Well, I think I'm done trying to figure out options for limited slips or lockers for my 122 wagon.

As you recall, I had a rear end issue with my '66 wagon, and needed to find another, and I wanted power to both wheels (limited slip or locker). The '66 and earlier wagons have a Salisbury rear end. Best I can tell, there are no lsd options for that. The spider gears do seem to be interchangeable with those in a dana 27 axle, but...the axles aren't. Different outer bearing setup, and different spline count. No options there.

A '66 or earlier sedan should have the dana 27. The dana 27 would be in cars with the early type suspension, the dana 30 being the later type. For that, there is a locker available:

http://powertrax.com/locker.htm

I might actually try that in my 1800 this summer just to see what happens...

This, however, is more of a hard core off-road type unit, and probably inappropriate for normal town/highway applications.

In '67, both the wagons and sedans seem to have switched to a heavier duty Dana 30 rear end. Dana 30 rears were (and possibly still are) used in lots of various Jeep models. Normally, a Dana 30 has a axle spline count of 27, for which there are lots of options both for lockers or lsd's...including from the folks listed above.

The problem is... in the later 122s and probably 1800s (with drum brakes and dana 30s), the spline count is still ten... axles appearing identical to those from a dana 27. Perhaps Volvo just ahd a pile of leftover axles, and had Dana build a unit to accept them. There are no available lsd or locker options for a dana 30 with 10 splines on the axles.

Maybe things changed in '68, but I doubt it. I'm guessing that they probably went to the standard 27 spline count starting with disc brakes.

So, my final assessment of the situation is that... If you ahve a '66 or earlier sedan or 1800, you can get the locker. If you have rear disc brakes, you can get anything you want.

If you have a '67-or later 122 wagon, you are SOL as far as that goes. There just ain't nothin' available. Unless, that is, you modify some other car's rear end to fit, or you have the ability to machine axles to suit. Nothin' easy. It *might* be possible to use the Salisbury rear, use the dana 27 locker, and machine a spacer ring that would allow the smaller outer bearing of the dana 27 axle bearings to fit the larger holes that normally accept the Salisbury axle bearings. Effectively, modifying it all so you could use the dana 27 axles in the Salisbury rear end... But that would be a $300+ gamble, and a lot of work.

If you have a '67-'69 122 sedan or 1800, you could fairly easily swap the whole thing to a disc brake rear from a '70-73 1800e. Then I'm pretty sure you'd have the spline count for which stuff is available.

I havn't looked into the 140 series at all, but I believe that all have 27 spline dana 30 rears, so there shouldn't be a problem there...

One other quick bit... for ID purposes, jsut measure the outer diameter of the axle housings. The Salisbury and dana 27 rears will measure 2.25", the later dana 30 will measure 2.5"

Now....don't take all this to be the final truth... but I'm pretty sure its just the way it is. But double check your spline counts and do your own research before spending money on pricey parts. For now, I'll just put my new dana 30 rear end back together, get it in, and get that poor car back on the road. And if I ever need to go 4wheelin', I'll just have to take the 145.

Sorry if this is all a bit hard to follow...

If anyone has any other insights...please let me know... I'm not totally giving up yet, but for now, I just want to drive my car!


-Matt