Anydoby running a OX Locker in a Dana 44 yet?
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I am currently running ox lockers front and rear (Dana 30 and 44) in my TJ. I absolutely love them and the only for seen problem is engaging the front one when the drivetrain is under an enormous amount of stress but on the rear one i wouldnt reccomend to engage it newhere over 15 miles an hour just for safety reasons, other wise they work wonderful.
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I"ve got 'em front and rear in my YJ(waggy 44s). My only complaint so far is the price. They work great.
Jake Harsha
Hunt Technologies
Pequot Lakes, MN
Jake Harsha
Hunt Technologies
Pequot Lakes, MN
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Where did you guys order yours from and how much?? (for the 44) <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
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The only distributor that I know of is Drivetrain Direct. I think they're the exclusive distributor. The price comes out to a hair under 750 a piece. I worked out a deal with DTD because I also bought gears and install kits from them too. The entire order came to a hair under 2k with shipping and everything. DTD was a great outfit to deal with and they really know their shit backwards and forward. No complaints there.
When it's all said an done, it probably would've been cheaper to go with ARBs (in D44s anyhow) than the Oxen, like I did. I realize that the Ox is (as yet)untested, but if you'd ever seen an Ox D44 differential unit sitting on a workbench next to an ARB D44 differential unit (I have) you'd have a really hard time convincing anyone that the Ox was the weaker of the two. They're bigger in every dimension and much simpler to boot. The diff assembly itself is a 4-spider design like in a Detroit and everything is super beefy. I took one apart just to see what everything was like on the inside and the whole thing is a pretty impressive piece of machining.
Hell, even the little cable shifters are made of top-quality machined-from-a-billet aluminum and stainless steel. They could've easily cut corners on stuff like this, but believe me--they didn't.
Like I said, they cost a lot, but I think in the end, you get what you pay for. And you don't have to worry about air lines breaking or O-rings not sealing or solenoids sticking or pump motors not running. There's just not a whole lot to go wrong on an Ox, and what there is is really well-made.
O.K. All you ARB owners can flame me now. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
Running for cover,
Jake Harsha
Hunt Technologies
Pequot Lakes, MN
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The 2k covered the units themselves, the cables and shifters (at $749 a piece, I think) 4.27 Genuine Spicer R&P Gears, and DTD overhaul kits (Timken bearings, shims and whatnot, etc.)
Keep in mind that this was over 7 months ago (when I pre-ordered the stuff--it didn't show up on my doorstep until April or so because the OX 44s weren't available yet...) The deal you get today might be better or it might be worse. I do remember reading somewhere that the D44 units were still back ordered forever, but I don't know that for sure.
As far as installation complexity goes, a monkey could probably get the thing installed in the right place, but to get it installed right, you gotta basically do everything you'd have to do to install a Detroit (or an ARB) including things like setting your pinion depth/preload, backlash, running a pattern, etc. I won't re-hash the old "do your gears yourself" argument, but suffice it to say that if you have to ask, you'll probably want to get a pro to do it for you. I worked my way through college as a diesel technician and I grew up on the farm rebuilding engines and fixing anything and everyhthing that broke, but when it comes to setting up R&P gears I'd just as soon let someone do it who does that stuff all the time and avoid spending an extra $250 on gears that I messed up that could've been spent on professional installation in the first place. That and I don't have the tools. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
HTH,
Jake Harsha
Hunt Technologies
Pequot Lakes, MN
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1,778 Posts
We were talking about the Ox internals, tough guy. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> It's a relative term.
I looked into them but I deceided against for the reason of the shift fork mounted on the diff cover. I'm sure it's is just me but I've been known to use my f&r diff cover as bumpers. So I was worried about the shift fork. $.02 <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
I've installed one set of OX lockers to date. The 30 was fine, the 44 was not. It had a little bitty problem- .009 runout at the ring gear mounting surface. I talked to someone at Drivetrain who talked to someone else who... anyway, supposedly they are now checking that before they ship. I guess it was tolerance stack up in the ol' CNC machine.
As for installing OX's or any other locker with the same ring and pinion you do NOT need to check pinion depth. That's particular to that ring and pinion set and once installed properly you don't have to worry about it. When changing carriers you need to reset the backlash and carrier bearing preload. You can paint the gears if it makes you feel like a hero, but it won't really tell you anything.
A monkey could do it! A monkey with trial fit bearings, mag mount dial indicator and a bunch of shims laying around. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
As for installing OX's or any other locker with the same ring and pinion you do NOT need to check pinion depth. That's particular to that ring and pinion set and once installed properly you don't have to worry about it. When changing carriers you need to reset the backlash and carrier bearing preload. You can paint the gears if it makes you feel like a hero, but it won't really tell you anything.
A monkey could do it! A monkey with trial fit bearings, mag mount dial indicator and a bunch of shims laying around. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
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The cover is heavy. Almost as thick as the rest of the pumpkin and made from stronger stuff (billet vs cast).
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Tha cover IS beef, but what about the little shifter cable being ripped smashed or otherwise mutilitated bu the rocks? <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0"> I like the simplistic design of the OX but...?
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