By Dan Rork on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 03:20 pm: Edit

I am currently looking into doing a rear air locker on my 95. Was curious if any one has any experience with Co2 and the benefits over the arb air compressor. Also how much more difficult is it to set up. Appreciate any info Thanks, Daniel Rork

By Greg Davis on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:11 pm: Edit

Daniel, I use a CO2 tank off road, but not for a locker. Downside is if you forget to fill your tank and it is empty or you run out of CO2 on the trail, you no longer have a locker. At least with the compressor the air is avail on demand.

By RVR OVR (Tom) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:13 pm: Edit

Dan,

I love the CO2 tanks, but don't know if I would go that route instead of a compressor unless you carry a spare tank for use an ARB. It would really suck to forget to check if you had CO2 and end up unlocked on a wheeling trip.

Tom

By p m on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:15 pm: Edit

CO2 tank and Detroit, and no worries.

peter (not having done the 2nd part)

By Ed H on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:19 pm: Edit

The upside is that you don't have to wait for the tank to air up and you can use the tank to air up your tires much faster.

I am in the process of hooking up my duel ARB lockers to my Co2 tank. I will finish it by next week. If you want to know the detail, you can email me.

By Craig on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:22 pm: Edit

ARB or equal, air tank from an LWB
Craig

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:23 pm: Edit

i've used the arb compressor for both lockers and tires. after about a year of that, the arb compressor blew up on me. so after fixing the compressor, i just use it for the locker, and use the powertank for tires and air tools.

now i just have to do some plumbing so that i can use the CO2 for locker, and when tank is empty i can switch back to the compressor.

the main advantage of using CO2 for lockers, it will be practically silent. no compressors running, and no people commenting on the magical tires.

By Dan Rork on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:44 pm: Edit

All right I know that you could run out of Co2 and be sol if you are using it for the locker but how much warning does the gauge give you and how much does an air locker really use.

By RVR OVR (Tom) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:47 pm: Edit

On a CO2 tank, there is no guage as far as empty and full, just like a propane tank. You can only tell by weighing it full and empty and then judging from that.

Tom

By p m on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:50 pm: Edit

Dan,
if your lines aren't leaking, you aren't going to run out of CO2 even if you were to 'wheel to the moon.

peter

By Dan Rork on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 04:55 pm: Edit

As far as the use of the Co2 I mainly wanted to air up tires and so forth and was looking at lockers at the same time. I figured if I was going to have a Co2 system why not get an air locker so I can have control over locked or not. As I am looking into this further it almost seems cheaper to go with the detroit but axel upgrades are alomost inevitable and at 600 bucks it doesn't make it much of a better deal

By RVR OVR (Tom) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 05:06 pm: Edit

Dan,

Most folks would recommend HD axles with an ARB as well. If you do want a system for airing up tires, CO2 is the best. As long as you are mindful of the tank, you should be able to swing the CO2/ARB solution. I have seen this plenty in the 4x4 magazines.

Tom

By p m on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 05:11 pm: Edit

Dan, does the wheeling you do warrants a solid locker? You can go far with 2 truetracs, without much worries about the axle.

keep in mind that _any_ locker (that allows no slippage between the wheels) will put you in a potential situation - when all torque and power from the engine will be sent to the ground via one axleshaft (out of 4). An ARB is less likely to break an axle than a Detroit (and it will not break itself when the axle shatters), but not impossible.

a friend of mine has CO2 setup for tires and his dual ARBs. Veeery simple.

peter

By Dan Rork on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 05:42 pm: Edit

Alright after some more chechking I think I can pick up the ARB for 550 and my only other concearn is pump or air. I found a beer supply place that I can get a ten pound tank for $80 and a high presure regulator for like $100 bucks but that is almost exactly the price of the arb compressor. My concearn is how much pressure the arb locker takes and if I could get away with a 5 pound tank which is only $60 to run it and tires only wheeling once a month maybe.

By p m on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 05:51 pm: Edit

check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disco2owners/files/CO2setup.html

yes, a 5lb tank will last you a long while.

peter

By Ed H on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 06:48 pm: Edit

100psi is the max for the locker. The ARB manual will give you more detail. If you need a copy, email me.

By Ron on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 06:49 pm: Edit

ARBs use like no air to engage. They are a bit finicky about pressure I am told but I forget the spec. GCR www.gulfcoastrovers.com has what you need (info and switches) to run them off a tank.

Ron