So I’ve owned my ‘14 JKU Sport since new… I’m at 60k miles… and have gone through 3 rear differentials. Specifically the spider gears. First replacement was at 32k under warranty. Next was at 50k, covered under a good faith warranty (though I think it should have been under the Mopar warranty since it was less than 18mo). Now as I’m closing in on 18 months since last replaced, I changed the fluid to see what I would fine. Sure enough, only 10k and I’ve pulled out some chips off the magnet from the spider gears again.

From what I keep reading, this seems to be pretty common with LSD. I haven’t off-roaded at all on the last two sets of gears, but it does see some pretty heavy city driving…. I don’t really want to go fight with the dealership to try and make them cover this, and even if they did, they would just replace with the same factory carrier. I can’t keep doing this every year.

So what are my aftermarket options? Are there better quality LSD’s that will hold up better? Not really sure I want to go down the path of lockers, but also don’t want open diff. LSD seems like a good compromise, assuming I can find one that holds up.

 

Detroit Truetrac

 

X2 on the TruTrac. They are awesome. Offroad and city driving. Its a game changer in wet and snowy weather too. I had mine regeared and put in TruTrac at 60k. I replaced the factory lsd and could not believe how messed up the spiders were.

 

How much more costly would an eLocker be? Would labor costs likely be similar?

 

My choice was, when re-gearing with Yukon gears & Yukon Duragrip.. Yukon Duragrip is a clutch style LSD. The other is the Eaton truetrac which is helical gears. Here is some data:Yukon Duragrip - 100% rebuildable - Better warranty - Works in forward or reverse - Clutches will wear down and require maintenance - Special additive required - Can chatter

Eaton: Maintenance free(no clutches that could wear out) No additive required Not rebuildable One year limited warranty Doesn’t work in reverse

 

As far as labor costs, a shop MIGHT charge just a little more for an e-locker but only due to having due to having to add a bulkhead to get wiring through the diff to the locker and running wires from the front to get power to it. Actual install other than that is the same as any other re-gear or carrier replacement. I haven't looked in a while but most selectable lockers are usually in the $900-$1k range for the part.

 

cool, this might be a better option then. If labor costs are relatively similar, and a LSD is in the $500, and $1k for the elocker, I’d probably lean towards that. To make sure I’m understanding correctly, it would function just as an open differential until I flip a switch, right?

 

Yes, this is correct. If you lived somewhere with heavy winters I'd say that an LSD is probably a lot better option for pavement purposes and wintery conditions, but guessing that is not a concern in Cali. Those LSDs are a great option though if you really don't need the full function of a true locker.