ARB lockers install??? (1 Viewer)

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I'm not entertaining any ideas involving having to drive on the streets with no front drive shaft.
 
the 80 front diff is an 8" just like the mini diffs.
the only difference is the HP aspect. all the bearings and stuff are the same as the V6 diff.
in an 80 when driving forward you use the drive side of the HP gear, whereas with a mini you are on the coast side going forward.
where the strength issue comes up when backing up with the front heavily loaded. an HP is on the coast or "weaker" side of the gear, and vide versa in the mini diff. this is why mini guys cant/dont run HPs in the rear, they die quickly.

i had an HP on the shelf and s***canned it in favor of a regular V6 diff. i just set the gears nice and tight so i dont worry about problems going forward direction.
 
D3fiant said:
i have considered an aussie only because of price. i do really like the idea of selectable- true on/off lockers though.
install is my biggest worry though, having never done one at all and being not totally stupid i can tell the ARB is gonna be more work to put in without even looking at it.

On the subject of price(and this may change some minds) through the end of the month ARB still has there locker deal going. that deal is one locker- one free pump. two lockers- one free high volume pump and a tire inflation kit. Advantage tire in medford is a ARB dealer. they told me 1590.00 shipped for everything both lockers and pump as long as i get the order in before mid day on friday. for selectable front and rear lockers thats not a bad price.
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Hey, A while back I talked to the folks over at CruiserHeads.com about raffel prizes... ANY WAY they are running the same ARB offer and they sent me/us (JSC MEMBERS) a 10% off coupon. might save you some money.....
airlocker_promo.jpg
JSC_Coupon.jpg
 
since ive never done a locker install before, but ive done enough wrenching on other things to know that when you do one job theres usually a "while you have it apart, you might as well do ........too" what else should i do?

i may wait to do the install till after i finish the lift and figure out what tires im going to go with so that if i decide to do gears I can do that at the same time.
 
Just a wild thought, but if you're gonna shell out the money for lockers and gears, you could always go with Volvo Portal axles. :hmm:
 
i should have known you'd say that.:hmm: not all together a bad idea actually but by the time i find a pair, rebuild them into decent shape and get them in im not sure i'd be ahead any. I would like to do a volvo swap some day for the ground clearance.

if i had a cheap toy i could swap them under it'd be ok. but if my :princess: caught me i'd be single i'm sure. once its a trail rig i can do whatever i want but as long as im still driving it, probably not. and the diff work can be done in a weekend and she"ll never know the difference. an axle swaps gonna take more than a weekend and she might start to wonder where the 80 is after a few days.
 
Check out Treeroots axle swap build. IIRC he did his fairly quickly. He reused his axle mounts by cutting them off the OEM axle and welding them onto the Volvo axle, which meant he wasn't messing with angles/design/etc and made it very simple.

It's definitely ambitious however. Money wise I think you'd end up being pretty close to the same as gears+lockers as you could sell off your stock axles (either for parts or to someone who wants to swap in some bigger axles under their truck).

I'd love to do portals under mine.
 
aren't portals around 3000 plus shipping. and thats assuming they dont need any work/rebuilding

i've read his thread before, very jealous
 
D3fiant said:
aren't portals around 3000 plus shipping. and thats assuming they dont need any work/rebuilding

i've read his thread before, very jealous
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Sure, but you're going to be spending $1500 for the ARB (not including labor) plus almost another $1000 for gears. ARB's not that bad to install, but gears are very expensive labor wise as they are time intensive to setup correctly. So you're looking at close (or more) to that $3000 even if you do it yourself.

Treeroot had locked axles which he sold, so he basically broke even on the deal. Actually he really came out money ahead as he did not need to buy gears to run 37's. Unlocked 80's axles seem to sell for $750-$1,000 while locked 80's axles seem to go for $3,000-$3,5000.
 
ive considered that.

actually i think if anything this thread has left me even more unsure as to what i want to do, and even has me day dreaming of selling my 80 to buy something cheap and a set of volvos with the money
 
Locked 80's come up once and a while for a decent price and in decent shape, coincidentally I have one for sale! It is a very tough market to sell in as well if you wanted to sell yours. I decided after wheeling in the snow in an unlocked 80 lockers were a must for my 80 as with the automatic and more weight (vs. an unlocked 60) I flailed in the snow.
The research I have done on ARB's is that they handle the on and off quite well but hardware/airline issues come up and leaks as well. I think the product is well designed and produced. The front locker will not be used in situations where birf breakage is an issue (hopefully) thus the on and off. The compressor is nice to have as well. If you are happy with your 80 I would just go ARB and enjoy. Tires are really the first line of defense and then lockers- but you can still get stuck. Keep us posted, it sounds like you will have a capable rig before long!
 
D3fiant said:
actually i think if anything this thread has left me even more unsure as to what i want to do
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Well, it all depends on how much you want to spend. If you want to stay cheap, then go with the Aussie. It's a solid solution with relatively few downsides in the 80 (as it's full time AWD with an auto tranny and a relatively long wheelbase).

Really a rear locker will get you 90% of the places that both a front and rear locker will get you. When you're ready to start tackling the really tough trails, then you can add an ARB up front.
 
With gas prices going up this summer if i decide to buy another 80 i should be able to find one pretty cheap being the economy cars that they are not many people will be looking to buy them. If I can find one at the right price i'll buy it. otherwise in order to save cash i'm gonna go with a aussie and if i feel i really need a front one later on and haven't bought a locked, 80 i'll get an ARB up front.
 
ive decided to get an aussie for the back........for now. and then i'll decide what to do from there.
first step is to finish collecting the parts i need left for the lift.

brake lines are next on the list. marlin has some line kits but i dont know if there the right fittings and i email them but got nothing back.
 
I would replace with the longer brake lines Cdan found.

One is from a Tundra, and two are from a Tacoma. Or do I have that backwards?

Anyway, call him and ask for the three longer brake lines (2 front, one rear). He'll know what you mean.
 
yeah i was going back an forth on to run the OEM lines cdan figured out or to go with braided
 
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