By jay caragay (Jcaragay) on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 03:39 am: Edit

Okay, after reading through the RTE 3" Lift Thread, I have decided to go with the 2" lift.

PK suggested that I spend the money and get some lockers. I don't know much about them. What are the pros and cons of the different ones? How hard are they to use in real life? How difficult is the installation?

I remember casually reading that some of you have mixed lockers for front and back - why? Do you need both axles locked if you have a lift?

Is there a best locker? Best combination?

Further, if I get lockers and take the axle apart, should I also get those spline things I see from Great Basin while everything is apart? Any suggestions on those? Any idea on how much I need to save?

Thanks again guys!

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 04:24 am: Edit

well, if you dont know what lockers are i dont think you need them, the heavey duty axels are always a good idea.

i would get a winch before lockers (if kyle was here he would have told you first).

rd

By Perrone Ford on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 04:28 am: Edit

Jay,

Lockers are great, but if you don't know what they do or why you would need them, then wait for a while. They won't teach you anything about wheeling and you can always install them later.

They help a LOT with tration, but not as much as the proper tires, and won't overcome novice driving. If you wan't to learn more about them, check the archives on this site, and there may be some older discussions that haven't been archived yet that will be informative.

Best of luck,

-P

By John on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 04:30 am: Edit

Diff guards....sliders...both to protect your LR'er from major damage. winch is great...I agree with Rob...learn to drive without them, ask your friends about lockers...learn about the pros/cons each have to offer, then buy with knowledge in your investment.

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 04:36 am: Edit

Jay -Jay - slow down a bit man. Lets go out with Trevor and hit a few trails first! I know the bug bites pretty hard, but that truck is capable of alot unmodified. How bout we do the tires and maybe just a 2" spring lift first and then get some dusty miles done. After that you'll know what else you want.

BTW - if you're free on Sunday - come up with us to the ROVERS workday and you can meet a bunch of people and work on trucks/ bs/ etc, etc. e-mail
me

Bill

By Ron on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 05:05 am: Edit

BTW - if you're free on Sunday - come up with us to the ROVERS workday and you can meet a bunch of people and work on trucks/bs/ etc, etc.

Yes, come to Tom's house for shop day! Much fun will be had. I am planning on fixing my bulkhead and we all can drive around in Tom's backyard course.

Ron

By jay caragay (Jcaragay) on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 07:08 pm: Edit

Thanks guys - actually, I do know what lockers do (I think). I'm just interested in learning more about the different combinations that people are using and why.

For example, I remember reading about someone who had ARB in the front and Detroit in the rear - why?

Bill - don't worry, I'm not able to go whole hog just yet! My questions relate to what I'm thinking in long term plans - not next week! ;-)

I will have to send my regrets about Sunday because this weekend starts the State Fair and I won't have time to do much of anything else except work for the next ten days. Sunday will be a 13 hour day at the shop. The MD State Fair sucks (IMHO).

Thanks again!

By Chris Browne on Saturday, August 25, 2001 - 12:35 am: Edit

I've rarely seen lockers in action in NE and don't have one. doesn't mean I'm right and others are wrong.
ARB - totally open until you lock, available for front and rear. Requires driver input, air compressor to work Costly
TruTrac: Limited slip diff that will lock while it senses the need available front and rear
Detroit Locker fully locked until it senses the need to be unlocked, rear only
No driver input on either of these units
Macnamara - don't know much, similar to ARB

By Perrone Ford on Saturday, August 25, 2001 - 05:41 am: Edit

Ohh.. locker discussions! Nothing gets people excited like THIS subject.

Lockers typcially fall into two catagories. Those under your contol and those not.

The ARB lockers are under driver control and are engaged using electical signal to an air pressure unit. The unit is a bit complicated and maintenance cannot be ignored lest the seals deteriorate

The McNamara and Maxi-Drive engage through vacuum pressure which is more reliable than compressed air, and they don't need electircal signal to engage. The KAM locker engages through cable or compressed air.

In the category of lockers not under driver control, we have only the Detroit. It can only be used in the rear since it would make steering almost impossible on our trucks. The Tru-Trac is a limited slip diff, not a locker, but it does add traction. Its primary advantage over the driver controlled locker, is that it is only on when wheel slip is detected so you can steer with it even when its fully engaged. It does give away some 5 to 10% of the available traction of a true locker. It is also a somewhat more gentle on the axles and CV than a locker.

Some people use a detroit rear and ARB front because they like having a locker that they don't have to think about and is always on, but for that added bit of traction in the front, they want a full locker. To get that, the locker has to be selectable.

No matter what you choose, you'd be wise to upgrade to HD axles first. And you'd also be wise to get a year or two of wheeling experience without them to learn what might work best for you. There is a wide disparity in costs and installation methods between the various units so keep that in mind. And you can always sell one if you don't like it and get something else. There is ALWAYS a market for lockers whether new or used.

Good luck!

-P

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Saturday, August 25, 2001 - 07:32 am: Edit

jay,

i really liked ARB front and rear when they work and when i didn't mind pushing buttons all day. and thats' what i had in the previous disco.

but for chickety, i wanted to try detroit in the rear for a couple reasons: no more pushing buttons, and no air leaks and hassle.

results? works great. no button pushing, no air leaks, no compressor cycling... STEALTH! peoople ask me if i am "locked" and i look at the door locks and tell them "yes, doors are locked".

in the front i still have the ARB, but i rarely use it. so i'd not miss as much if it were to fail.

if you like buttons and choices (on/off), go with ARB and carry the serice kit.

if you like simplicity, go with detroit.

either way, you'll be stylin.

By jay caragay (Jcaragay) on Saturday, August 25, 2001 - 02:42 pm: Edit

Once again, Thanks Guys for your input!

I will take the advice at hand and take my time getting more trail experience before going to a locker set-up!

Thanks, the education here is great!

By Bruce on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 09:34 am: Edit

I have taken the plunge for a set of Detroit TrueTracs for my 97 DISCO, 45K miles. Now to avoid the costly overhead I am looking to purchase the parts myself and bring them to the installer.
Question:
What can I expect to buy?
Carrier bearings, F&R, (required?,45K miles)
Seals, F&R, (if required?)
Shims
Don't know what to expect and I want to order ahead of time instead of my Disco sitting on a rack waiting for parts.

BTW, I just know someone is going to say oil....

Thanks,
Bruce

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 09:46 am: Edit

Where are you bruce? What state?

Kyle

By Ron on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 10:02 am: Edit

Need a couple extra bucks Kyle?

Ron

By Bruce on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 10:38 am: Edit

All,
Never mind the question. Bill @ Great Basin Rovers has been a soothing voice to calm my fears. Since my installer has never touched a LR, he was saying you may need this&that... After talking to Bill @ GBR, only thing I will need is the carrier bearings since the factory settings typically were not correct. Everything else, pinion related, not required since I am not changing the gear ratios. WOW, what a relief!!
Does anyone have an idea of what an effort it was to locate shim-kits? They don't exist! Ask the dealer and the reply is, sure for $$$ and 1 week, we can get these to you. Ouch.
If I had to do this over again, I would use Bill @GBR for the set-up plus he gives credit for returned core, which helps with the S&H costs.
Now, on to the shop for Friday install and Saturday mudding!
State? Florida, Tampa. Good swampping grounds.
Thanks

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 10:45 am: Edit

I do a few here and there Ron,,,, Bruce , the shims are the same as Dana 60 I believe if you ever run into needing them.. I have a shit load in my center console...

Kyle

By Ron on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 10:53 am: Edit

Bruce,

I used stock carrier bearings no problems. But Bill knows better than me and I am a cheapskate.

Cheers
Ron

By Bruce on Thursday, September 06, 2001 - 06:44 am: Edit

I think of it this way; how much shop time do I exert removing the old bearings and replacing versus simply buying new ones. Bill gave me a great price, so for around $70, no problem.

By Bruce on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 12:00 pm: Edit

Well, the TTs are in and I went playing around in the mud. One large difference I immediately noticed was the truck's steering. It wants to go straight when you power-up, no surprises, however something to get used to. As far as performance, the truck now pulls nicely through the stuff where as before I typically had to use the momentum of the truck to push me onward. I am really happy with the difference.
Installation was a snap on the back. On the front, the collars on either side of the axle housing allowed the entire wheel assembly to be separated just far enough-out to allow the diff to be extracted. LR design saved me a bunch of money versus the axle connecting directly to the socket, as I have seen in other 4x4 front-ends.
Total install time, 4.5 hours, new carrier bearings only.
Love them TTs
Bruce-

By ryan on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 12:03 pm: Edit

Are you still running the stock axles in the back.

By Ron on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - 04:33 am: Edit

Love them TTs

That was my responce as well.

LOL

Ron

By Bruce on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 01:29 pm: Edit

Ryan,
Affirmative. That was the major factor in going with TT in rear instead of a Detriot-Locker, plus this is my daily commute so the popping of the un-load would drive me crazy. Most of the terrain is mud/sand, thus no rock crawling in my neck of the woods. Some may disagree with TT+stock axle, but my new capability has allowed me to slow-down and increase the life of my vehicle. So now I grunt through instead of slamming through difficult areas.
Bruce