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I have an air locker in the rear of my waggy, and sometimes I could use more traction. ive been thinking about adding a track lok to the front of my waggy. I cant justify the cost of another selectable locker. I found the new warn hubs are crap, Im not sure they would hold up to an automatic locker. the track loks pop up cheap every now and then. im thinking anything is better than the open diff I have up front now. I know they don't have the best reputation offroad since they aren't a real locker, but my wife's wrangler seems to work pretty good with one. is it worth it, or a wasted effort?

If you find one, I am sure it will need to be rebuilt with new clutches put in. The kit to fully rebuild a Trac-lock is ~$260 for a D44.

You of course will have to setup your gears again, be sure its the right carrier break for your gears.

When new, they work pretty decently. Problem is they wear out very fast. If you go and spin one tire up front for a few second, you can take a huge amount of life off of it.

If you dont want a full locker, see if you can save up for a Detroit Tru-Trac. They work very well in front axle applications, and are cheaper than a selectable by quite a bit. And they do not have the unloading issues of an automatic locker, so its easier on your hubs.

The PowrLok is another fairly low cost option. It uses a ratchet gear against a spring loaded plate that allows slippage under light load, but locks up under power.
I run them on both ends and most of the time don't notice they are there.

I did the gears so that's not really an issue. I didn't expect the clutches to cost that much though.

I see clutches for 80$. There's an article on Randy's about them says they aren't such a good choice for the rear but work great in the front. I'm still tempted to try it.

I had one in the front of the 68'. Worked fine. Much better than an open diff but it ain't no locker either. If you have one already... use it.

Unless your trying to drive in snow on the highway, then I would recommend a front Spartan locker (lunchbox locker) and keep a spare warn hub in the truck. Yeah, those warns aren't what they used to be, but the way I think about it is this: it's MUCH easier and cheaper to replace a broken warn hub than an axle shaft or u joint.

Link to the spartan locker on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261556848300?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

I prefer the spartans over the lockrights because they have a little hole in the side which allows easier installation of the springs and such.

jamesdart wrote:I see clutches for 80$. There's an article on Randy's about them says they aren't such a good choice for the rear but work great in the front. I'm still tempted to try it.

The clutches/plates only are around that price. But once you tear it apart, you may find the side gears need to be replaced. The have outer splines that the clutches and plates slide onto (plates don't have splines, just the clutches). I have seen those outer splines get pretty worn once play starts to happen. Depends how many miles are on it. The full kit comes with the other parts (side gears and such) as well.

Thankfully the D44 version doesnt have the bellevue spring. C-clip axles have them and they are a pita to install.

I've been thinking of the Detroit Tru-Trac I think its called, local off road shop has it in hi DD and crawler and loves it. No clutches to wear out and street/highway friendly.