Lunchbox Locker in the front 9.25" IFS

[Tenhorse]

Hey Guys, I bought a powertrax lock right lunchbox locker for my rear 9.5" SF 14 bolt. It turns out, I've got a GovLock. The glove box doesn't show G80 and the truck does the one wheel peel when I punch the throttle on the street, so i assumed it was open. The lunchbox locker needs an open carrier.. not a GovLock. I have a plan to modify the weights to engage sooner and disengage later. I blow right past 20mph so the govlock never even tries to lock up. I think I'm going to slap the lunchbox locker up front. Luckily, it's the same part number. I rarely use 4x4, but when I do, I want it to pull hard with both front tires. I have high horsepower but stock sized tires (currently 245/75R16). I don't need to hear about how lunchbox lockers have left some of you stranded by unlocking completely in the cold. I live in a cold climate and used one for years and it never did anything like that to me. In the past few years, I've seen wind chills of -60 degrees and heat indexes of 120 degrees. I've never had my lockright fail me. I like that you don't have to pull the carrier, you just swap out the spider gears and you're on the road in a hurry. I would just like to hear if anyone has used a lunchbox locker in the front IFS diff and what were your experiences with it. It is a daily driver. I don't use 4x4 often. I won't use it while turning sharp on the road.
I'm estimating the motor makes a little over 600hp. Centrifugal supercharged built 355 sbc. I can lock the rear tires on pavement if I pull the front driveshaft and put it in 4lo. Otherwise, it's all single track.
Thanks for any input. If no one answers, I'll let you know how it works out. .. both modifying the govlock's governors and the front lunchbox locker.

 

[Tenhorse]

i said id report my findings. first off, the locker fits great in the diff housing. i have not reinstalled the front diff yet. i do however see one problem. with a full automatic locker, i believe i will be unnecessarily turning the front driveshaft as there is no spider gear to perform a differential function.
the way this locker works is that no tire will spin slower than the driveshaft... and as a result, no driveshaft will spin slower than the slowest tire. even when im in 2hi

 

[Tenhorse]

does anybody else have problems typing replies from a phone?
...continued from the previous reply.. im going to install the front diff and see how i like it. if i do not, is it possible to swap carriers and run my gearset from the front in the rear... and run my govlock up front and this lockright locker in the rear? has anyone run a g80 govlock up front? to reiterate, i have a 9.5sf rear and 9.25" front ifs.
thanks

 

[Supercharged111]

I'm glad you came to the realization that the driveshaft is going to spin no matter what. As you know, that will increase parasitic drag, but sitting on 600hp you probably don't care. The G80 should lock and stay locked as long as you don't lift but they're known to suck at this age. I'm curious to see how the truck feels and also wonder if spinning the driveshaft without 4wd being engaged is a bad thing?

 

[Tenhorse]

My front end is still completely torn apart. I am working on installing everything at once. I have all new parts. The only parts I'm reusing are the control arms, torsion bars and sway bar. I'm using polyurethane bushings in the control arms. My passenger side shock mount needs. It broke off the frame. I'll weld her up better than new.
I bought a differential drop bracket kit to help my cv angles. Is that necessary on these? My torsion bars are up, but not totally maxed. I think it drops the diff about 2".

 

[Supercharged111]

My front end is still completely torn apart. I am working on installing everything at once. I have all new parts. The only parts I'm reusing are the control arms, torsion bars and sway bar. I'm using polyurethane bushings in the control arms. My passenger side shock mount needs. It broke off the frame. I'll weld her up better than new.
I bought a differential drop bracket kit to help my cv angles. Is that necessary on these? My torsion bars are up, but not totally maxed. I think it drops the diff about 2".

I've run my front end cranked, but not maxed, for many years with no diff drop. Now I'm not hard on the truck in 4wd, but I do have 280k and counting on what appear to be the original axles. It was cranked somewhere at or south of 200k. If your crank was maxxed I think that'd be a different story but then you'd have more issues than just CV angles.

 

[Tenhorse]

On my last tank of fuel I got about 8.75mpg. I have 4.10 gears and the truck came with a th400. I needed an extra gear bad! On the interstate, I'd often cruise at 4000rpms. Too much for extended trips! I slapped in a 4L80E and had a multidisc lockup converter built by a local shop. I've got a tci EZ-TCU controlling it. I can reprogram the shift points through an app on my phone. I like that I can change the shift points on a whim to match my engine. Say I want an extra 100-200rpm, it literally takes a few seconds. I know I could have used the old tbi computer wiring harness from a newer truck, but I'd rather be able to program it whenever I want and not rely on locked settings in a chip.
My biggest concern with running the full automatic locker up front is that the front driveshaft will be screaming directly under my feet. If I lose a u joint, I'll need a new pair of boots. Sometimes I drive a little above the speed limit. It's very easy to do in this truck.
I did decide to put on a muffler too. I am running a single 4" open exhaust system meant for a 6.5 turbo diesel. I put on a resonator for a heavy duty truck. It has a 5" ID straight-through perforated core and is 9" long. It actually quiets her down a lot more than I thought it would. . Considering I can reach my whole arm through the *******.

 

[Tenhorse]

I've run my front end cranked, but not maxed, for many years with no diff drop. Now I'm not hard on the truck in 4wd, but I do have 280k and counting on what appear to be the original axles. It was cranked somewhere at or south of 200k. If your crank was maxxed I think that'd be a different story but then you'd have more issues than just CV angles.

3 of my 4 cv boots were ripped. I'm not sure if that's from neglect or the angles. My biggest concern with the diff drop bracket is whether my front driveshaft will clear my driver's side header collector. I don't want to have to rebuild the exhaust. I'm kind of proud of the y pipe I built. 3" mandrel bent pipes to a Flowmaster 3"-to-4" y-pipe and that goes into the single exhaust. My driver's side header actually makes a 90⁰ turn toward the passenger's side of the truck. It curls directly under the driveshaft and that's where the 3 bolt exhaust flange is.
I would just add in a short extension to drop it straight down a little further but it's ceramic coated. I don't want to mess up the coating. Regardless, if the diff drop bracket interferes with my exhaust, it's not going in.

 

[Supercharged111]

3 of my 4 cv boots were ripped. I'm not sure if that's from neglect or the angles. My biggest concern with the diff drop bracket is whether my front driveshaft will clear my driver's side header collector. I don't want to have to rebuild the exhaust. I'm kind of proud of the y pipe I built. 3" mandrel bent pipes to a Flowmaster 3"-to-4" y-pipe and that goes into the single exhaust. My driver's side header actually makes a 90⁰ turn toward the passenger's side of the truck. It curls directly under the driveshaft and that's where the 3 bolt exhaust flange is.
I would just add in a short extension to drop it straight down a little further but it's ceramic coated. I don't want to mess up the coating. Regardless, if the diff drop bracket interferes with my exhaust, it's not going in.

What headers do you have? I'm aware of 2 like that and 1 is discontinued.

 

[Tenhorse]

Flowtech Afterburner
49156-1FLT
What's the other one?