air lockers and Detroits

I've read that Detroits are available, but were they ever standard issue? Like if I'm shopping for a deuce can it be possible it has a detroit? How can you tell other than the turning radius and loud noises Are Detroits a good idea with all that torque, like can the axle in a 2.5 ton handle it?

also, i was reading some M35's had been upgraded to air lockers. Anybody got info on this?

thanks!

Detroits were never offered unless it was an NG upgrade. I've never ever seen one come from the Gov't. As far as air lockers, you have to swap out the entire axle assy. They were only installed on trucks destined for Norway. Check with the gang at White Owl, they have more than anybody. Expensive though! They are quite a neat design.

Let me also add that the Detroits work pretty good in the deuce. They are somewhat affordable as well. The USMC M813s had detroits in the rear axles and they have a warning plate in the cab cautioning the mechanics not to attempt to power the rear wheels unless all 4 are off the ground. As far as the air lockers, they have a double spline on one axle and a collar that locks that axle to the carrier in effect locking up the diff. Its all done outside the carrier and at first glance, looks crude. The more you look at it the craftier it gets. These date back to the mid 60s so now who had the first air locker. The guy in MD with the CAT powered truck has a set of 3 airlock axles he is putting in his work truck. Last I checked the air lock rear was about $1300 for a complete reman axle assy. The actuator on these is in a box welder to the outside of the housing so its not a simple center swap. Oh yeah, the rears have bigger axle shafts too. Fronts were made but not available CONUS at that time. Detroits are about $400 an axle. Reider Racing has about the best price on these.

The detroits are cheap (under $400 compared to $600+ for other versions of the detroit) and easy to install, since you just open up the carrier and swap out the side gears and spiders.

By the way,

http://killeraxles.com/html/application_price.html

This guy is working on lockers for the 2.5T axles.... even though he's been working on them for a while, it seems like he might be getting closer to actually making one.

Bob

is it safe to assume the Rockwells act just as any other open differential? When people talk about locking out the rear axles, is it the same as the front where you somehow get rid of the splines, and therefore the wheels will no longer be locked to the axles, but one or both of the axles may be spinning at any time?

and so assume you remove the driveshaft to the rear rear differential, your axles will both still be spinning since they're locked to the wheels, but if they were "unlocked" they wouldn't spin at all?. So, in essence what i am getting at is that if you unlock the rear wheels and unhook the rear driveshaft it would cut down on rolling resistance but you'd be screwed on traction? <img src="emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif" alt="Big Smile">

Yes.