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Old 10-09-2018
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Default Dana Vari Lock Diff

Has anybody had experience maintaining these diffs. How long before they need replacing, is 220ks to much expect without rebuilding? Can they be rebuilt? Has anyone had a vari lock that has failed?
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Old 10-09-2018
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I just recently had some work done on my front Dana 30 vari-lok (QuadraDrive). The carrier was worn where the side gear sits and was causing an annoying noise. The vari-lok was still functioning perfectly well and that was at ~265,00Km's.
My diff guy (whom I trust implicitly) said he's never seen it before in a WJ. I concluded that most WJ's don't do a lot of hard off road and maybe that's why.

I found out that the vari-lok centre is classed as a non-servicable item - you can't buy replacement components, only an entire centre. So second hand is the only option for components. (Which is what I did)
I also discovered there were differences between my centre (2002) and a 2004 centre which I purchased. We managed.

My thoughts on the QuadraDrive are it's extremely capable if healthy. I had a twin-locked XJ prior to the WJ and the WJ continues to surprise me.

Cheers,
Ruffy.
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Old 11-09-2018
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Thanks Ruffy. I'm considering buying a donor car thats available at the moment for it's Quadra-Drive to put in my 2.7 CRD but I'm thinking it could be an expensive can of worms considering the Ks of the vehicles. Particularly if there are possible differences in the carrier, the donor is 1999 and mine is 2004. A module to fool the CRD TCU of the change in diff ratios is around $400 to start with and seeing that the vari lok is not a repairable item it comes down to luck for parts that were only used for five years, so there cant be too many laying around.

Last edited by wambo; 11-09-2018 at 01:29 AM.
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Old 11-09-2018
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From what I could gather on this topic, the clutch packs don't have preload on them like the normal viscous LSDs, so they only engage when you have excessive wheel slippage. For a Grand that has spent most of it's life on-road, that means very little wear on the clutch pack.
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Old 11-09-2018
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I have found the 44hd diff varilock is pretty durable, the Dana 30 one is a bit delicate. The 44hd varilok centre can be swapped between petrol and the crd ratios, the Dana 30 cannot.
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Old 12-09-2018
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Thanks Adrian, good info about no pre-load. Makes the swap more viable. Thanks Classic Boy, good to know about the durability of the rear dana. I read your posts re your daughters 3 wheel drive, thats what got me started on this.

Last edited by wambo; 12-09-2018 at 01:14 AM.
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Old 12-09-2018
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one thing to note is that if swapping carrier to vari lok the axles are different lengths to the open centre so they need to be swapped too
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