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View Full Version : Rear Spool for a DD... Who's done it? Who's regretted it?



JeepinHank
09-20-2004, 04:43 PM
Working on an 8.8 build up, and I'm debating going with a full spool.

The ZJ is going to be a DD for the next couple of years, so I'm wondering if I'll be hating the decision in the future... What do you all think?

Would I be better off going with an auto-type locker or is the street behavior of the spool ok?

BigDaveZJ
09-20-2004, 05:27 PM
A spool is fine for me on the street, but the ZJ isn't my DD, but it's not a trailer queen either. Going down the road you won't notice it, most turns you won't notice it. Really sharp turns and parking lots though, now those are fun! You'll get more body roll in all situations on the road too. Tire wear kinda sucks, but isn't as bad as I expected.

robselina
09-20-2004, 05:30 PM
they're predictable. The driving characteristics aren't that bad, but tire wear can get pretty ugly, you really shouldn't tow, and it's dangerous on ice/snow/water. If that's not an issue for you, go for it.

JeepinHank
09-20-2004, 05:55 PM
hmmm... I like predictable... L/S is my enemy - I can't keep em on the street. 8)

Ice/snow - rarely if ever
I drive in the rain pretty regularly though.

So what about the tire wear? Can you compare before / after at all? I figure I can probably handle the one or two sets of tires I forsee going through before this hits wheeler / occasional use status. Then again, if I have to get out and rotate them everytime I make a sharp turn... :lol:

Would you still let your wife / mom / girlfriend drive it? My wife won't be driving it very often, but she does get a kick out of the looks she gets when tooling around town every once in a while.

BigDaveZJ
09-20-2004, 06:14 PM
If you goose the throttle in the rain around a corner, you WILL break the back end loose and start to fishtail. It's fun when you know how to control it, but kinda creepy if you don't.

robselina
09-20-2004, 06:38 PM
my wife drives our welded rear rig all the time. she kinda likes it actually, she thinks its fun to squeal in parking lots :lol:

as for tire wear - it's not too bad as long as you keep a perfectly matched set of tires on there and keep the tire pressures equal. You actually don't want to be rotating your tires with the welded rear, that makes it worse, just move them front to back in pairs.....

gsh
09-21-2004, 12:14 PM
Gearhead was running a mini-spool. He said it was fine for him. I almost bought it off him, but I didn't get the same question answered soon enough before someone else bought it. I should of just got it. Ain't hard to pull a mini back out, if I didn't like it.

BigDaveZJ
09-21-2004, 01:00 PM
Ain't hard to pull a mini back out, if I didn't like it.

That's why I got mine. It's just a mini, and I got it for $45. Figure it would take me a little bit of time and some diff fluid to take it out if I wanted to.

Trancezj
09-21-2004, 01:47 PM
I thought you had to set the gears with a mini?

BigDaveZJ
09-21-2004, 02:01 PM
I thought you had to set the gears with a mini?

Nope! All the mini does is replace the spider gears with 4 "blocks".

gearhead313
09-21-2004, 02:34 PM
ya, i had a mini-spool in my 8.8 for a while. I didn't mind it at all, and actually like it more than the lock-rite b/c there wasn't any banging and you knew it was in all the time. I'd spool anything in a second (im actually thinking of taking the full detroit out of my 14b and putting a spool in!!)

as for poor weather, i drove home one time from florida to pennsylvania and around virginia i hit some blizzard. I had the spool in at that time and it was great to have the traction and to know that you arn't going to get the sudden "engagement" of a lock-rite if one wheel started to spin on some snow while the other had traction.

It seems that people who have had them like them...and people that have had no experiance with them are scared of them and condem them. :roll: go fer it!

JeepinHank
09-21-2004, 03:01 PM
ya, i had a mini-spool in my 8.8 for a while. I didn't mind it at all, and actually like it more than the lock-rite b/c there wasn't any banging and you knew it was in all the time. I'd spool anything in a second (im actually thinking of taking the full detroit out of my 14b and putting a spool in!!)

as for poor weather, i drove home one time from florida to pennsylvania and around virginia i hit some blizzard. I had the spool in at that time and it was great to have the traction and to know that you arn't going to get the sudden "engagement" of a lock-rite if one wheel started to spin on some snow while the other had traction.

It seems that people who have had them like them...and people that have had no experiance with them are scared of them and condem them. :roll: go fer it!

Where'd ya'll get the mini spools?

robselina
09-21-2004, 06:16 PM
if it's open carrier - just weld the fawker...... 8)

Jim311
09-21-2004, 08:57 PM
Werd.. Lincoln lock that beast


:shock:

robselina
09-21-2004, 10:33 PM
Werd.. Lincoln lock that beast


Actually, I 'Millerlock' all mine, if you 'Lincolnlock' it I'm sure it'll fail in a week :lol: :wink:

JeepinHank
09-22-2004, 09:20 AM
I'm still not sold on the whole weld it up approach. I think I'd like something a little less permanent. You know - just in case. If I make a mini spool explode I can replace spiders (Already in the habit of keeping those on me for the front) If I weld the spiders and something breaks I'm stuck (unless I get a set of spare side gears).

Anyone got a writeup on welding up a rear end? I guess I need to read up on it before I just say no.

Also if miller locking is good, and lincoln locking will only last a week, how long will Clarke locking last? :shock:

gearhead313
09-22-2004, 09:24 AM
I got my mini spool from Summit Racing. something around 90 bucks.

robselina
09-22-2004, 01:41 PM
Don't just do the welded side spiders. That's not strong enough. You need to weld all 4 spiders to each other and to the carrier. This makes it quite permanent and totally bomb proof. I've NEVER seen one fail when done this way, and we've beaten the snot out of the ones I've done.

Basically, pop the cover, drain the sucker, then spray the whole carrier and spider gears down with brake parts cleaner. Let it dry, then weld the gears to each other and to the carrier. Don't be shy here, weld the crap out of it. Let it cool naturally, then clean out any splatter and fill it back up. You'll have a full spool at this point, it's VERY durable. If you decide you don't like it, you really need a selectable locker to get the best of both worlds, so welding the carrier isn't really a loss.....