Diff lockers

[Brumbypt]

Might be expensive,but the amount of tyre wear it will save is huge. It will also save your crashing and banging your vehicle around, so less damage.

Lockers will pay for themselves in a couple of years of not having hem and trying to achieve the same tracks.

[scott oz]

OK I've had a detroit locker on the rear only and then a detroit soft locker on the front.

Changed vehicles and now have front and rear ARB airlockers.

I believe the best combination is an airlocker on the front and the Detroit full locker on the back.

Having the auto locker on the back means you dont have to react to situation the locker does this for you. Also no wire/hose etc to fail. Having a soft locker on the front is not as effective as having a full locker. Infact the Detroit soft locker gives you about 70% effective locking device. Haaving a locker you can turn off and on with the added advantage or air gives you the best of both worlds.

If you do go for locker you should consider if an axle  flange upgrade is necessary.

They are good.

When I had the detroit full locker on the back and the soft (Detroit LSD) on the front on Fraser Island you could really fell the full locker working. the front was good however the LSD on the front was not nearly as effective.

Again the auto locker (Detroit) on the rear on sand mud tracks is worth every penny



Just my thoughts

[letsgo]

For all those interested in the price of E Lockers. First up we were told they don't make them for the Colorado, but Opposite Lock at Redcliffe said they were just out, so he tracked down the rep to confirm it.

Cost from Opposite Lock E Locker front and back same price $1648.00 each fitting $495 each, lot more expensive than the air lockers.

Also talked to a Transmission specialist and he will fit whatever lockers we buy (if we go with him) for $550 front and $385 for the back.

So looks like we will be going with the ARB Diff Lockers, only we will use the compressor we have. Chris will also install that and do a lot of the other work himself and just get someone to install the actual lockers. Have to chat with ARB a bit more about that.

[Ropes]

Hi letsgo, I'm getting an ARB front airlocker fitted to my GU on Friday for $1450.
I already have the ARB air compressor fitted under the bonnet complete with the correct wiring loom.

You didn't say what compressor you already had, so just be aware, a normal run of the mill compressor will still require the ARB wiring loom and a pressure cutout switch to be fitted and this would be better done before ARB fit the locker so they can test that everything works as required or there might be warranty issues.

Cheers
Craig

[Bird]

For all those interested in the price of E Lockers. First up we were told they don't make them for the Colorado, but Opposite Lock at Redcliffe said they were just out, so he tracked down the rep to confirm it

Just had lunch with Eddie from OL in Mitcham and he has the one (front) E Locker fitted to his Colorado, but the other isnt available yet. (front or rear I cant remember.) But has done the wiring for both ready to go. it aint far away.

[letsgo]

Hi Ropes, we have a TJM compressor and hubby is aware of everything you have mention, thanks for that. He has ordered that many parts for all this, including the pressure switch. The plan is to have the compressor in before ARB do the diffs, will be chatting with them to make sure we have everything covered. The price you paid is cheaper than we were quoted, might have to have a chat with them, see what they can do

@ Lost, for what the OL guy told us the elockers are very new out for the Colorado.

Forgot to say that TJM don't do diff lockers for the Colorado yet.

[duggie]

Hello peoples, my two bobs worth.

Getting back to the original question, for the Cape a winch is far more useful than lockers.  Since you already have the winch, save your money and buy more beer.

I am in full agreement with what Symon has had to say. After doing the Myswag Cape for the past Two years a well serviced winch will get you there and back. Especially if you are traveling as a group. If on your own the extra beer you bought will come in handy waiting for somebody to help you on your way.

Im going to the cape in 4 weeks as well and hoping to do the creb track and alot more so thought these would be a good investment for this trip.

If you are thinking of doing the CREB track you may want to check this link out.  http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/?a=35289  we have been getting a fair bit of rain in far north Queensland , and I doubt that the CREB track will be open by the time you come up this way.

 

no ,quite the opposite as when under load with an open diff one wheel will spin in the air and when it come back in contact with the ground you can shear the CV,drive shaft in half given enough force,its does happen quite abit.
A locker will have both wheels turning at the same speed and usually the same speed as the vehicle is traveling as well (if you doing it right),so when the wheel drops down less load will be on the drive train.

I have fitted a Chinese air locker in the front of my GQ wagon , (The Old Girl). I am running over 200 hp at the wheels and before fitting the locker I have never had any drive line problems with the Nissan. After fitting the diff locker, and while doing the OTL in the cape I did shear the drive shaft, outer, clean off the cv joint. Unknown to me at the time I did come into Nolan's and believing that the diff locker was working, but in fact it was not, I turned my old girl into a submarine, and required assistance in getting through the crossing.

cheers duggie.

[letsgo]

Well we have put a deposit down on front and rear ARB diff lockers at the Brisbane show. Prices as previously quoted but we got about $500 odd worth of free gear. Including compressor, pump up kit, E-Z deflator, ARB Speedy seal puncture repair kit, inflator with gauge. Some bits we were looking to buy so the freebies saved us a few dollars.

E Lockers sounded very good but worked out nearly $1000 more, so went for the cheaper option.  We did talk to ARB about previous issues they had which have been worked out and fixed

[Brumbypt]

You have done well then.. The rig will be a totally different offroad machine wihen the lockers are engaged.

Do u know how much those new compressors cost by themselves??

[letsgo]

$290 for medium compressor. Then $55 for the pump up kit which is the hose.

[EFIwindsor]

I have a pro locker in the rear. I wish I went with a Detroit. Have had a few issues. Arb Compressor problems x 2 as well as Rear diff has been of twice to find an intermittent leak. It is still not resolved.

Compressor had an internal problem fixed under warranty. Left me without a compressor on the tele track last year.
Knocked a wire off another trip and left me without a locker til I trouble shot that night.






HZJ105, turbo, FMIC, Superflex arms, H151 conversion. Towing a custom Walkabout Camper.

[letsgo]

Well the front and rear diffs have been done at ARB and all working well. They were very impressed with the work my hubby did on installing the switches, air tank, compressor and all the other air bits, made the job pretty quick and easy for them.



All the switches installed near the gear stick, easy to get to and operate.



4 lt air tank, gauge sensors, air bag solenoids, diff locker solenoids, manifold, filter, etc. all installed under a flip up lid, so everything is hidden and kept clean and protected in the cabin of the Ute. Compressor is installed in the section below the air tank, all easy to get to.

Very proud of the job he did. 

[Steffo1]

Bloody good job that. Congratulations!!! Hmmm, I'm Nth. Brissie way & not that neat with things like that

[Myles]

Hi Guys,
I had Eaton E Lockers in my last 'Cruiser and I will be getting them for this one. The reasons being:
Eaton has been around for over 100 years
Any OEM diff lockers are either electric or mechanical
Less go wrong with the E Lockers than the Air Leakers
IMO,

[McGirr]

I think it will always depend on what you want to do regarding using your 4wd. If you want to push it to the limits and tackle tracks that are tough and do it on a regular basis get them.

We can all spend thousands on gear for our cars but at the end of the day the more extras we add the more can go wrong. Which is Murphy's law.

Opinions will always vary but at the end of the day it depends on budgets and how you want to use your car. I have done 5 trips to the Cape and have done the OTL on every occasion. I don't have a winch or lockers. I travel on some trips with others and some times I don't.

If depends on your style of driving and how extreme you want to go. What ever works for each individual.

It also boils down to your driving experience. 

Mark

[Jasjul]

Hi All,

I have a new BT50.  I don't know about other new utes, but with mine TC switches off in low range, so the diff lock comes in very handy in the High Country.

[weeds]

Hi All,

I have a new BT50.  I don't know about other new utes, but with mine TC switches off in low range, so the diff lock comes in very handy in the High Country.

why would they have TC turn off in low range......seems crazy

[EFIwindsor]

As they have diff lock in the rear. Better than traction control in my opinion

[weeds]

As they have diff lock in the rear. Better than traction control in my opinion

oh..so they have a factory diff lock? but why not leave traction control on at least you would get benefit out of it on the front wheel

[SteveandViv]

oh..so they have a factory diff lock? but why not leave traction control on at least you would get benefit out of it on the front wheel

Not sure about those cars but a fellow on the Paj forum did that, he wired up a by pass so the front TC would work while the rear did lock would work. He said it worked OK but now has a twin locked Paj and is much happier. The thing is they are quite different in how they work and the rear locker will muck up the sensors regards to traction and slipping in the TC. Yea I suppose they could make it so that rather than disengage all the TC they could only disable the rear but when did any manufacturer actually know why they even include the locker .

My thoughts and what w have is that most independent front suspension cars will benefit most from a front locker due to wheel lift. Some of us have a good LSD (Patrol and Pajero) and some don't (Toyota)  I'd love a rear locker as well but can't complain as to where we have put our Paj. A bg benefit of a rear locker is the ability to put it on going down hill. It really helps keep the car strait by not allowing one wheel to lock up while the other is not, a bit like ABS on steroids as there is a same same approach from both back wheels. And as many have mentioned I love the feeling of how slow I can go with the locker on rather than the run up effect I need with out, again though this is due to lifting the front wheel a lot of the time where a solid axle Toyota or Patrol may walk that line with great suspension.

[weeds]

. The thing is they are quite different in how they work and the rear locker will muck up the sensors regards to traction and slipping in the TC. .
.

umm, i am only familer with land rover traction control where the the lost of traction is picked up by the sensors at the wheel.....i assume all other TC system would be similar otherwise how would the computer know which brake to apply it order to send drive to the non spinning wheel

[Jasjul]

umm, i am only familer with land rover traction control where the the lost of traction is picked up by the sensors at the wheel.....i assume all other TC system would be similar otherwise how would the computer know which brake to apply it order to send drive to the non spinning wheel

That's correct, they use the ABS sensors to measure wheel speed.  Traction control is down to software, some are good and some are bad, but all are improving generation to generation.  The problem is you need to be using enough momentum to cause wheel spin before the traction control kicks in and stops it.  The other issue, IMO, with traction control, is that in wombat holes where wheel travel in utes is limited, the wheel spin needed will slowly increase the depth of the holes no matter how small the amount of wheel spin, whereas with a diff lock you can idle straight up.

There may be other areas where the reverse is true.

[weeds]

That's correct, they use the ABS sensors to measure wheel speed.  Traction control is down to software, some are good and some are bad, but all are improving generation to generation.  The problem is you need to be using enough momentum to cause wheel spin before the traction control kicks in and stops it.  The other issue, IMO, with traction control, is that in wombat holes where wheel travel in utes is limited, the wheel spin needed will slowly increase the depth of the holes no matter how small the amount of wheel spin, whereas with a diff lock you can idle straight up.

There may be other areas where the reverse is true.

cool thats what i thought..........not that i have ever owned a car with TC

i have twin lockers fitted and really like that i can just idle through a spot where other have to use momentum and wheel spin

[achjimmy]

Not sure about those cars but a fellow on the Paj forum did that, he wired up a by pass so the front TC would work while the rear did lock would work. He said it worked OK but now has a twin locked Paj and is much happier. The thing is they are quite different in how they work and the rear locker will muck up the sensors regards to traction and slipping in the TC. Yea I suppose they could make it so that rather than disengage all the TC they could only disable the rear but when did any manufacturer actually know why they even include the locker .

My thoughts and what w have is that most independent front suspension cars will benefit most from a front locker due to wheel lift. Some of us have a good LSD (Patrol and Pajero) and some don't (Toyota)  I'd love a rear locker as well but can't complain as to where we have put our Paj. A bg benefit of a rear locker is the ability to put it on going down hill. It really helps keep the car strait by not allowing one wheel to lock up while the other is not, a bit like ABS on steroids as there is a same same approach from both back wheels. And as many have mentioned I love the feeling of how slow I can go with the locker on rather than the run up effect I need with out, again though this is due to lifting the front wheel a lot of the time where a solid axle Toyota or Patrol may walk that line with great suspension.

Nah Steve there is a few with Paj's and the TC mod for vechiles with lockers. It was all benfits, the TC is confused at all because the rear wheels don't show spin. It was Geoff&Vi who went from that to twin locked and admitted it was better but nothing wrong with 1/2 & 1/2.