Powertrax no-slip locker exploded

whitrzac

whitrzac

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
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Installed a powertrax no-slip in the front Dana 30 of my tj yesterday. Seemed a little slow to unlock, but I assumed the grease was still working it's way out.
Went to go somewhere this morning and this happened about a mile from my house. It had about 20 road miles on it from yesterday.
It felt like it wasn't onlocking, then when I turned off into a parking lot the front axle locked solid. I backed up a bit, then was able to make it back home.

The one in the rear(Dana 44) works flawlessly. Little weirdness around parking lots and leaving stop signs while turning, but otherwise invisible.




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Reactions: Tomtess, DrDmoney, psrivats and 5 others
Ouch. Did you check function prior to driving it? It is possible to install it incorrectly which will cause it to bind up, as you found out.
 
Yep, I played with the tires before lowering it back down. I could get both sides to unlock, just like the rear one.
 
It's really not rocket science, if you can do brakes, you can install these.
Prying the carrier out is the hardest part. Otherwise it's just messy.
 
**** happens. Most likely a flaw in the casting/etc.

Is the ring gear reusable? A couple of the teeth had the tips broken off.
 
Powertrax says to go through the distributor for warranty and said they haven't seen any failures like this before. It blew up all 3 parts of the locker on the driver side, without damaging the axle. They didn't think it was installed incorrectly.

What are the chances of getting the other parts covered under some sort of warranty?
 
That's a surprise, No-Slip lunchbox lockers have a great reputation and this is the first time I've seen anyone reporting a failure like you had. I ran a front No-Slip myself in my previous TJ and it was a great well-behaved and totally problem-free locker. I'd go after Powertrax for the collateral damage. I had a Detroit Gearless lunchbox locker for a short while nearly 20 years ago and when it let go, it took everything with it including the gears and carrier. Detroit (pre-Eaton) took care of everything including parts & labor.
 
National drivetrain is sending out a new locker and offered a new carrier and r/p at cost.

I think I'm going to scope out a few local junkyards for a HP Dana 30 with 3.73 gears first.
 
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Reactions: Chris and mv70
Nice of them to offer it at cost but I'd be pushing for a bit better myself considering the additional cost of labor to set the gears up. Seeing as the damage would appear to be the fault of the locker.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
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A TJ axle is between 13-22 years old. Does that have an impact on the amount of liability an aftermarket parts supplier might have on a failing part?
 
jjvw said:
A TJ axle is between 13-22 years old. Does that have an impact on the amount of liability an aftermarket parts supplier might have on a failing part?
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I'm sure it could, it might also be a "offer low and see what they take" kind of thing. Although powertrax requested going through the Dist. it is there product so I would tend to gravitate to them if the Disty does not step up.
 
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There are also certain issues that aren't worth pushing.
I'm going to get it fixed how I want it, then decide if I go back to powertrax for some kind of compensation. A couple hundred dollars may/may not be worth the bad publicly for them.
 
whitrzac said:
There are also certain issues that aren't worth pushing.
I'm going to get it fixed how I want it, then decide if I go back to powertrax for some kind of compensation. A couple hundred dollars may/may not be worth the bad publicly for them.
Click to expand...
Fair enough.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
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