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Just Ordered ARB Diff Lockers

6K views 18 replies 3 participants last post by  Mykill 
#1 ·
Just Ordered ARB Diff Lockers. They are shipped and on their way.
Can anyone from the Northwest tell me of a good reputable shop that will install "customer supplies parts" in the Vancouver WA./Porkland OR. area?

Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
I can not find ARB USAs physical address but I have heard stories that their USA head quarters just might be in your neighborhood. If they do not install they can probably recommend someone who can. You will love having the lockers.
Motor vehicle Light Automotive design Automotive tire Camera accessory
Motor vehicle Light Automotive design Automotive tire Camera accessory
 
#3 ·
I placed the air compressor control on the left side of the dash in one of the accessory locations. This way it is easy to access from outside of the truck when you are just using the air compressor. Also it is out of the way so you do not accidentally turn on the compressor. Everytime my son drives my truck his hands hit the locker controls shown in the picture while shifting (I never have this issue) and I find one of the locker switches engaged. However without the compressor on the lockers do not engage accidentally. I set the compressor switch away from the locker switches as a safety set up. Victory 4x4 makes an under hood air compressor mount for the duel compressor. I adapted it to work with ARBs single compressor.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have an ARB twin compressor mounted on a victory bracket under the hood. I had to modify the air box to fit the compressor. I think I made a thread on here somewhere.
So basically my set up with be the twin compressor split at a bulkhead into the solenoid manifold kit out to the front and rear lockers...and out from the bulkhead to a Smittybilt 2.5gal air tank mounted under the bed...then out to the ARB air hose attachment fittings on the front and rear Smittybilt bumpers (which I mounted last year).

Any good air pressure regulators you recommend for the air tank?
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Vehicle Hood Motor vehicle Car Automotive design
Hood Motor vehicle Vehicle Grille Bumper


I found the pictures of the Victory Off Road 4x4 compressor mount. It is a tight fit but well designed using previous mounting locations.
 
#6 ·
Jealous...
 
#7 ·
Personally I have not found a need for compressed air on board. So I do not know of a good regulator. I know it is a cool thing to do but It takes so little air to lock up the differentials it's not needed. I don't run pneumatic tools so not needed there. I do air up and down my tires and have enough air lines to reach my trailer tires and the compressor has no trouble keeping up with what I need. So for me adding an air tank would just complicate the system.
 
#9 ·
The supercharger is by far the best modification you can do to a Tundra. It changes the entire character of the truck. The lazy shifting of the stock tune is gone. You no longer have to make big throttle inputs to get a down shift, it down shifts with slight throttle inputs as it should. HP 550, TQ 550, Fuel mileage gain of 5 mpg average. My travel is almost always in the mountains so it can get better than what I get. Towing depends on lode and trailer. I towed my tractor about 5000 lbs to Hood River OR and back and averaged 14.5 mpg at 75 mph. With my Airstream in tow 11-13 mpg at 55-70. With no trailer and around town and highway 19-20 mpg and just highway at 65-75 mph, 20-24 mpg. I have the HP tune. The stock TRD tune did not perform as well.
 
#10 ·
May I ask what you paid for your air locker install?

I got a crazy quote today $5,600 with a 4.88 regear... and I'm suppling the lockers ($2,248) and air the compressor manifold. That means when all is said and done I would be paying $7,742. That is way more than I've ever heard anyone pay for lockers and gears on a Toyota.
 
#11 ·
Setting up differentials is beyond the equipment I have so I did have it done at a transmission shop. The owner/operator has his own built rock crawling buggies and enters some of the large events. So he was interested in taking on my ARB locker install. The front differential is referred to as a clam shell and special tools and knowledge is needed to take it apart and put back together. It can be done without the factory tool but the mechanic needs to be creative and figure out how to use what pullers are available and adapt them to work.

I was able to be in the shop some of the time and see some of the issues that came up. Such as the copper air line that engages the locking mechanism. If it is not wrapped just right when installing it will get destroyed. This is more of an issue on the front as the part has to be pressed in and it is hard to see the copper line during this process. The Toyota rear end is a monster and out weights a Dana 60, 70 and 275 by about 40 lbs and has a harder Rockwell hardness than the Dana's also. So it is heavy to remove. As Toyota advertised when the 07 came out they were built to tow.

4.88 would be the right choice to re-gear with 35 inch tires and a stock motor. It makes sence to regear while installing lockers unless you choose to think of it as I did. I chose to keep the stock 4.30 ratio which saved me from purchasing those ring and pinion set ups. Then I applied that money to the purchase of the supercharger and saved money by installing it myself. With the extra torque the supercharger provides you do not need 4.88 gearing. With the increased fuel mileage you gain as mentioned in the above post it will pay for the supercharger in 150,000 miles including a $0.10 increase of using 91+ octane fuel.

I had to go find my receipt in the glove box, it was $2300 total for the front and rear end set up. It is a big job, I supplied the ARB parts and I did the compressor mount and ran the air lines myself. The $5600 price sounds high but if that is including a front and rear gear sets it may not be that bad. But like I say with the cost of the 4.88s you are almost half way to the cost of a supercharger.
 
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#13 ·
I put mine on at 148,000 and I am at 190,000 now. I really hesitated with the mileage I had, but knowing that there are many 1,000,000 mile Tundras out there and I read the story about the Tundra Toyota bought back with a 1,000,000 on it and the specifications on a 1,000,000 mile motor I thought I would give it a try and I am glad I did.
 
#16 ·
Well. The Nitro gears are ordered by the shop I chose to go with. Down payment made for the work. The truck should be in the shop within the next couple weeks. Althought the shop was able to get Nitro 4.88 rear gear set, they were not able to get a Nitro 4.88 front gear set till October. The other alternative was going with Yukon 4.88 front. I didn't want to mix match parts. I did some research and chose to go with Nitro 5.29s because they were immediately available. I'll have better towing power, etc, etc. Everything I could find on the lost of MPGs because of 5.29 regearing was about a 5% loss at highway speeds. That's about 1 MPG.
 
#17 ·
That all sounds good and you may end up with a larger diameter tire at some point so 5.29 will be good.
 
#18 ·
Truck going in the shop first thing Monday the 9th. The job takes three days, but it will be there all week for them to test and break in.
Work being done:
Installation of ARB air lockers.
Installation of Nitro 5.29 gear sets
Route the air lines from ARB solenoid manifold to differentials.

I already ran the compressor wiring into the cab and to the battery. Just gotta dremel out the switch holes to fit the ARB toggles and run power to the switch.
 
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