What did you do to your Grand today (ZJ/WJ)?

[Adrian D]

Tried out the lockers today, finally.

Front locker now has an internal leak, rear is fine. Drove the Jeep slowly until it was crossed up and wouldn't move, locked the rear and let the wife drive it out. Ea-sy.

The front locker did not leak 200km after the install and the routing is as per the manual. More work, I love it when I have to do something again, at least it's nice outside and the impact gun makes it easier.

[JeanLuke]

Originally Posted by Adrian D

I love it when I have to do something again, at least it's nice outside and the impact gun makes it easier.

If it's like me and my fuel pump, what took 2 hours first time (removing the pump) took 30 minutes second time.

Sent from my moto g( plus using Tapatalk

[Adrian D]

Yeah, the second time around it goes faster, always

The verdict is in: the seal housing rotated, pulling the copper tube over the ring gear and also breaking it from the seal housing.

Left-over tube from the rear install is plenty long, so I will braze it back in the seal housing and also braze a tab to prevent further seal housing rotation

Going back over the ARB install manual, it seems like the copper tube wedging against the bearing caps is what prevents seal housing rotation on the Dana 30.

[5oclock]

Adrian D good work!
So the lockers are significantly better than the previous variloks.
Are you still using the 235/85 r16 tyres? I am about to get a new set of tyres and remember you were using this size with a minimal lift. So 245/75 r16 is probably what i will go for(2.7 crd 40mm lift),because i am worried if i did go for 235/85 r16 the greater increase in diameter will impact braking and acceleration too much.? Has it been all good for you with these tyres??

[Adrian D]

With the variloks I would've needed some wheelspin to move forward from that situation. Using only the rear locker was impressive.

It's fixed now:



New copper line soldered in and I also welded a tab to prevent rotation.


Inside roundness checked, only 0.10mm of swelling close to the copper line. It's still flat when laid flat on a piece of glass.

What I suspect I did wrong during the install:
1. Installed the ARB master shim the wrong way around, rounded over edge towards the seal housing instead of towards the bearing - not that important I think)

2. I added the preload shims towards the outside, instead of between the seal housing and the bearing. The shim would have pushed the seal housing that little bit away from the bearing cage to prevent rotation.

This was a recommended solution on Jeepforum to avoid pushing the seal housing too far towards the outside. Measurements showed that without any shims it's actually too far in and the X-ring partially covers the air hole in the carrier. All good now with the shim between the bearing and the seal housing.

[Adrian D]

235/85R16 vs 235/65R17:

With the hot weather here (+30*C) it has a tendency to run hotter (95-98*C) on inclines at higher speeds. In low range it's stable at 90*C with the fan going to 24-26% duty cycle.

The car seems to move easier than with the previous 255/65R17 tires.

Not a huge acceleration and braking penalty but I've got a custom 4-piston brake upgrade in the front. I received a lot of negative criticism for the adapter brackets here on the forum but after nearly 100.000km, the adapters are still perfect structurally, brake pad wear is even and it's on the 2nd set of pads and 1st set of rotors.

My car is only lifted 15mm, so I had to make some custom, removable bump-stop extensions, visible in the locker picture, to prevent the tires tearing up everything in the front. The front bumper corners are completely cut out.

[Adrian D]

To keep on-topic:

today I've buttoned up the front axle and routed the solenoid exhausts outside to keep CO2 outside and keep the wife happy about the noise.