Lunchbox locker on Dana 28

[Noah6615]

I know it's probably laughable, but has anyone out there tried the lunchbox locker that's out there for the dana 28 front axle? It's the only part besides a 4.56 ring and pinion on the market for the 28.

I don't have time to swap to a 35 quite yet, I have about two weeks to do what I'm gonna do when I get home in December. I don't think two weeks is enough time to find the parts for the swap, get them shipped or bring them back to the house, and then do the swap. Plus I have to get the drive line trimmed, which is even more time consuming. And would like to have time to do other things. So I would love to just drop a lunchbox locker and 4.56 in the existing diff.

Thanks

 

[3rd Petal]

I've never run one in a 28, but I have one in my 35. It all depends on the size tires you are running and what kind of wheeling you are doing. If you're running around in the mud you should be fine, but if you are doing Moab or Rubicon style stuff I would be scared. The lunchbox locker in mine locks and unlocks pretty violently, I've had cheap hubs break from the shock load of the locker ratcheting.

Also, for what its worth I did my lift, D35 swap, and lockers and gears in one week, so it is do-able. I did have a wrecked Explorer as a parts car though, so I didn't have to worry about hunting too much for parts. Also I made some custom radius arms and pushed the front axle forward about 3/4", so between the 4" lift and pushing the axle forward, the stock driveshaft was just barely short enough to fit without having to have it trimmed down. Just something to think about

 

[Noah6615]

I had heard that the radius arm and suspension thing could allow me to avoid trimming the driveline... worth thinking about. I'm sure I could get it done if I had my friends get the parts to my house before I got home.

However, I only want to run 26-28" tires to get through snow and ice. No Moab or Rubicon for me, this will be an Alaska backroads vehicle. Ice I suppose is irrelevant, but I just want to get through some deep snow pretty well. I think 28s with a good 4 inch lift should do it. I'm not going to put much stress on the axle. How much does it generally cost to do the swap?

Thanks for responding, I really don't know anything around the BII yet.


Edit: Though I'm not sure how the stock hubs will do with the locker, as you said. The way it's set up obviously the locker would only be on when I'm in 4wd, and I wouldn't be turning a lot. Then again, I could always just be careful about when I accelerate (which is when the locker is supposed to lock). Maybe I'll just swap and go with a detroit auto locker. Those are supposed to be quite nice, even for road use.

 

[3rd Petal]

With tires that small you shouldn't be able to break anything. Unless you are going to 33's or bigger, I wouldn't bother swapping to a Dana 35 to be honest.

As far as the cost of the swap, it all depends. It's a direct swap, so if you get the axle you can basically bolt it in. But it would probably be worth while to spend a few bucks and replace all the seals while you are there.
Then for the lift kit, I've seen them from $500 to $2000, depending on what kit you get. If you are really wheeling the ting it would be worth while to get a kit with extended radius arms and new springs, but for just running around on backroads like you say I'm sure the cheap kits with drop brackets and blocks would be fine

 

[JerryC]

If you do this I'd be interested how it went and how it turned out. Maybe someday I'll rebuild the D28 and putting lunchbox locker in it is an option.