New Rear Locker: Reuse Existing Gears or New R&P?

jjvw

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Last year I stripped out the rear locker on my Rubicon. Since then, I bought a low mile factory rear locker as a replacement. I also have a master rebuild kit and a new R&P ready to use. I want to get this finished and out of the way soon. I will be doing the work myself with the help of someone with lots of experience.

What are people's thoughts on reusing the existing gears vs a full set up? The rear end has no more than 15k miles. Last Spring, when we inspected the broken locker and cleaned out the old fluid, the R&P looked good. I stuck a big magnet on the diff cover to catch any remaining locker shavings.
 
You need to do a pattern check to know if its still good.
That would be step one on install day before deciding which direction to go.

Let's assume the pattern is good. Would it be unwise to reuse the existing gears on the rear axle?
 
If your existing R&P are in good shape, no problem reusing them. Similar to when you replace an open carrier with a locker or LSD. Not moving the pinion should make the job a little easier.
 
Wouldn't you use the existing R&P if you were installing say a lunchbox locker?
Along with the existing carrier, yes.

I've thought about opening up my current locker and swapping out the guts, but I haven't found much information for what to expect inside the factory locker.
 
If you are not experiencing any issues with the gearset you are running now, save yourself the hassle and reuse the gears. No need to pull the pinion and you only have to worry about setting the backlash back to what it is at now.
 
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I just did this because I broke my Rubi locker as well, I'm still running my factory 4.11 gears. Measure your backlash before you pull the factory carrier out, and check it is the same when you put the replacement locker in. The Rubi Dana 44 has external shims between the carrier bearing and housing, so be very careful when removing they don't drop on the floor. Mark with sharpie and make sure they go back on their respective sides. Since you're putting another Rubi locker in this should be quick and easy. The external shims (which are different from the normal Dana 44 carrier shims) would be good to have in case you need to adjust the backlash by a few thousandths. This is what you need: Nitro Gear & Axle part # DAN708193

https://www.justdifferentials.com/DAN708193-p/dan708193.htm
 
I bought the same Motive rebuild kit that I used for the regear a couple years ago. During that setup, I remember some complaints that this would be easier with more shim options. This time I also bought an extra pack of shims from Yukon. I figure between what's in the diff now and the new ones I recently bought, we will have a good variety.
 
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