in parking lots is it noticeable. Even then, it just hops in the rear a bit and chirps the tires, which is a whole lot less than the locker would do. Go for it, you won't regret it :D

I have ran a Lock Rite in My YJ for 3 years now. Over 39K miles on it. I cant complain about durability or anything, they are just annoying as hell, unexpected lane changes, unforseen doughnuts on snow, popping banging etc..

I havent installed my D44's yet, but the spool is sitting at home waiting to go it. I got mine From Randy's R&P for $163( its the steel full spool) Very nice unit. I say go for it. Less moving parts the less there is to break. Swampers dont last long enough to worry about excessive tire wear anyhow. Just spool it & wheel the hell out of it:D

No complaints but tire wear. I do think that you have to have a damn good weld if you are going to be putting a lincoln locker in a heep. Mine has lasted almost a year now. My buddy welded up his TJ when the LSD gave out so he could hold out on an OX and his weld didnt even make it 2 weeks. turning radius is just so short and wheelbase so short in heeps that it is alot of stress on the rear as opposed to a mini. I am wondering about how those rear bearings are doing though.

If you drive on ice or snow I would say no to the spool, unless you have a twin stick that will let you run front wheel drive and open or selectable up front, the spool can be ugly when you hit a patch of ice @ 60 MPH, ask me how I know :eek: :eek: Scary for me worse for the guy in the next lane....

I don't see what the fuss about snow and ice is. i have a spooled rear 9 inch in the scrambler and drive it all the time on and off road in snow. does not effect the drive that much. now if you get awwwn it it can be fun but if you know how to drive in the stuff it is no biggy. spool it...... just take it slow at first on ice to get a good feel, you won't have any trouble.
s

Originally posted by spwest2
I don't see what the fuss about snow and ice is. i have a spooled rear 9 inch in the scrambler and drive it all the time on and off road in snow. does not effect the drive that much. now if you get awwwn it it can be fun but if you know how to drive in the stuff it is no biggy. spool it...... just take it slow at first on ice to get a good feel, you won't have any trouble.
s

Agreed! Love driving in the snow with a spool. You have to change your driving style a bit, but it's well worth it. If you stand on it, the ass end walks around, but if you let up it tracks straight again. I see cars of all makes and models spin out all the time....it has nothing to do with a spool, it's the driver, or plain ol shitty luck.

Dont' do it if you're driving an '80-97 Ford w/TTB. TTB handles like crap, wanders and pulls NORMALLY, and when the rear is spooled it amplifies all of that.

Odd, my bronco was fine with TTB, and it's fine with a solid D44 too! :rolleyes: You must be speaking from experience.

Originally posted by Nobody
You must be speaking from experience.

Yep, on my '90 Bronco.

I agree that driver makes more of a difference than the diff :flipoff2:, I just think in a daily driver it is not worth the risk , you are talking about fawking with peoples lives, maybe your own, not a trail fix....

I am running a spool in the rear and drive it a lot on the street, but when it snows I have other means of transportation on the highway....

Thanx all, for the input. I decided to go with the spool. Lucky for me, the shop owner had a 4.56 r&p, master rebuild kit & full spool on the shelf from some weenie who ordered them, then backe out. Best part is he's givin' me the stuff at cost to get rid of it. Sometimes s**t just falls into place:cool:

I put a spool in my jimmy D44 in the rear and in the front to the rear is fun in the rain and such it just takes some time to get used to it. You wont regreat it at all it is very predable too. :smokin:

i just got the rera of my truck welded up tonight and now i have a wheel hop problem (tried to do a burnout) so far so good. now you all talk about tire wear like its a bad thing? it just menas you get to try out different tires faster.

Originally posted by D60
Dont' do it if you're driving an '80-97 Ford w/TTB. TTB handles like crap, wanders and pulls NORMALLY, and when the rear is spooled it amplifies all of that.

Fine in the 82, 6"lift and 35's with ttb....no problems here

I just drove mine welded up last night for the first time and to me it's better knowing that is locked up in the corner not wondering if the locker is going to kick in half way threw the turn and start dragging.

NCTOY,
So far I've broken one rear axle shaft (in the drive-thru at wendys).

You're not the only one who's broken an axle shaft in a fast food drivethrough...just ask DSI:D :laughing:

Originally posted by smoothcharlene


Fine in the 82, 6"lift and 35's with ttb....no problems here

Head back to MBB, you're at risk of learning something here:flipoff2:

As for the TTB, it was just me rig I guess. Apparently I was driving in a vortex.

i just welded mine yesterday. i haven't been able to put it back in my truck though. i painted the third. and its freezing and snowing and the garage isn't heated:(

i can't wait to try it out. :flipoff2: :D

Originally posted by D60


Head back to MBB, you're at risk of learning something here:flipoff2:

As for the TTB, it was just me rig I guess. Apparently I was driving in a vortex.

Not saying the TTB is great or anything of that nature.....simply that I don't have any problems with mine.

Originally posted by smoothcharlene


Not saying the TTB is great or anything of that nature.....simply that I don't have any problems with mine.

Must be because you don't drive it. :rolleyes:

I suppose you have 4" lift blocks and rad arm drop brackets and "don't have any problems" with that, either. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by sclemons


Must be because you don't drive it. :rolleyes:

I suppose you have 4" lift blocks and rad arm drop brackets and "don't have any problems" with that, either. :flipoff2:

I do drive it, but not daily anymore about 3,200mi since the minispool, but that was in Sept. As far as abusing it in the woods.....do a pretty good job at that. If the scanner wasn't broke, I'd post some new pics. No blocks, but yes I do have drop brackets. Yes they do suck, yes I hate them, but I'm fabbing up some extended arms as soon as I get a few days off work. I don't live in AZ or CA, not alot of rockcrawling round here. So whenever I lifted it, max flex wasn't an issue. Working on something to fix that now.

Originally posted by Tankota
NCTOY,


You're not the only one who's broken an axle shaft in a fast food drivethrough...just ask DSI:D :laughing:


shaddap Dave...

i broke a birfield though ;)


and as of yesterday the Tumwater PD informed me that my sppol was defective because ti was causing my rear axles to lock up and chipr my tires... i have 15 day's to correct this issue or recieve a reckless driving ticked for squeeling my tires turning out of the Jack In The Box drive thru!!!!


but it performs flawless and goes fine on teh street ;)