I know that the pre-E-locker 8" housings need to be modified slightly to fit an e-locker.

But, are all e-locker era 8" housings pre-notched to accept the e-locker?

I don't have the tools to properly modify my housing, and I'd like the width. Tracking down an e-locker isn't proving too tough, but if I get one seperate of the housing I need to know exactly what type of housing to look for.

 

The only housings that fit e-lockers stock came with e-lockers in them.

Modifying the housing involves making a notch and moving some studs. It has been covered here ad nauseum.

Getting a housing that took an e-locker will be in the 61" range. That is wider than your front.

If you are finding a ton of e-lockers, look next to them as the stockers all came in an axle.

 

hey bill...

find a junker V6 open housing...and do the elocker housing mod on that one. its not that difficult by the looks of the write up. i think kyleT has done it recently...might want to PM him. all thats needed is a grinder, drill & tap. just grab an elocker gasket, trace it around the stock housing and grind the notch out. using a junker lets you build it up from scratch and do a direct swap in. find one same as your current setup (you wont get the added width of course)...and you wont have to worry about relocating spring perches, etc etc.

...and if you mess it up..its just the cost of a bare housing...which shouldnt be too much. grinders can be had from canadian tire for about $40 for a decent one w/ cutting and grinding discs...

 

I recently did an e-locker swap into my '87 4cyl housing. It wasn't too bad. My greatest suggestion would be:
TRANSFER PUNCH, DRILL, TAP, AND STUD EACH HOLE INDIVIDUALLY- START TO FINISH, reinstalling, marking and removing the 3rd member for each hole. Once the short top one is in place, repeat the process for the short lower one, start to finish. Then move to the upper long one - start to finish. Finally the lower one.
(I would say, it would even be worth the cost of getting a 2" steel bushing sleeve made. .32 OD, .266 ID to fit the 17/64 drill bit needed for tapping. Then you can just secure your 3rd member with a few nuts and drill the housing with the 3rd in place)

Even after tripple checking location, and using a drill press, three of my four new studs where out of place. Doing them one at a time would have saved me much frustration and labor later on.
Mark

 

i did just do it.

I used the gasket as a template, used a grinder to carefully grind out the notch, then held the diff up and drilled the new holes using the diff holes as a guide and pulled it back off and had my dad (who is more skilled then I) tap the holes. you will need to obtain the 2 longer studs. my dad was able to tap the top longer stud hole, even as it is on a angled piece of metal, Others have welded a small bit there and grind it smooth. took me an evening to mod and install it.

 

I got my parts guy checking on an e-locker housing for me, so we'll see how that turns out.

I'm sure I could do the modifications, I just saw Bob_sr5 using a drill press, and figured that would be a good idea. But I've got a buddy(or rather buddies dad) who'd give me a hand.

as for being wider than the front: meh. I want to go with a Total Chaos kit this summer, so it'd be nice to match the width in the rear.

 

The gasket for the elocker is not symmetrical (there?s a up and a down side).
I did this mod on a 4cyl housing. I used a center punch to mark the stud holes with the 3rd in the housing and drilled them out with a buddys drill press. I did not lay the weld bead to widen the gasket surface. Everything bolted right up and I have had no leaks to date. I would definitely recommend using a dill press even if it means paying someone to do it for you.

 

You don't need a drill press. It's very easy to do with a hand drill if you use the third member itself as a template. The problem with using the gasket is the gasket holes a slightly bigger than the real holes so that just adds to the tolerancing errors when drilling.

I've outlined my method in Bob's thread.

 

Good idea. With a TC kit the only way you are going to match front to rear it to get a T-100 housing. I have a kit similar to the TC kit and use an e locker housing because it is 1" wider per side than the stocker. But to semi match the front width to the rear I run a 15x7 in front and a 15x8 in the rear. I feel that the the difference with the e-locker housing and a TC kit with different off set wheels works better than matching the width at ride height (T-100 housing) because at ride height the rear is about 1" per side narrower. But as the suspension cycles through the travel like full droop, the front wheels narrow up and match front to rear. It actually works very well. TC on a stock width rear end will tend to steer you all over the place.

 

Is the rear diff housing on the 2000 sr5 2wd the same as the 4wd?

So I would follow these basic directions for my rig too?

I am looking at installing e-locker on my 2wd for when I pull a trailer, some spots I have to go off road. The one wheel peels doesn't cut it. (Wife fusses on me for spinning out in the yard when it's wet)

sorry for the newb question.

Also, would it be easier/cheaper to put in air locker?

Does an air locker require modifications to the diff housing?

Thanks!