Powertrax purchase

InCommando · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:36 pm

I have never been fortunate enough to always be absolutely right in every topic: tires, lockers, trannies, yada yada yada. When I want to, I can find a way to promote my views without trampling everyone else's. I am also fortunate that instead of a rev limiter my KJ just cuts the fuel supply, I guess. When I have screwed up and hit the rev limiter in my drag car, I know I have screwed up or I would not be hitting the rev limiter. The vehicle is certainly not at full power on the limiter, and being in enough control to merely back off the throttle a touch would greatly increase the ability of any vehicle. To continue to drive on the limiter seems to indicate that the driver has an inability to maintain control of himself or the rig. Perhaps being unable to do anything but stomp the go-pedal and hang on to the wheel leaves some people either too frightened or too frozen to even slightly modulate their foot, and certainly unable to add the complicated process of shifting gears into the equation?

Maybe it isn't tough trails, but poor driver ability, that breaks things? Perhaps the real diffference in keeping the lunch-box lockers alive is driver skill & finesse? Any lunkhead can mash a pedal: that is simple to do. Maybe that is way some think it is the only, or correct, way to drive?

No one ever slammed the Detroit locker, so there is no need to repeatdly defend it. Yes, a locker that replaces the whole carrier would be the strongest choice. Obviously it has what it takes to hold up to people who require stronger, more expensive parts due to their inability to drive well enough or learn from their own mistakes in order to keep the others alive. But that doesn't make it the ONLY choice as people have different needs, wants, & expectations.

Troysterr · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:41 pm

I love my Powertrax. It's worked perfectly for over three years, on dozens of trails of all kinds. I drive in snow and rain, on ice, in mud. Always behaves exactly as I would expect.

But if I didn't already have my Powertrax, I'd be waiting for the Aussie. From what I've heard and read, it's cheaper and better.

Maybe you should ask someone with a lunchbox locker to let you drive theirs around for a little while, to see if you like it.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:55 am

InCommando wrote:

I have never been fortunate enough to always be absolutely right in every topic: tires, lockers, trannies, yada yada yada. When I want to, I can find a way to promote my views without trampling everyone else's. I am also fortunate that instead of a rev limiter my KJ just cuts the fuel supply, I guess. When I have screwed up and hit the rev limiter in my drag car, I know I have screwed up or I would not be hitting the rev limiter. The vehicle is certainly not at full power on the limiter, and being in enough control to merely back off the throttle a touch would greatly increase the ability of any vehicle. To continue to drive on the limiter seems to indicate that the driver has an inability to maintain control of himself or the rig. Perhaps being unable to do anything but stomp the go-pedal and hang on to the wheel leaves some people either too frightened or too frozen to even slightly modulate their foot, and certainly unable to add the complicated process of shifting gears into the equation?

Maybe it isn't tough trails, but poor driver ability, that breaks things? Perhaps the real diffference in keeping the lunch-box lockers alive is driver skill & finesse? Any lunkhead can mash a pedal: that is simple to do. Maybe that is way some think it is the only, or correct, way to drive?

No one ever slammed the Detroit locker, so there is no need to repeatdly defend it. Yes, a locker that replaces the whole carrier would be the strongest choice. Obviously it has what it takes to hold up to people who require stronger, more expensive parts due to their inability to drive well enough or learn from their own mistakes in order to keep the others alive. But that doesn't make it the ONLY choice as people have different needs, wants, & expectations.

well until you have been there and done that then how do you know I am wrong?
were you there when I broke the power trax? either of them?
were you there when I hit the revlimiter? the only KJ that showed did not even try the hill he took a by pass along with 4 FJ's but the TJ's at least tryed and some of us made it
would you have tryed this hill?
have you ever wheeled with me and my auto tranny?
do you wheel enough to know why ATs suck out on the trail?

until you can answer yes to ALL of these questions I would restrain from making comments like this

KJ04 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:05 am

Doesn't it just sound like a bad batch of Powertrax lockers got past quality control and in to the hands of the public and leave it at that.

If everyones Powertrax was breaking, rather than one persons misfortune of breaking two of them, then we could all say; yeah, Powertrax lockers are junk!

This same disscusion comes up everytime Powertrax is mentioned anymore. You complain you broke 2, Jeepster complains that his Bangs, and the rest of us have no problems.

May as well just make this a STICKY and we won't have to repeat ourselves all the time. :lol:

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:24 am

Its been in there around 12k but no, Ive not checked it.

Didnt you have a D35 JT? Is so, Im sure its different than the 8.25. Ive never heard of a power-trax breaking in a 8.25.

I by all means do not hit the red line in my Jeep offroad but Ive had it offroad a decent amount. Pretty sure its broken-in just fine.

Im sure the differences we are seeing all have to do with the terrain we live in. I drive around in the city alot with many right hand turns when I pull out. It usually only makes a noise when its really cold which I think is normal. I just dont like the thing!

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:51 am

jferg had the D35 and blew a powertrax (he hasn't posted in a while) and I think Darby managed to kill one in his gasser with the 8.25
We also have lots of folks that don't have any problems.

I wouldn't say they're junk - as with any mechanical system - it depends on how you use it - and you should know that if you're aggressively offroading a lot - it's not as strong as a whole carrier replacement.

understand the strengths - understand the weaknesses and make a decision based on your needs.

KJ04 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:53 am

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Its been in there around 12k but no, Ive not checked it.

Didnt you have a D35 JT? Is so, Im sure its different than the 8.25. Ive never heard of a power-trax breaking in a 8.25.

I by all means do not hit the red line in my Jeep offroad but Ive had it offroad a decent amount. Pretty sure its broken-in just fine.

Im sure the differences we are seeing all have to do with the terrain we live in. I drive around in the city alot with many right hand turns when I pull out. It usually only makes a noise when its really cold which I think is normal. I just dont like the thing!

Sounds like you need to pull your Power trax apart, check the springs and see what is wrong, instead of continuing to drive it month after month and then complain that it bangs and won't lock up..... I would have pulled mine apart right away if I'd had problems of any kind with it.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:47 am

ATXKJ wrote:

jferg had the D35 and blew a powertrax (he hasn't posted in a while) and I think Darby managed to kill one in his gasser with the 8.25
We also have lots of folks that don't have any problems.

my bad. I get people mixed up sometimes.

It not locking has only happened a hand-ful of times. Meh-Kick was behind me once offroad when it did it. Another time it happened when I was offroad alone and the last time was going up a hill in the snow. I could hear the syncro's trying to engage but I believe the other wheel was already spinning to fast. Usually it will lock right up if I stop and put it in N then back to D. I didnt say this was a problem and I believe its normal behavior of a lunch-box locker. When one wheel starts to spin you do not want it to suddenly lock up. It will, however, lock right up if I raise a tire off the ground.

Lets say I pull out right handed onto a road in the rain. I give it gas to pull out while turning(locker unlocked) so the inside tire starts to spin. Once the tire starts to spin it will not lock but if I let off the gas it will lock up, then I can go. This has gotten 98% better after getting rid of the stock tires.

The noise(BANG) that I hear is when Im just driving down a road slowly. When the diff oil is cold and Im going around 25-30mph, it will suddenly unlock when taking a slight turn. Pretty sure this is normal since the diff oil is pretty much malasses at low temps.

I talked to eddo about it at livingston one time and he seemed to think it was ok from what I remember. We also talked about how the locker will lock in tight turns under heavy loads and he recommended I use fulltime in those situations. Works out perfectly!

Im not saying the power trax is junk. I also do not believe anything is wrong with it, its just the nature of the beast. Youve got to realize that every diff does not have the same tolerances. A very small difference could change how the locker behaves from jeep to Jeep.

InCommando · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:15 pm

jason thompson · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:07 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Didnt you have a D35 JT? Is so, Im sure its different than the 8.25. Ive never heard of a power-trax breaking in a 8.25.

I by all means do not hit the red line in my Jeep offroad but Ive had it offroad a decent amount. Pretty sure its broken-in just fine.

Nope I have a 44 with trash ,I mean trac lock, some say that the carrier on the trac lock diff's is not as good as far as QC goes compared to open diff.s IDK

I was just giving you a hard time
I fully expect that more than a few folks around here do not and probably will not wheel their KJ like I wheel my TJ
never meant to be driven that way ,then again neither was the TJ

dloc_jeep_KJ · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:54 am

jason thompson wrote:

dloc_jeep_KJ wrote:

i think ill be getting a locker with the 600 bucks the gov. is sending in may. i really hope the aussie locker is out by then if not it will be a toss up between the powertrax and some extra cash or a detroit + some cash

read my post above
or any post about the power trax
then get on places like JU or dare I say Pirate and ask them what they think about "lunch box lockers"
I know that ~$800 is a hard pill to take but trust me ,please, it will be so worth it in the end
even if for the piece of mind that you have one of the best if not the best locker you can buy and that chances are
WAY better that it will not let you down when you really need it

I had 2 power trax fail out on the trail so I will not speak highly of them but like I said ask around
and make sure to ask about quality of the power trax VS the quality of a Detroit

i hear what u are saying. ive drove a few Land Rovers with a detroit locker in the rear and a DTT in the front and they are a great locker. the main thing is the install. im still doing some research on it and if i think i can put the detroit in ill go that way. if i have to pay someone to put it in though i might just try to go with an ARB. i just really need to get a locker on way or another. the trails i do around here really call for at least having a locker in the rear. im also thinking about going SFA soon since i might have found some axles i could use for super cheap. if i do get the axles i might just lincolin lock it :lol:

and say f it since i would be getting rid of the axles but then again i might keep the rear to save some money and that would be the only one i would lincolin lock. i guess well see what i do when the money gets here

LostRenegade · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:37 pm

jason thompson wrote:

I had 2 and broke them both on easy trails ,power trax that is
now I know some have them and they work great and that is fine but for me 2 out of 2 is really bad
I now have a Detroit locker ,yes after the $125 or so price difference and the $250 install it cost a good bit more
but ,there is always a huge butt, it behaves better on road then the power trax ever did working or not
and when they break ,and they will, hold on as you will only get 1 wheel drive and no ,NO, power will go to the other wheel
100X worse than an open diff. off road and will push you to one side on road

I would highly recommend holding out for a Detroit if you are willing to live with a full time locker
simply put the Detroit is the bench mark by which all other are trying to meet
or
You get what you pay for

Ditto! I had a Powertrax and it eventually blew.

It took out the rear axel housing so I had to replace the entire rear axel. Outch!

I now have a Detroit Locker and it behaves so much better on road than the powertrax. I haven't taken it off road yet with the Detroit Locker, but I'm sure it willl do well!

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:18 am

LostRenegade wrote:

jason thompson wrote:

I had 2 and broke them both on easy trails ,power trax that is
now I know some have them and they work great and that is fine but for me 2 out of 2 is really bad
I now have a Detroit locker ,yes after the $125 or so price difference and the $250 install it cost a good bit more
but ,there is always a huge butt, it behaves better on road then the power trax ever did working or not
and when they break ,and they will, hold on as you will only get 1 wheel drive and no ,NO, power will go to the other wheel
100X worse than an open diff. off road and will push you to one side on road

I would highly recommend holding out for a Detroit if you are willing to live with a full time locker
simply put the Detroit is the bench mark by which all other are trying to meet
or
You get what you pay for

Ditto! I had a Powertrax and it eventually blew.

It took out the rear axel housing so I had to replace the entire rear axel. Outch!

I now have a Detroit Locker and it behaves so much better on road than the powertrax. I haven't taken it off road yet with the Detroit Locker, but I'm sure it willl do well!

What's the cost for the Detroit? Seems like a safe way to go.

Neatus · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:07 am

Just my two pennies here. I have had my PowerTrax in for a year now and it has done me right off road. I seem to be breaking everything but the locker. I honestly am not fond of its on road manners though but they are tolerable.
p.s. I put about 30,000 miles on the KJ a year and spend almost every weekend in the desert somewhere.

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

Just my 2 cents also. I have a powertrax no-slip for about 35k miles and plenty of wheeling. Never had a problem and works great off-road. On-road manners are not bad, perfectly livable for me.

Don't bother asking the guys over on JU or pirate. They would probably make fun of you for even the though of 4wheeling a KJ. If you don't trash your vechile everytime you go out and have less than 37" tires then you are not welcome on most parts of those sites.

It's just a cost trade-off. You can break anything if you try hard enough. Most KJ are running 31-32" tire and a v6 which is fine for a lunchbox locker. More than likely you will break other parts than the locker. I've seen 8.25" axles shafts shear before the locker gave way.

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