Baystate Jeepers

I think I've settled on getting myself a rear e locker for the upcoming season. I'm in Hopkinton, MA, so Ratchets is a hike as would be Abington. Any recommendations for the install closer? Worcester area is fine.

Mitchell’s differential shrewsbury.

A few members here had awful luck with Mitchells. they threw away my lube locker and when I drained the fluid from my axle there was a lot of metal flakes in it despite being properly broken in. In the end the gearset and new locker were fine, but they have a shady past and don't stand by the work in my opinion.

Which e-locker? I had an Aburn ECTED, piece of junk.

Mitchell's has come a long way. They did have major issues, but they have there poop together now. Still wouldn't be my first choice but they are reputable.
Support those that support the sport.

Is there another shop that's closer than an hour away from me that's a supporter....especially of NEA? That would be my preference. It's why I'm posting in here rather than finding some random driveline place nearby. I'm considering an Eaton eLocker.

There are 3 shops that fully support the NEA.
Barrette Fabrication/Ocean State Offroad.
Offroad Elements
Ratchet's Offroad
In any order they are all awesome.
Walker Motors in Western MA do what they can to support the NEA as well.

Electric lockers engage and disengage going from forward to reverse if you are a little to happy on the skinny pedal they have issues but if you are just normal wheeling seem fine.
Ox makes a locker that can be electric, air or cable and if any break there is a bolt you can put in to engage and get you home. No idea cost wise but I know a lot of buggy guys beating the hell out of them without issues.

Ive run Loc-Rite auto lockers for 11/12 yrs with no problems. Even on the road they were never that bad. There were a lot of times on a trail I would like to have been able to shut off the front to help with turn radius. So I twin sticked the T-Case instead. A good auto locker in the rear and the Detroit "True-Trac" in front might be the way to go for a daily. FjR68

I’ve run auto lockers before and they were fine but they don’t play nice with the ABS in a JK

Elias 4wd in Townsend was an NEA supporter for many many years.
I have known the owner Lou, before there was an Elias 4WD (30 years) and he is an awesome Jeep guy.
https://elias4wdcenter.com/

Other than that, an hour drive in the Boston area to a shop is nothing, IMO. Actually, with Covid, there is virtually no traffic, so it's just a few extra songs on the radio.

Thanks for all the inputs. I did stop in Mitchell's to talk about what I'm looking for. Gave me good explanations. I'm leaning towards an Ox locker with a mechanical engagement. Had one open on the counter.

I don't mind driving an hour but obviously, this isn't just an oil change. It'll be there a day so I need to get a ride back and back down and with everyone in my house working, I can't do that easily. Mitchell's is a 15 minute ride that my wife could do with me at lunchtime. We both work from home.

I did go out looking at used Rubicons as an alternate. I've followed prices for years. They've all gone way up. 2 years ago, I could buy a 2 or 4 door one year old 18 for $30k all day long (18 JK). Now 16's are going for over $30k. It's cheaper (duh) to spend a couple grand on a locker and I do like spending it on labor that's local.