To lock or not to lock?

[Jango]

Im starting to think about what would really advance my rig off road. I think a diff locker would really step up my jeep's game. So I've researched some and found lots of different things. First what kind of locker is best? electric or air or other?? Some have said running an electric wire to your diff could lead to it getting damaged but wouldn't that happen to an air line as well? Another question is if I only wanted to put in one locker should I put it in the front or the rear??
Also this is my daily drive, I have heard that some lockers mess up normal driving on the road and make the jeep act weird. I don't want that happening haha.
Also I'm still running 3.21 gears... would a locker be suicide in that case or would that still be bearable?
Any tips, experiences, or knowledges would be greatly appreciated thanks!!!

[Trail Duty]

Although I haven't locked my rig yet (too much $$$), I have found a few things through research.

1. If it's your daily driver, it's likely best to go with a selectable locker set-up. This way it doesn't effect driving manners on road. However, some don't have much of a problem with it. I believe Jonathan (jgerhard) has a non-selectable locker and streets his rig, along with a few others in the club. So hopefully they will chime in with some real world experience.

2. If you are going to pay to have a locker installed, might as well do gears as well. Otherwise you will eventually be paying the labor charge again for gears later down the road.

Again, this is simply knowledge I acquired through research. Hopefully those with real world experience will add.

Personally, I eventually plan on doing Eaton E-Lockers (w/ the new 4-pin design). So you could look into those.

[Mortalis5509]

If you are paying for lockers then its not that much more to do gears. Gears will not replace what a locker does but compliment the entire set up.

Yes, some lockers do make street manners a little different but not all. If I was doing one it would be the front but ultimately you want both.

I would put a selectable in the rear and something around a detriot in the front.

[Big Dave]

Trust me, you don't want a lunchbox locker in the rear, especially on curvy roads. Scary is a understatement. Selectable, spool or welded. Mine is welded & while not optimal, it's just a play toy. It is tolerable on the road but does wear tires a little faster.
You can put a lunchbox in the front & never know it's there.....until you throw it in 4WD.

Good luck. There are many choices. http://www.lokka.com/site/?gclid=CILAiKHE1cACFUMLMgodXkEAqA is the cheapest. Been around for years as Aussie.         

[LUVNMY06TJ]

There are pros and cons to each kind of locker. Any locker with a line going to it can be damaged; electric, air, even mechanical (though it's tougher to damage a mechanical line). That leaves a welded/spool style locker (locked everytime power is applied to that differential).

A lunchbox locker is an example of a spool style locker and is probably the cheapest way to lock you a differential. If you have limited funds but still want to lock a differential this is probably the way to go for now. If you do choose that route, you probably want to put it in the front for the reasons already mentioned, and that when you're on the trail to make a tight turn you can either make a 3-4 point turn or take the jeep out of 4WD to make a sharp turn. Most trails I've been on don't have real tight turns at critical points where taking the jeep out of 4WD would be scary, but that's just my experience.

Now if you plan on putting in a selectable locker, depending on the locker, you might consider also doing gears. This way you if you later choose to upgrade your gears you won't have to spend money twice on a locker. I mentioned "depending on the locker" because at least OX locker has a range of gear sizes it supports; i.e. Ox Locker is sold in almost 2 different sizes for every differential out there, one up to a 4.56 and another for gears 4.88 and up. (BTW not sure if those gear sizes are accurate for the two sizes)

Also, keep in mind if you upgrade the gears in one axle you should also upgrade the gears in the other one.

I almost hate to bring up this point but while you're thinking about lockers and possibly gears it would be a good idea for you to decide on what upgrades you want on your jeep when you're completely done upgrading. This is important if you want to upgrade your axles. If you were to upgrade your axles in the end, you'll have to probably regear, and get new lockers. Then you will have spend the money twice. Again, it goes back to money and what you want to spend it on.

Lastly, take your time. There is no rush do your research and make an informed decision. Sorry if I said a lot of things you already knew, just my .02 and trying to help.

[clark123456]

Clarification on Jim's comments:  spool and welded are the same, but a lunch box locker is not the same as a spool or welded.  Not even in the same category.  There is a thread on GATR that describes each locker style in detail...find it and read it.

If you regear one axle, you must regear the other axle...If you plan to put it in 4wd.

[clark123456]

I have a TJ with front and rear auto lockers (I went with Yukon Grizzly full case lockers).  My short wheelbase combined with the auto locking mechanism in the rear gets squirrelly on the road, but nothing that can't be overcome if you're not drink. 

After my first few pucker moments I wished I had gone with a selectable locker in the rear...however, after watching the guys with selectable lockers have to muck around with turning on and off their lockers (very frequently), and more importantly, forgetting to do it, I would not go with selectable.  It amazes me how many people forget to turn on their lockers before hitting a big obstacle...but almost every single one of the selectable locker people forget to do it at some point.  My concern is getting into a bad situation because I forgot to turn on the locker.

I would absolutely regear at the same time, thus I would go ahead and lock the front and rear with full case lockers.  If you lack funds and will not have them for a while, I would put a lunch box locker in the front (and rear if you can afford that) without regearing.  That will hold you for a while...until you can afford to go full case and regear.

[tjsahara00]

I totally disagree with Clark.
I have Eaton e-lockers front and rear
and would never have anything else.
Yes I have forgot to turn them on sometimes
but it only takes a second to flip a switch.
The ability to turn them off while on the road,
and when turning on the trail is very nice.

My first locker was a Spartan lunch box locker in
the front and it was fine because it didn't work
until you put in 4 wheel drive. It was the cheapest
route at the time. Even just with the front locked
it made wheelin more fun.

[DOUG]

Selectable front and rear is optimum.

[kent10sne1]

I have eaton selectable lockers in front and rear.   I am still getting used to them. But I like the ability to turn them off and on at will.     Also. I recommend if u re-gear.  Do the lockers. Saving labor is huge IMO.   


I went Yukon and eaton   But I started with a lunch box up front to understand what a locker does.   

[jgerhard]

Hey I re-geared and did lockers all at the same time (when I did my front axle truss and gussets).  I've chosen a budget approach that is very capable but has its downsides, beginning with that I stuck with my Dana 30 axle and beefed it.  Gearing made a huge difference in driveability with bigger tires.  Lockers are not essential but help alot.  Some guys like Ryan Slyter are somehow able to see a magic line and hit it hard at just the right time open open (with 33's) and just get over anything.  I am not that rock Jedi, and I don't like to hit things that hard....

So with both front and rear auto lockers its a world of difference offroad.  Jim's comments about doing a 3 point turn offroad are valid.  Having run this for over a year I see both sides of the issue.  I like being locked on obstacles or on slick mud on a hill automatically as clark stated.  In the type of terrain we run there are usually slick surfaces all the time, as opposed to sticky rock out west, so I feel like with both lockers the Jeep is far more likely to go where I am pointing it without getting me jacked up sliding into something.  But having selectable lockers would make driving tight turns in trails easier.  I've heard Ben and Bobby on obstacles discussing letting it "walk" when open to try to find the right place to catch on. 

One more issue as mentioned is that selectable lockers can break down on the trail if the air hose or wire becomes disconnected or otherwise malfunctions.   

A point not discussed in this thread is that lockers can cause alot more stress on axles and shafts as you bind up with one tire grabbing well on a tough obstacle, so I am pretty cautious with turning on a rocky obstacle and with throttle.  I upgraded front shafts to cro-moly when I did the front locker.  I have spare rear stock shafts for this reason as well.  I pretty much am going to be conservative until I have a better setup, and I also focus on keeping the JKU light as I can with my armor and bumper choices. 

On road, I actually have commented before that I have more problems with my front lunchbox locker (Powertrax) bumping around as it opens when I turn in a parking lot, obviously not in 4wd.  Bobby (cru9) has discussed this with me as well.  The ratcheting noise comes from up front as I turn. 

I feel like the rear detroit is pretty smooth.  Over time I finally have begun to perceive the opening and closing of the detroit around turns at speed, it is a very faint feeling of push and release.  I think with a 4 door its milder than a 2 door TJ, the way I've heard others describe it.  Others have discussed its scary, its not like that for my setup.

With both auto lockers driving in snow and ice was very easy.  Don't have experience on heavy ice with this setup, northern and midwestern offroaders discuss this alot, be aware of how the rear auto locker will push you in a turn on ice and stay off the gas in a turn.

It came down to money for me, I would upgrade to selectable at this point if 10K dropped in my lap and I got to upgrade the other things on my list like a nice front axle.

The Detroit rear locker gets my 2 cents.  Others would prefer lunchbox front locker bang for the buck.   The reason why for me is I hate feeling the Jeep slip backwards and start sliding sideways as I am going on a steep uphill or V ditch on a muddy day. 

[tj05world]

I was low on money,when I did my regearing in front.i will be putting in a selectable locker In front some point.as the rear axle it's a selectable factory air locker.wish I had the funds the  first time to do the selectable locker arb.


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