We'll do it but no warranty... ( Too many JT/JL "Problems center sections week gears and bearings"

[Uparms]

Called a very nice large off road vendor (sales, repairs, installs) today. I wanted a quote for a front E-Locker on a 220 (MaxTow) axle. Very nice person informed me the have been having too many problems with JT/JL center sections and don't recommend I pay for the work. they would do it but no warranty??

Have we been seeing a lot of failures on center sections, locked or not?? I don't recall seeing much on it?


On a different call to a different vendor, yesterday, very prominent regional sales, install repair vendor off road shop Big on YouTube too. , I again asked for a quote for a Dana or Eaton eLocker on the front. He warned me not to do it cause it will be too hard to drive and tried to defer me to TruTrac. Did quote me 3600 for the eLocker and 2600 for the Tru Trac. Horrible prices Peculiar. Very peculiar..

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[Chance575]

30k on my eaton e locker, drives like stock unlocked and no problems. Installed it myself

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

What vendors?

Center section failures, that is vague. Do they mean the locker or the gears? If gears, what brand gears? If they mean the locker, there are tons of Rubicons with front lockers and no problems. And Eaton E-Lockers are also reliable.

As for putting a limited slip in the front over a selectable locker, that doesn’t make much sense. I wonder what they meant too hard to drive? If you want to turn tight, you can turn off the locker. If you want an open diff in 4wd on slick roads, turn off the locker. Can’t do that with a limited slip. And when you need traction off road, a locker is better than a True Trac.

 

[Renegade]

Have you checked Facebook Marketplace for a Rubicon take out? I see them pretty regularly. It may be cheaper if you find one and swap it yourself. You could then potentially sell yours to recover some of the cost.

 

[Uparms]

What vendors?

Center section failures, that is vague. Do they mean the locker or the gears? If gears, what brand gears? If they mean the locker, there are tons of Rubicons with front lockers and no problems. And Eaton E-Lockers are also reliable.

As for putting a limited slip in the front over a selectable locker, that doesn’t make much sense. I wonder what they meant too hard to drive? If you want to turn tight, you can turn off the locker. If you want an open diff in 4wd on slick roads, turn off the locker. Can’t do that with a limited slip. And when you need traction off road, a locker is better than a True Trac.

He was talking about gears and bearings. Factory. That's why I asked here? I have not heard of any issues.

Agree on paragraph #2. Not national businesses but very large regioanl shops, North East.

 

[rharr]

The new axle pinion bearings are fussy cause they are a double ball bearing vs axles from the last 30 years being Tappered. So some shops aren't use to the ball bearing stuff and could screw up the install.

Done right they work fine, ie oem, so swapping out a different tooth pinion and putting in a new set of bearings isn't any different then what the factory is doing.

Go find an independent repair shop and ask for recommendations of who they use to do axles if they don't do it in house.

 

[Janster]

Walk away my friend…walk away……. If they can’t warranty their own work - that sounds like a bad result.

 

[whiteglad]

There is no reason to touch the pinion gear and pinion bearings when installing a locker. You put the ring gear onto the locker and set the backlash.

 

[Uparms]

The new axle pinion bearings are fussy cause they are a double ball bearing vs axles from the last 30 years being Tappered. So some shops aren't use to the ball bearing stuff and could screw up the install.

Done right they work fine, ie oem, so swapping out a different tooth pinion and putting in a new set of bearings isn't any different then what the factory is doing.

Go find an independent repair shop and ask for recommendations of who they use to do axles if they don't do it in house.

Great detail paragraph one. Thank you.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

If you want a warranty, and they're not offering one, walk.

Free markets rule.

 

[Hootbro]

Very nice person informed me the have been having too many problems with JT/JL center sections and don't recommend I pay for the work. they would do it but no warranty??

That is code for "We have gacked up a bunch of installs and lost our shorts having to warranty them and no longer want to stand by our work."

 

[legacy_etu]

Called a very nice large off road vendor (sales, repairs, installs) today. I wanted a quote for a front E-Locker on a 220 (MaxTow) axle. Very nice person informed me the have been having too many problems with JT/JL center sections and don't recommend I pay for the work. they would do it but no warranty??

Have we been seeing a lot of failures on center sections, locked or not?? I don't recall seeing much on it?


On a different call to a different vendor, yesterday, very prominent regional sales, install repair vendor off road shop Big on YouTube too. , I again asked for a quote for a Dana or Eaton eLocker on the front. He warned me not to do it cause it will be too hard to drive and tried to defer me to TruTrac. Did quote me 3600 for the eLocker and 2600 for the Tru Trac. Horrible prices Peculiar. Very peculiar..

If you're looking for another shop's opinion call these guys. https://barrettefabrication.com/

They do a ton of differential work on Jeeps in my area. They installed a Tru-Trac in my JK and it's been flawless. See what they say.

 

[Uparms]

Bottom line at some of thes prices, i am better off (and awaiting a price) with an Ult Dana 44 new and I can do the swap easy. 3600 for mofo e locker install, no new gears. #NotMyCheckbook!

 

[Blade1668]

Bottom line at some of thes prices, i am better off (and awaiting a price) with an Ult Dana 44 new and I can do the swap easy. 3600 for mofo e locker install, no new gears. #NotMyCheckbook!

Only reason I've not installed a factory E-Locker in my JT Max-Tow yet is laziness in general. I've got the locker setting still in the housing above 7 ft from me as I'm reading this thread. As Hootbro said... (My thought) Don't walk but run from there. I've got a few projects on my to-do list that's one of them. One other I ordered an axle on Friday for. I've got a few things to do on my Wrangler I think before the install of a locker. So I can have a vehicle to drive if I run into anything when doing that.

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