kyle_22r

well, after having a factory 4.88 3rd member with about 40k original miles on it sitting in a box in the garage for nearly a year, i finally decided to get down to business and install my detroit ez-locker, and put it in my truck(along with the new rear springs and other goodies).

install is very straightforward for the V6 3rd. unbolt the bearing caps, pull out the carrier, and remove the bolts that hold it together. then you just remove the spider gears from the cross, and replace them with the two coupler halves and springs. then it all goes back together, i set cranked the heck out of the carrier bearings, and set the backlash to .008".

took it out for a drive, was very transparent! the only times you really know it's there is when pulling a tight corner under acceleration, sometimes it makes a clunk or chirps the tires. you can also hear a really faint ratcheting noise around corners..

then i went out to my local lame 4x4 proving ground and tested it on some obstacles. i could get up things with relative ease compared to spinning my tires all over the place, and had much more control.

all in all, i think this is the best $190 i've spent on the truck since i bought it. i figure sometime this summer, i'll end up buying another and putting it in the front, maybe with some chromo axles and longfields for good luck.

amorphous

Detroits rock! go climb some hills!

Toyopnoy

Kind of off topic but you mentioned that you wanted to put one in the front as well. I heard from a buddy that it would'nt be too efficient having ezlockers or lockrights in both front or rear. Is this true or false? I didn't really get a good explanation...

kyle_22r

it will make it somewhat harder to steer, that's the only downside of having one in the front, other than not ever wanting to drive it on the road in 4wd again if it snows or anything. this truck is no longer my daily driver like it once was, so streetability of some things doesn't concern me so much any more.

Zenkai

So your rear end is locked all the time now? Is that not bad for anything in the rear when driving on the road?

amorphous

the detroit will be unlocked when it's not in "skinny pedal operation mode"

i can be harder on U joints. Keep up on your grease. Try not to spank them off at lights, that will rattle your cage too....but it's FUN!

kyle_22r

i've got brand new spicer joints in my rear d-shaft, no worries there. i could see it being a problem if i had the 27 year old original ones in there, though.

it unlocks pretty much whenever you keep your foot out of it...if i can help it, i speed up a bit before taking a corner so i can get some momentum, and push the clutch in and coast until i'm going straight again. helps avoid barking the tires or having it unload on me