Question on Locking Diff (1 Viewer)

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Hi All,

I am a newbie to this forum and to LCs. Have been researching 80s. Had a question with regards to the factor locking diff that came on the 93 to 97. From what I have been able to see, is the option just to have the rear locked or have both the front and rear locked? Or is there also an option to have just the front locked? And is that something that is even advisable?
 
On the stock dial, there is no way to have just the front locked.
 
Hi All,

I am a newbie to this forum and to LCs. Have been researching 80s. Had a question with regards to the factor locking diff that came on the 93 to 97. From what I have been able to see, is the option just to have the rear locked or have both the front and rear locked? Or is there also an option to have just the front locked? And is that something that is even advisable?
My suggestion is to buy an unlocked version, then add the lockers. You can then run them however you like. The future problem of the OEM E-Lockers is the parts availability.

If you do aftermarket, such as ARB or Harrop, then they should have a few years of spare parts.
 
Makes sense. Thank you. I will start looking around and finding out what is available. Based on reading some other coments on this group, I think I will first and foremost focus on a cruiser that it clean and has good maintenance records and hopefully lower mileage. If it then happens to have lockers, awesome. If not, I will look at doing some after market if I need.
 
Makes sense. Thank you. I will start looking around and finding out what is available. Based on reading some other coments on this group, I think I will first and foremost focus on a cruiser that it clean and has good maintenance records and hopefully lower mileage. If it then happens to have lockers, awesome. If not, I will look at doing some after market if I need.
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My suggestion is to buy an unlocked version, then add the lockers. You can then run them however you like. The future problem of the OEM E-Lockers is the parts availability.

If you do aftermarket, such as ARB or Harrop, then they should have a few years of spare parts.
I personally love the factory lockers. They are so much bang for the buck. I probably paid less for both my locked cruisers than what it would cost me to install selectable lockers. But I'm on the west coast where cruisers seem to last longer.
 
Whenever I get around to it I think I’ll put a mechanical locker in the rear. I think the 80 is the perfect platform for a mechanical rear bc the awd when the center is open should allow power to pass around enough to mask any of the pops and bangs that can happen with them.
All the selectable options are sweet too.
 
Whenever I get around to it I think I’ll put a mechanical locker in the rear. I think the 80 is the perfect platform for a mechanical rear bc the awd when the center is open should allow power to pass around enough to mask any of the pops and bangs that can happen with them.
All the selectable options are sweet too.


I put a mechanical locker in the rear of my 80 about a month ago. It works great and I rarely hear pops and bangs unless switching reverse to drive in a tight area or something. For $300, the benefits offroad make it a great mod to buy.
 
I have factory lockers, and I can lock any locker I want, hi range or low, or drive in 4 low unlocked. Because it's a full locker, I never hear pops and bangs of any kind in tight or reverse or any conditions whatsoever. I would advise getting the factory lockers if you want to wheel it and making the modification to the wiring if you want further flexibility beyond the enormous stock setup's capability.
 
I had installed ARB lockers in my 91 and wheeled that truck for many years. My LX450 has factory lockers and I have found that the rear is slower to lock/unlock than the ARBs. This is due to the lower spline count on the locking sleeve in the rear diff.
The front locks and unlocks fairly quickly. Is this a huge problem for me? Not really, but it can be a bit frustrating at times.
 
If you can find one with lockers that's great. The problem is people charge a very high premium for them.
 
This is a rare occasion where I humbly disagree with Bilt4me.
Adding lockers later is almost always $$$$$ compared to buying a vehicle with them, OEM or aftermarket.
Also air lockers are a lesser where electrics are a plus, imo.

Besides that, you wouldn't want just the front locked anyway even tho it seems as feasible as just the rear locked. The components of the front axle are designed to work in tandem with the rear axle, spreading the load between both axles. I would hazard to guess that having just the front locked in a high-load situation would lead to failures in the front axle as they were never designed to handle full vehicle loads solo. That's why the 'magic dial' will not allow the front to lock without also the rear locked first. And I think that follows across all manufacturers of vehicles with front and rear locks. None allow just a front lock situation.

Of course were you to rebuild both axles with chromoly and make them equals in terms of strength, then you could play around with the order of the locking mechanisms. Just my 0.02. All the love Bilt4me. 👍
 
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