Lockers

[purple xj]

Ill be buying a lunch box locker this week but cant decide spend 270 on the front or 300 on the rear front is a dana 30 on 35s rear is a 29 spline 8.25 on 35s bnoth stock shafts any advice front or rear locked first?

[!jbikes1]

Go for the rear the push is better than the pull you notice the difference right away.

[HuLuD44]

A rear locker will be a little more helpful off road but will be much twichyer on road. More binding and more strain on drive train and suspension components. Since ure 90% street still id say go front first. Either way it will be a huge difference.

[565matt]

I went front first with an Aussie... Huge difference... Also I dont like locking a c-clip axle like the 8.25. If you brake a shaft from the extra tourgue there is nothing keeping your axle shaft from walking out

[Goonies.nsd]

Im another front locker guy. Less daily binding in the front and ive always been in the belief that a front will pull you over obstacles. The front will still bind and pop here and there. But alot less up front as long as the 4WD is not engaged.

The C clip does suck but at least having the disc brakes in the rear will keep the wheel on till you get out of the trail. So that would not scare me away from locking the 8.25.

But i still say front axle. Just keep some extra axle shafts until you upgrade to chromolys.

[Bandit1]

It dont mater, either will useful off road. Either will be a huge improvement over the open diffs you got now. Listen to your gut and go with it. Dont second guess yourself.

[egodfrey]

I have run both front and rear lunchbox lockers. In a daily driver i will go with a front 100% of the time from personal experience!! Personally i find both to help tremendously offroad. And it depends on individual situations as too which one is more beneficial. Get chromo front shafts though!!! Or atleast run larger u joints and carry spares. Trust me its not a matter of if its when you will break a 30 shaft locked on 35's.

I broke 2 shafts (then went chromo), both hubs (pass side twice) and broke a frotn driveshaft with a locked 30 on 33's. This is over about a year and a half.

My rear was a 44 with a lunchbox and i had no issues, as expected on 33's. But fyi when i swapped out my 8.25 for the 44 the 8.25 had a bad bearign and 3 teeth chipped on the ring gear and 1 on the pinion, and it was open diff.

[purple xj]

Thanks for the replys im going to order the front first

[Joies]

I have the back locked and after a few weeks I can barely notice it's there. And it helped a ton offroad. It's an aussie.

[Goonies.nsd]

I to have found the Aussies to be a good choice from the ones i have installed. The Aussies seem to be quieter. But both work great and are equally strong i think. But i will be going Aussie in the D30 on the 99.

[saharacon87]

I have an Aussie in the front and my rear is open overall i'm pretty happy with it. It pulls you over rocks but it does take a little getting used to at first. Every time you give it throttle it locks and your steering wheel binds a bit but as soon as you let off the gas everything goes back to normal. I drove with it in the snow and its sort of tricky because going around corners you don't want to give it gas or you won't really turn all that well. Also if you hit any patchy snow or ice with one tire it will pull in that direction. Definitely day and night offroad tho. Made my jeep a beast. Im debating if I want to do an aussie in the rear as well.

[Whosyadadie02]

I have a Spartan in the 30 and it's unnoticeable after a few weeks. I thought it was broken it was do quiet lol

[orangecrush4u]

I have an Aussie in the front and my rear is open overall i'm pretty happy with it. It pulls you over rocks but it does take a little getting used to at first. Every time you give it throttle it locks and your steering wheel binds a bit but as soon as you let off the gas everything goes back to normal. I drove with it in the snow and its sort of tricky because going around corners you don't want to give it gas or you won't really turn all that well. Also if you hit any patchy snow or ice with one tire it will pull in that direction. Definitely day and night offroad tho. Made my jeep a beast. Im debating if I want to do an aussie in the rear as well.

Mine is the same way, wicked scary in the snow, aired down to like 15ilbs to help with the steering.

[Bandit1]

Since we are on the subject of lockers, Let me thow this one out for discussion: Selectable lockers, there are mechanical, eletric and air... what would be the better choice of the 3? Right now I am leaning towards an air locker, ARB specificly because OBA is a futrure mod I will be doing.

[orangecrush4u]

Yea deff selectable but cost more and at the time that was all I could aford. next year Im going OX I think.

[agressivebudhist]

A selectable isnt gonna get you farther down a trail. Usually unless i have a long wheelbase( my rigs wheelbase is longer than most of you guys entire rig:madgrin:). If its a shorter wheel base rig then id go with a lunchbox on a med to lightweight rig or run a detroit on something heavy. It really comes down to maneuverability on the trail.Open diffs will get you around turns but wont get you up over much unless all the tires have enough bite.

Ox lockers are nice, but they do have the cable hanging in the way..You will have to contend with the location of the shifter assembly, the routing of the cable for smooth operation and remaining it kink free.Sharp bends in its radius will allow the inner sheathing to wear out..Also keep in mind that any heat like rubbing on an exhaust pipe will melt the cable in a few seconds.The ox also has its own special diff cover that accepts the cable..This may or may not get in the way of your steering setup and so forth. If the cable is damaged you can still lock and unlock the unit with a few simple tools on the trail.
I have heard of only a few issues with breakage on an ok.Usually from tree stumps in mud holes on 44s and big hp.
Personally i like the ox lockers but have been toying with the yukon comp zip locker for the obvious reasons.

The air lockers from Arb have been around for the longest and have been long proven themselves to be a great locker.They require little air to hold but in many instances they require drilling and mods on the bearing caps and case itself..Thus the potential for weakening the bearing caps inducing deflection and ring and pinion failures.The air lines can easily leak and render the locker useless during use.Plusses to it that parts are available easy and they arent that hard to rebuild.They have the most extensive application listing in the industry too.. Hell the even have one my my ford van 60 with 32 splines.
Ive never heard of one breaking other than spider gears,the air lines(an upgrade is available) and one guy grenading one being stupid walking a tree.

Electric lockers out there havent really picked up the pace..Generally from many fearing one more thing electrically on the axle to short out.Toyota has long proven this not an issue..But the listing of e lockers isnt that long. More than the already stated theory of electrical issues and not proven in comp usage..The e lockers out there are very stuot and can easily be installed with some common knowledge.Most of the ones ive heard guys running are on toys with the factory lockers swapped into the older housings..Dont know much more about them.

[Bandit1]

very informative... lots to chew on. I am no where near ready for a locker just yet, but more to consider as the decision on what one to get when the time comes grows closer. I mainly DD mine and will be doing OBA. Those are the main reason I was looking into an ARB air locker over a lunch box locker. If I were to mainly trail my XJ and had something else to drive, then I would deff go with a lunch box style.

[orangecrush4u]

A selectable isnt gonna get you farther down a trail. Usually unless i have a long wheelbase( my rigs wheelbase is longer than most of you guys entire rig:madgrin:). If its a shorter wheel base rig then id go with a lunchbox on a med to lightweight rig or run a detroit on something heavy. It really comes down to maneuverability on the trail.Open diffs will get you around turns but wont get you up over much unless all the tires have enough bite.

Ox lockers are nice, but they do have the cable hanging in the way..You will have to contend with the location of the shifter assembly, the routing of the cable for smooth operation and remaining it kink free.Sharp bends in its radius will allow the inner sheathing to wear out..Also keep in mind that any heat like rubbing on an exhaust pipe will melt the cable in a few seconds.The ox also has its own special diff cover that accepts the cable..This may or may not get in the way of your steering setup and so forth. If the cable is damaged you can still lock and unlock the unit with a few simple tools on the trail.
I have heard of only a few issues with breakage on an ok.Usually from tree stumps in mud holes on 44s and big hp.
Personally i like the ox lockers but have been toying with the yukon comp zip locker for the obvious reasons.

The air lockers from Arb have been around for the longest and have been long proven themselves to be a great locker.They require little air to hold but in many instances they require drilling and mods on the bearing caps and case itself..Thus the potential for weakening the bearing caps inducing deflection and ring and pinion failures.The air lines can easily leak and render the locker useless during use.Plusses to it that parts are available easy and they arent that hard to rebuild.They have the most extensive application listing in the industry too.. Hell the even have one my my ford van 60 with 32 splines.
Ive never heard of one breaking other than spider gears,the air lines(an upgrade is available) and one guy grenading one being stupid walking a tree.

Electric lockers out there havent really picked up the pace..Generally from many fearing one more thing electrically on the axle to short out.Toyota has long proven this not an issue..But the listing of e lockers isnt that long. More than the already stated theory of electrical issues and not proven in comp usage..The e lockers out there are very stuot and can easily be installed with some common knowledge.Most of the ones ive heard guys running are on toys with the factory lockers swapped into the older housings..Dont know much more about them.

Thats a great run down..