[RockRodHooligan]

Yes I know this isn't a TJ, but I figured a few of you might be interested in this cheep alternative to an ARB air locker. It's an MJ D44 that I'm putting in my XJ.

I can't afford to regear right now because I have a Detroit locker up front and it's on the wrong side of the carrier break(I know, I bought it before I knew anything about gearing and carrier breaks), I don't want to loose my front locker so I'm just going to run stock gearing for now.

Here is the axle(with TNT u-bolt eliminators)


The hole

Rubicon front air locker

[mudb8]

I had a good pump laying around untill tonight.....

the rubi is a good alternative if it's cheap, they are 800 bucks new, so try to keep em under 200 used unless you can pull em apart to inspect, the fronts can have cracked spiders and the rears can have chipped sun gears. I've burned myself a few times thinking I got a good locker, when It needed some parts we just can't get...

[RockRodHooligan]

The first problem I ran into was with the gearing. Rubicons use thick cut gears, and 7/16" ring gear bolts, where as a standard D44 uses 3/8" ring gear bolts. Dana 44 Trac-loc on the left, Rubicon Tru-loc on the right


The Rubicon case has a slightly larger bolt hole, leaving about 1/16" of play in the ring gear


I called up Randy's Ring and Pinion and they hooked me up with these little sleeves to make it a better fit

[RockRodHooligan]

Sleeves installed

Next is the bearing cap. Rubicons use caps specific for these lockers to allow for the air actuator, they are a little narrower, and have a notch for the air line

So I modified my stock cap to work. Shaved aprox .010 off of the cap and notched out for the air line:


Test fit

And in the housing

[RockRodHooligan]

Originally Posted by mudb8

I had a good pump laying around untill tonight.....

Damnit wish I would have seen this sooner

[mudb8]

Originally Posted by hotrod_hooligan

Damnit wish I would have seen this sooner

LOL, that was an edit too!

Mrblaine beat ya to it last night for Gerald

[Wheelin98TJ]

A new Rubi locker pump from the dealer is about $80 if you get a discounted price.

List price is around $120.

[RockRodHooligan]

Originally Posted by Wheelin98TJ

A new Rubi locker pump from the dealer is about $80 if you get a discounted price.

List price is around $120.

Sadly I'm a little tight on budget right now. So far I have got a little over $1100(not including the cost of the chromo shafts that are swapping from my current axle), into an axle that was given to me for free, and it still doesn't even have gears yet(it will have everything but though). I will probably end up buying new, but I figured I would look to see if I could pick up one a little cheeper.

[gribbles]

Originally Posted by hotrod_hooligan

So far I have got a little over $1100 into an axle that was given to me for free

Yikes and no gears yet either....thats why I dont count

[RockRodHooligan]

Originally Posted by gribbles

Yikes and no gears yet either....thats why I dont count

Yeah some times I wish I didn't count. It's the little stuff that adds up really quick.

Free MJ Dana 44 as a B-day present - Junk yard
$30 Sand blasted housing - C&R Sandblasting
Free welding - school/buddy
$150 1.5" UBEs - TNT Customs
$145 EBC Green Stuff brake pads(for Ford Explorer), Centric rotors(for ZJ) - ThePartsBin.com
$40 Ford Explorer backing plates and calipers - Junk yard
$65 Rubber brake hoses - O'Reilly
$12 Steal brake line - Autozone
$40 Misc fluids(brake parts cleaner, diff fluid, paint) - Autozone
$50 Ring gear bolt sleeves - Randy's Ring and Pinion
$120 G2 master instal kit - 4 Wheel Parts
$450 Rubi air locker
$1102 total

[slayer2000]

quick question. I'm doing the same thing and I was wondering, did you take off .010 just on the one main cap or did you have to do both caps? Also are those spacers made of brass? I was going to machine my own out of 316 stainless and I was worried that it might be too soft.

[mudb8]

Originally Posted by slayer2000

quick question. I'm doing the same thing and I was wondering, did you take off .010 just on the one main cap or did you have to do both caps? Also are those spacers made of brass? I was going to machine my own out of 316 stainless and I was worried that it might be too soft.

only one cap needs to shaved and notched, the spacers I use are steel and come from randy's. they're cheap.

[RockRodHooligan]

Originally Posted by slayer2000

quick question. I'm doing the same thing and I was wondering, did you take off .010 just on the one main cap or did you have to do both caps? Also are those spacers made of brass? I was going to machine my own out of 316 stainless and I was worried that it might be too soft.

Ah yeah, turned out that the .010 is more of a round about number, and every axle can be a little different. After installing the axle, I was getting a "pop" from the rear end when I'd make turns, like the locker wasn't fully disengaged/engaged. I had to go back and shave some more off. I was told by Blaine to pretty much "shave it till it clears, and then don't shave any more". But yes, that was only on the right bearing cap, just to clear the air actuator.

The ring gear spacers aren't brass, I got them from Randy's Ring and Pinion. They are steel colored though, thats about all I can tell you.

[RockRodHooligan]

Originally Posted by mudb8

only one cap needs to shaved and notched, the spacers I use are steel and come from randy's. they're cheap.

Relatively speaking yes, they are cheep, about $3 each, but then you also have to buy 10 of them, that comes to about $30.

[mudb8]

Originally Posted by RockRodHooligan

Relatively speaking yes, they are cheep, about $3 each, but then you also have to buy 10 of them, that comes to about $30.

There's at least 30 of em on the floor behind my bearing press, they don't seem to like to stay on the peg board very well....