Detroit Soft Locker

CJBob when you say an 1/8 of a turn on th pinion, is that grabbing the pinion yoke and trying to turn it?

http://www.geocities.com/austnjpr/

Yes it is JPR, with the Jeep parked and the transmission in neutral you can turn the driveline about a 1/8 of turn. One man said that is normal for a Detroit to have 1/8 to 1/4 turn of slack in them???

The backlash built into the unit is a little annoying, I installed one back in Nov. in my CJ-7. But, I took the diff apart last week to see
if there is anything I could do. You can get the backlash to a manageable feel by setting your r&p backlash to the minimum spec,
that is about .004. Mine was at .008, the difference is noticeable. Also, make sure you have brand new u-joints, even the most
minute amount of play will translate out. I replaced my u-joints at the same time last week with NAPA super duty ones, they are
VERY heavy units.

Brad
Get active or get locked out, the choice is yours.

Hey guys, I was planning on installing a locker in my '85 CJ with the model 20 rear end.

Question. How can you tell you have slack in the rear when you're driving? Why is it annoying?

I am considering the Detroit Soflocker, True-Trac, or Lock Rite. Aren't they all about the same? Thanks for your help.

NOT the same. the Detroit Soft Locker is just an updated DL. It is as heavy duty as they come, you would really have to try
to break one. the True Trac is an LS unit, not a locker, and the Lock Rite is truly wimpy compared to a Detroit Locker, it uses the
stock carrier as opposed to the bulletproof carrier of the Detroit Locker. The Detroit Locker (new and old) has a certain amount of
backlash built into the unit, it is further amplified if you have your r&p backlash set at the outer limits of spec. But, like I said in
my previous post you can minimize that with setting the r&p backlash at the minimum spec. The backlash is only noticeable
when you start from a dead stop, and that is only if the unit isn't "loaded".

Brad
Get active or get locked out, the choice is yours.

Thanks for that information. Looks like the Soflocker is the way to go for me. I'd like an ARB, but I think it's out of my price range.

How hard is the Soflocker to install? I was planning on new gears so it would be installed at the same time.