I recently purchased a Powertrax No-Slip lunchbox locker from Independent4x. I have a trac-lok LSD Dana 44 4.30 in my rear axle. The vehicle is Axiom 4WD 2004 with DI engine. I was assuming it has the same as the Rodeo's differential. I purchased the correct *3020 application for Dana 44 Trac-lok.

I have no experience with the differentials, and the ring gear is so sick that it does not allow in-place installation, so after some playing with the diff I went to my trusted mechanic. He is a diff specialist and he did couple differentials for me before on Isuzus (ARB and TrueTrac), so I trust his ability to deal with the thing.

He took the diff apart and installed the locker. But the supplied tool was showing that the gap is too wide - more than two times wider than allowed.

He called the Powertrax support phone, and he was prepared to hear about shimming... But the Powertrax technician told him that the shimming is a big no-no for Powertrax and this is how the Powertrax units are getting blown - due to the shimming.

Then the support guy started asking the question and checking the differential measurements. He asked to measure the internal "width" of the carrier. WHen he heard that the measurement is 4.194" he said "Aha!" According to him, this is a rare Dana 44 trac-lok breed (he calls it "V2") that is not suitable for Powertrax installation, and they do not make the lockers for them, and they even did not mention it in their application guides. The "widest" Dana 44 trac-lok that they can accommodate is 3.941".

He was also very surprised that the axle housing is steel, he is saying that they usually support only Dana 44 with aluminum housing.

The technician guy is saying that if we "shim" it inside, then the warranty is gone and that the unit will be blown for sure soon.

I would take the risk if my mechanic did not say me that recently he had a Cherokee guy in his shop with blown Dana 44 Powertrax due to the shimming. It lasted only few thousand miles, and the blame was on shimming.

Now I owe money to my mechanic for his work, and I have an unusable new Powertrax unit on the shelf.

I hope Matt from Independent4x at least allow me the unit return. I could not reach him yesterday.

I'd like to hear your opinions guys, whether anybody has an experience with the too-wide trac-lok Isuzu Dana 44 diff with a lunchbox locker.

Thanks for your replies guys.

Seems to me I have heard something about this before...I cannot help more than that though, I don't retain detailed info for axles not found on my Trooper. But I am hopeful that Matt knows how to address the issue.

Figovo, odnako <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

certified translation into English: "life sucks, man..." <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I am thinking about finding a "normal" trac-lok Isuzu Dana 44 diff on a junkyard, fitting the Powertrax into it, and putting it into Axiom.