Dana 60 Spartan Locker: An In-depth Review

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Are you looking for a high-quality, affordable, and greater traction-produced locker? The Dana 60 Spartan locker from the USA standard gear will be the perfect match.

The locker offers versatile functions which means you’ll get everything needed to achieve accurate traction at once. The greatest thing is the Spartan locker can be well-fitted with 35” or less than 35” tires. Anyway, if you are willing to buy a Spartan locker, read this Dana 60 Spartan Locker review.

Hopefully, you’ll learn its features, benefits, and some minor limitations in one place.

Dana 60 Spartan Locker review

Highlighted Features:

  • Design: Patent-pending design
  • Traction availability: 100% Lockup
  • Item Weight: 5.55 Pounds (approx.)
  • Country of origin: Taiwan
  • Materials: 9310 Chromoly Steel

The Pros:

  • Doesn’t require any thrust washer.
  • Effortless and time-saving installation.
  • Affordable.
  • Durable.
  • Deep heat treated.

The Cons:

  • Not perfect in winter driving conditions.

Dana 60 spartan locker review

Dana 60 Spartan Locker

Dana 60 Spartan Locker is made by or manufactured by the USA Standard Gears. The company is known for various incredible reasons. The USA standard Gear is the best if you are stuck on getting the right Drivetrain solution at a cheap budget.

The company offers more reliable and high-performing automotive units than OEM replacement parts. With the development of different parts since 2006, the industry has eliminated the problem of finding the right product for your vehicle.

The Dana 60 spartan locker is one of the remarkable additions to the USA standard gears. This lunchbox locker delivers more reliable traction with 100% lockup. Locker is designed especially for Dana 60 and other compatible models. As part of the lunchbox lockers, Spartan locker pays what you want.

By joining the drive axles physically, this locker delivers even torque on both tires. Note that this locker is a mechanical lunchbox locker.

The Features

Till now, we’ve learned something about the manufacturer and the locker. Now is the time to discuss its features in detail.

Patented Design

The locker has a patented design that eliminates early locker failure and replaces spider gears. This patent-pending style removes the hassle of using thrust washers. It also enables the mechanic or individual to make the installation simple, effortless, and swift. Another advantage of this patent-pending design is its rigorousness. You can install it into the stock carrier.

High-grade Materials

Compared to other lunchbox lockers, the Spartan locker for Dana 60 uses high-grade materials with a smooth finish. Where other lunchbox lockers implement the locker with alloy steel, Spartan locker uses Chrome steel.

It is made of 9310 hardened Chromoly steel. Resulting in the locker lasting longer by resisting corrosion and being easy to clean. Admit it, chrome plated over steel is shiner than stainless steel.

All in all, the 9310 chrome steel is a great addition to make the locker stronger to deal with hard-crawling and rough terrain. Also, it gives you long-term service even if you’re a serious off-roader.

Extended Pins And Better Springs

A quality locker has strong and well-organized pins and springs. Without them, you can’t expect better performance. Unfortunately, poor-quality springs and pins tend to be worn out frequently when handling rough terrain, sludge, or rock-solid surfaces.

But Spartan locker springs and pins deliver the best that outperforms and may surpass the industry standard. The heavy-duty springs make it simple to withstand bouncy roads and harsh roads while delivering greater traction.

Precision-cut Teeth With Extreme Heat Tolerance

This locker has a profound heat-treated capability, which in turn adds extreme strength. Specialized teeth design extends the locker life and provides higher stability.

Enhanced tooth design makes it possible to keep riding simpler on off-road trails. The improved teeth grasp the thing firmly and make strong connections. These things help the locker offer 100% engaging and disengaging when required.

Heavy-Duty Cross Pin Shaft

The oval-shaped locker has a rigid cross-pin shaft to hold the driver and coupler assembly into the carrier case. In addition, the driver-side panel works hard to attach or mate the axle shaft and engages the coupler. By preventing horizontal, vertical, and rotational bends, an engaged coupler ensures safe and successful towing.

Perfect Coupler

Spartan mechanical lockers used high-nickel chrome-plated couplers and drivers to add additional strength. The cross pin shaft between the upper and lower-end coupler allows the two ends’ differentials to link, which in turn provides silent and smooth power transfer to the axle. Consequently, the greatest traction will be achieved no matter whether you are on wet or dry pavement.

The Advantages

There are several tremendous benefits to buying USA Standard Gear’s Spartan locker for Dana 60. Spartan lockers offer numerous advantages, but the following are a few that make them special.

Effortless And Time-Saving Installation

The locker is improved with a patented design which eliminates critical hassle in installation. In addition, removing and joining takes a short time because of this incredible design. The combination of a large alignment pin and patented design makes the installation a piece of cake. Most importantly, the installation process doesn’t require any specialized tools or equipment.

The installation process includes placing the springs in the hollow end of alignment pins, installing alignment springs into driver holes, and keeping the retainer wires aside. After that, secure the spring assembly along with the retainer wire, mount the side couplers into the carrier case, and spacers into the center drivers, and install both the center drivers and spacers.

Finally, align the center drivers to the right place and take off the retainer wires. Just simple, make it happen!

Durability

Spartan Locker is made to last. Its high-grade, corrosion-resistant Chromoly-finished drivers and cross-pin shaft make it long-lasting. Chrome-plated steel resists rust and looks shiner.

Additionally, the improved teeth design allows the locker to hook up attached parts securely. Also, the teeth are robust enough to last long and offer higher strength. Hence, it is a great bang for the buck. A reviewer from the IH8MUD Forum used the unit for 4 years and still, it gives a sensational performance.

Budget-friendly

Compared to other lunchbox mechanical lockers, 35 spline axles Dana 60 (SL D60-35) is less expensive. Don’t think that inexpensive means poor quality. The quality of this locker overcomes all the deviations found in other standard lockers. So if you want excellent lockers without breaking the bank, buying this will be fantastic.

High-Level Traction Availability

Dana 60 Spartan locker offers greater traction at the lowest possible budget. It gives reliable, effortless, complete lock-up traction on off-road and normal commuters.

The disadvantages

Along with its many advantages, there are also some disadvantages that users have witnessed. However, the advantages are more noticeable than the limitations. Still, the mentionable limitations are highlighted below.

Clicking Noise When Tight Cornering

Many users of Jeep Forum witnessed deep and clunk noise at slower speeds when turning. After a few miles of completion, the noise becomes serious even when normal turning. In general, almost all the lunchbox lockers create ratcheting sounds with every cornering or turning. This is weird really!

Note: Hearing some noises is typical for all the lunchbox lockers.

Work Less in LSD

Unfortunately, this mechanical lunchbox locker can’t be put on the limited slip differentials. Also, in some cases, the manufacturers don’t provide any instructions or online data to clarify the whole thing. So this is disappointing. It may work on LSD, but time-consuming to set up.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a locker without investing lots of bucks, Spartan locker might be your choice instantly. A Lunchbox locker is a great option to bring the most possible traction back. Spartan locker gives you 100% lockup traction without costing you a lot. This locker improves other performances and overcomes the silly mistakes that are witnessed by many other standard lockers. However, the excellency comes when installing this unit.

The whole installation process can be done by a newcomer just by watching some installation videos. Also, the industry offers a 1-year warranty and if any defect is proven, the company will replace it soon. Luckily, the Dana 60 Spartan Locker Review makes it simple to know about the products in detail.

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