[White13JKUR]

So I broke the spider gears inside the rear e-locker. My axles are actually Fusion4x4, not Dana UD60's but the brakes and the pumpkins look identical to my eyes. I had been driving around with these busted spider gears for probably over two years and I'm sure I completed the Rubicon at least once with the spider gears in this condition. I have no clue when I actually broke the spider gears. There were no symptoms like noise or oil leaks. Mine is a manual and I did feel a little bit of what I figured was excessive backlash. The problem was discovered when I went to change the fluid and check the backlash. The Fusion axle and I believe the UD60s do not have a drain plug, let alone a magnet. The metal chunks I found were hidden in a small pool of oil at the very bottom of the housing. Didn't know they were even there until I poked my finger in there. Had to fish it all out with a magnet.

After contacting Eaton support, they informed me that I have a 2-pinion Eaton e-locker which is made exclusively for Dana and to contact Dana for any issues, warranty or otherwise. Dana then informs me that there are no parts available and that the locker is only serviceable as a unit. The locker that Eaton sells under their own name is the Eaton Elocker4 and it is a 4-pinion model.

This 2-pinion design is likely in a lot of Fusion axles or UD60s with e-lockers. If you wheel a lot and run 40's, I would keep an eye on them. When you eventually break them, replace them with something else that has 4 pinions. Pretty much every other locker available has 4-pinions: ARB, OX, Auburn, Detroit/Grizzly etc. - even Eaton's own Elocker4.

It is easy to identify which e-locker you have with the cover off. The first thing you will see is that the 2-pinion will have two large inspection windows and single large pinion shaft going through it. Of course you will see just the two pinions in there through the inspection window as well as the two planetary gears.

I plan to replace the broken locker unit with an electrically actuated OX (along with that emergency engagement spacer doomaflachi) or the Auburn Select-a-loc. An Eaton is not going back in, not even their 4-pinion.

 

[White Elemant]

Hmmm... I'm no expert, but other than mall-crawling, two pinion in a D60 + big tires is just asking for trouble...

The gears have survived surprisingly well after the outer surface failed. Definitely some kind of problem with heat treating. Not annealed properly.

 

[Sinpperx]

totally cracked did you drive while on 4W on??

 

[White13JKUR]

Hmmm... I'm no expert, but other than mall-crawling, two pinion in a D60 + big tires is just asking for trouble...

Yeah, I agree. You might be missing my point, though. I didn't realize I had this exact locker until I broke it. It also took a lot of punishment before and after it broke. The spider gears inside my locker were the last thing I expected to break on the jeep. IMHO, anyone that puts D60s on a JK is more than likely going to run 39" or larger tires anyway. I suspect that a lot of people are running this locker with 40's and don't even know it. Pretty sure this locker is in every UD60 that comes with the e-locker option. Mine was in a Fusion4x4, which I see as very similar to what would be customized UD60s. Other axle brands may use this locker too if you select the e-locker option.

Anyway, an Auburn Select-A-Lock is going back in. Considered the OX briefly.

 

[White13JKUR]

totally cracked did you drive while on 4W on??

No idea when or where I broke it. Pretty sure it broke on the trail at some point and I drove 3 hours back home. Also fairly certain that I did a ton of daily driving since and have returned to the trail at least once before completely unaware of the busted spiders. Last time I was on the trail (Rubicon), I was rolling for a while with busted upper front control arms. What I didn't realize until later is that not only did I have busted upper front control arms but also those spider gears. Here's the video. If you look closely, you can see the driver-side UCA flopping aroung in there after it broke at the axle side. You'll have to take my word for it that the spider gears were already broken for a long time in this clip. Didn't even realize the control arms were broken yet either. Video was taken at the top of Little Sluice and I finally pulled over to see the broken control arms at Cell Phone Tree, which was a very fortunate location to break down at. Replaced the control arms on the trail and those broken-a$$ spider gears got me back home to do more daily driving before realizing they were broken.

 

[White Elemant]

Yeah, I agree. You might be missing my point, though. I didn't realize I had this exact locker until I broke it. It also took a lot of punishment before and after it broke. The spider gears inside my locker were the last thing I expected to break on the jeep. IMHO, anyone that puts D60s on a JK is more than likely going to run 39" or larger tires anyway. I suspect that a lot of people are running this locker with 40's and don't even know it. Pretty sure this locker is in every UD60 that comes with the e-locker option. Mine was in a Fusion4x4, which I see as very similar to what would be customized UD60s. Other axle brands may use this locker too if you select the e-locker option.

Anyway, an Auburn Select-A-Lock is going back in. Considered the OX briefly.

Yea I got that you were unaware of the setup, didn't mean to scold you on that, more like it being a poor choice by the designer/manufacturer.