Shift ‘n’ Lock

The first step is to remove the diff cover, drain the oil, remove the axles, and unbolt one end of the tie rod and wire it out of the way. Pry out the old carrier and remove the differential bearings and shims. You’ll be reusing them, or you can replace the bearings if they are worn.

Here’s what the inside of the Ox Locker looks like. It uses three normal-looking pinion gears and a fourth that has lock teeth on the backside (held in hand). The shift collar (right) rides on the carrier and has teeth that engage on the pinion gear when the unit is locked. When it’s disengaged, the Ox Locker acts like an open diff. All of these pieces are machined from solid chunks of steel.

Our bearings were fine, so we slapped them onto the new carrier. The original shims provide a good starting point when setting up the new case.

The collar springs, locking pinion gear with thrust-washer, locking collar, and carrier cap are installed. The bolts are dabbed with a high-strength thread-locking compound and torqued to 12 lb-ft.

Install the carrier and torque the bearing caps to 45 lb-ft. The backlash is checked with a dial indicator. A little marking compound on the gear teeth indicated that we had to make a few adjustments.

Whoa! It looks like it fell off of a spaceship. It’s actually the inside of the Ox Trax diff cover. Check out the amount of material that had to be cut out.

The cable is threaded into the cover, which is temporarily bolted to the housing while the cable is routed. The ramp on the cover should help the axle slide over obstacles. Don’t worry about the cover breaking or cracking—it’s over 1/2-inch thick. The factory Dana cover is about 1/8-inch thick.

Once the initial cable adjustment is correct you can slab on some silicone and bolt down the cover. You may have to readjust the cable after the cover is in place.

A template is included with the kit to help mark where the holes need to be drilled to mount the shifter. We mounted ours on the transmission tunnel of our YJ.

If you have a TJ, the shifter can be conveniently mounted in the center console for a clean trick look, and it’s easy to reach.

It’s a good idea to flex the suspension and make sure the cable doesn’t rub on anything or touch the exhaust. We tied ours down to the knuckle with zip ties.

If you have a steering stabilizer you may have to remove it. It will bump into the fill bolt of the cover just before the steering-stops make contact when turning left.

Here’s a sneak peek at a prototype Dana 44 Ox Locker cover that wasn’t quite finished yet. Sweet!

After several years of multiple companies crying wolf with a new selectable locker, we had just about given up hope of ever seeing one in person, much less ever testing it. Until we found out about Ox Trax. The company produced what looked like an extremely high-quality cable-activated locker that becomes an open diff with the throw of a shifter. We had to get a closer look, so we ordered away for the front of our YJ with a Dana 30. Dana 44 and 35 models are in the works and should be available by the time you read this.

When the box arrived we busted it open to make sure it wasn’t a dream. We were pleasantly surprised by the incredible machine work of each piece. Every part starts out as a chunk of solid steel, even the diff cover and carrier! As you may know, most companies use machined cast-iron carriers for cost savings. The cover begins as an almost 2-inch-thick sheet of steel that is bored out and cut into shape by a CNC mill. A shift fork (billet steel, of course) is incorporated into the cover and activated via a stout PTO-type cable that is connected to a trick mini shifter that locks into place. The shift fork on the cover slides a collar on the carrier that locks the pinion gears together, providing spool-like performance. We loaded all the parts back into their boxes and headed down to M.I.T. in El Cajon, California, where Rick Dziezyk spun the wrenches for us. The instructions are super easy to follow but some special tools are required, so it’s best to let a shop do it unless you’re familiar with setting up gears and differentials.

Our Jeep already had a full-time locker in it and the constantly spinning driveline had eaten one front driveshaft while on the highway. We had since installed locking hubs to keep the whole assembly from spinning. Jeeps with disconnect-axles can enjoy an open frontend (like factory) and easy steering on the street and in tight off-road corners when the unit is disengaged. To engage it, you lift the outer ring of the shift knob and shift the lever to the locked position. We found that slight differentiation between the front wheels eases engagement. This can be done by turning the steering wheel and moving forward slowly. Most of the time it can be engaged while driving slowly in a straight line. To disengage it, you simply lift the outer ring and shift the lever to the unlocked position. There’s no compressor to wait for, no leaks to worry about, and no wires to short out. It’s as simple as the shifter on an auto tranny. Check out the install.