Detroit Locker oops!

This last weekend I purchased a 69' CJ that has a Detroit in the rear D44. On the trip home, due to circumstance of a flat tire and flat spare I had to run two different tire diameter tires several miles to get the jeep to a safe location to replace the tires. After the tow with the different size tires the locker no longer locks both wheels. Under power, one wheel will turn on a slick surface and the other on a traction surface will try to grab but you can see in the wheel and tire it is disengaging. I drove the jeep on dry streets and felt the rear ratchet and release during a turn and all seemed to work as it should before the flat issue.
Not being familiar with Detroit locker Operations, are there internals that can be replaced to remedy the issue? Or is it just trashed?

 

I would disassemble it and see what is damaged. If just a spring it should be repairable. If the teeth on the side gears are worn/damaged my experience has been the cost of replacement parts approaches the cost of a replacement unit.
However, I'm not sure a 19 spline axle unit is still available (if that's what you have) (you'd have to check on what you have and what parts are available). If not then parts may not be available. If they are then it may be worth trying to find parts and fixing what you have.


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Just throwing out other possibilities besides the locker itself. Could he have spun a hub on the shaft, or even broke a shaft? hard to believe the Detroit failed because of running diff tire sizes, I would think something else would break before the Detroit.

 

I learned a long time ago ..You take the front tire and put the little one on, take the front tire and put on the back . Now you have same size tires on the rear. make sure you are in two drive .

 

This man is a genius.

 

Agree! The spring would be about the only thing I could see getting a little weak. Pretty sure the rest of those pieces are stronger than a 19 spline shaft and definately stronger than the 2-piece hub. I used to have the trouble shooting manual that went through the checking process but basically, you jack both rear wheels up and have someone hold the other side while you move the opposite forward and back. There really isn't a lot that can go wrong with them that you won't hear-like busted teeth.

 

Just throwing it out there. Are you positive that it is a Detroit Locker?

 

You mean this one?

 

Most likely a two piece axle would be the first to go but I've seen enough broken Detroit Lockers to not discount anything. We've even had to weld them up on the trail after failures. They are strong, but not as "bulletproof" as many would have folks believe.


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