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Why should you put lockers in before you worry about light bars?
Well, do you find yourself off the road more often than on it?… Lockers.
Do you prefer the path not taken?… Lockers.
Are you crawling over rocks more often than you are stuck in traffic?… Lockers.
Does the feel, look, and even the taste of mud call you off the beaten trail?… Lockers.
What are lockers? Well, I’m glad you asked.
As the name implies. They lock things up, and not like my cousin Mikey got locked up. Lockers mechanically lock the left and right wheels together basically. They lock up the 2 axle shafts so that they spin together as opposed to separately. This is called an open differential. This is a whole different topic if you want to know about those.
Lockers can be a very wonderful gift from God when it comes to off roading. What this means is when one wheel is in the air or spinning in the mud, the other wheel can spin as well(of course this is hoping it has traction on something). Very helpful off road. The downside to lockers, and why basically anything you buy will have an open differential(trucks with mechanical lockers) is because when turning your wheels don’t turn the same speed, or move the same distance.
And thus forth, brings to the next segment in our lesson. What do I get then? Well good news, there are a few different types. There are selectable lockers which include the ARB Air Locker(arguably one of the best), cable operated lockers, and others that can be controlled via a switch. Turn it on and off when needed.
Automatic Lockers, these lock and unlock, well, automatically. They are designed to respond in different conditions. Default these are 50/50 torque split, but disengage in turns and corners allowing the tires to go around it without slipping and scuffing. Advantages of these are you don’t need to do anything. No switches, nothing. Disadvantages, some can be noisy, and give some unwanted handling characteristics in weird traction.
You also have spools, I won’t go into this here. This is more for your mud bog rigs, dragsters, and anything that basically is never really turning.
There are a few different options for lockers.
For selectable,
-ARB Air Locker, one of the best and most well known. The ARB Air Locker does require you have an onboard air compressor system to run it though.
-Eaton ELocker, another very nice choice. Eaton is well known for their lockers in all different vehicles. The ELocker is like its named, electronic. So you would need to get it wired and have a switch.
-And you have Auburn(great prices right now btw), which is another very well known company. They offer the ECTED, what this one is, Auburn ECTED is an electronic locker that when not engaged it operates as a limited slip differential, which can be great! When engaged, it becomes a full locking diff.
Automatic Lockers your big name will be Detroit, everyone knows Detroit.. and not the Motor Capital of the World Detroit. Detroit, also built by.. Eaton! There they are again, is without a doubt the best known locking differential in the off roading world. 50/50 Torque split, that unlocks automatically when entering a turn or corner by a speed sensitive mechanism. Once back on a straight it will automatically lock itself back up! I would like to mention that these lockers are not exactly meant to be used on daily drivers. Some have, and still will, and say once you get used to it its not so bad. But with rainy, wet, slick conditions, those lockers stay locked when going straight. This can have a tendency to slid that rear end around a little bit.
I realize this could be a much longer post, and I won’t put you through that trouble. But if you are curious on anything else just let me know! Here or PM and I can get you any info you would like!
Well, do you find yourself off the road more often than on it?… Lockers.
Do you prefer the path not taken?… Lockers.
Are you crawling over rocks more often than you are stuck in traffic?… Lockers.
Does the feel, look, and even the taste of mud call you off the beaten trail?… Lockers.
ARB Air Locker
What are lockers? Well, I’m glad you asked.
As the name implies. They lock things up, and not like my cousin Mikey got locked up. Lockers mechanically lock the left and right wheels together basically. They lock up the 2 axle shafts so that they spin together as opposed to separately. This is called an open differential. This is a whole different topic if you want to know about those.
Lockers can be a very wonderful gift from God when it comes to off roading. What this means is when one wheel is in the air or spinning in the mud, the other wheel can spin as well(of course this is hoping it has traction on something). Very helpful off road. The downside to lockers, and why basically anything you buy will have an open differential(trucks with mechanical lockers) is because when turning your wheels don’t turn the same speed, or move the same distance.
And thus forth, brings to the next segment in our lesson. What do I get then? Well good news, there are a few different types. There are selectable lockers which include the ARB Air Locker(arguably one of the best), cable operated lockers, and others that can be controlled via a switch. Turn it on and off when needed.
Eaton ELocker
Automatic Lockers, these lock and unlock, well, automatically. They are designed to respond in different conditions. Default these are 50/50 torque split, but disengage in turns and corners allowing the tires to go around it without slipping and scuffing. Advantages of these are you don’t need to do anything. No switches, nothing. Disadvantages, some can be noisy, and give some unwanted handling characteristics in weird traction.
Detroit TrueTrac Limited Slip
You then have “Limited-Slip” this more refers to traction adders that take torque away from the wheel that has no traction, and giving it to the wheel that isn’t spinning. This is done basically by binding up the differential between them with either clutch packs, gear arrangements, or a cone engagement. Advantages of these, quite drive friendly, help with off roading(not as well as a locker does), but with out the harshness and noise of a true locker.
You also have spools, I won’t go into this here. This is more for your mud bog rigs, dragsters, and anything that basically is never really turning.
There are a few different options for lockers.
For selectable,
-ARB Air Locker, one of the best and most well known. The ARB Air Locker does require you have an onboard air compressor system to run it though.
-Eaton ELocker, another very nice choice. Eaton is well known for their lockers in all different vehicles. The ELocker is like its named, electronic. So you would need to get it wired and have a switch.
-And you have Auburn(great prices right now btw), which is another very well known company. They offer the ECTED, what this one is, Auburn ECTED is an electronic locker that when not engaged it operates as a limited slip differential, which can be great! When engaged, it becomes a full locking diff.
Automatic Lockers your big name will be Detroit, everyone knows Detroit.. and not the Motor Capital of the World Detroit. Detroit, also built by.. Eaton! There they are again, is without a doubt the best known locking differential in the off roading world. 50/50 Torque split, that unlocks automatically when entering a turn or corner by a speed sensitive mechanism. Once back on a straight it will automatically lock itself back up! I would like to mention that these lockers are not exactly meant to be used on daily drivers. Some have, and still will, and say once you get used to it its not so bad. But with rainy, wet, slick conditions, those lockers stay locked when going straight. This can have a tendency to slid that rear end around a little bit.
I realize this could be a much longer post, and I won’t put you through that trouble. But if you are curious on anything else just let me know! Here or PM and I can get you any info you would like!
