I have a Cummins powered Highboy with a Dana 60 up front and a Sterling 10,25 in back. I'm thinking about lockers and would like some input. I see I can get a Spartan Locker for the front but only see Torque lockers available for the Sterling. What are the pros and cons? Will be using as a daily driver so I am wondering about the Torque locker clunking in turns and locking when not needed. I have locking hubs so I don't see problems with the Spartan.

You may ask why the Sterling? Well I swapped it in 95 because the Dana 60 was slightly misshapen. I wanted outboard drums and Dana 70's were not as easy to find as the Sterling at the time. It is much beafier than the Dana 60. I have spare Dana 70's now but swapping requires moving spring perches because of the narrow highboy frame. I think the Sterling will hold up as well as the Dana but am open to input.

Do the lockers hold up well?

Thanks

 

There is the Detroit Locker for the 10.25/10.5" Ford. I ran one for most of the time when i had my f350.

Otherwise, I have run Lockrights in my diesel trucks for over 20 years.

edit: IMHO, the pros/cons mostly comes down the strength vs ease of install when comparing a full case style with a 'lunchbox' style (for open diffs). They function similarly.

 

I have a Powerlock for Dana 70 but having built a few of those on farm tractors I don't have alot of faith in them. Will look into Lockrights. Thanks

 

The Dana Powr-lok is not a true locker like the others; it uses friction discs.

 

I have built many so I know that. Friction Modifier is a must and they don't last.

 

Maybe its needed for break-in.

I have left that sauce out of my USED posi diffs for 25 years with no ill effects. It's helped with getting some grip back.

 

Working on big farm tractors with ignorant operators. I saw some stuff. They want to keep them in 4wd while turning and driving on pavement.

The boss did it as well and could not see my reasoning. I tried to show him when he was turning around on pavement. The machine jumping up and down, tires going bark, bark, bark as he turned. He claimed that he could turn all his other (smaller) tractors without turning off 4wd. Never could convince him that his front driveshaft problems, axle breakage and front gear problems were because he refused to press a **** button on the hand lever at the end of the rows before turning instead of powering through as well as flipping a switch when running on tarmac. There were signs on the dash of most tractors saying" Turn off 4wd when turning or on tarmac". Strange Dude!!

Anyway without additive the power lock clutches would cry like a baby in the turns and wear quickly. The Dana 70 carrier came out as a chunk like a chevy and it had gear reduction hubs. He would drive it to me on the road and the only thing I could reuse was an axle and the case. I kept a spare power lock on hand and thats why I still have one in my parts stash.

 

fwiw, Amsoil makes a severe gear oil that emiminates the additive. Used it for years, no additive, no ill effects

 

One of the additives in Amsiol is Kaolin mined near me. They use that stuff in everything. I would rather buy cheep dino and add a $7 additive than pay their prices. Thanks