arb's are bad@ss but they suck (1 Viewer)

[Mark W]

We had one fail about a year ago due to shortcomings in the unit... the carrier developed a crack in the corner of the window and split clean in half.

The inner faces of the window were not machined, but left as cast... creates stress risers

When ARB saw the failure, they replaced the case and a couple of other parts that were damaged when it let go, for no charge. Was not a lot of question... (none) about it not being a manufacturing flaw. The replacement was fully machined


Mark...

 

[Radd Cruisers]

We had one fail about a year ago due to shortcomings in the unit... the carrier developed a crack in the corner of the window and split clean in half.

The inner faces of the window were not machined, but left as cast... creates stress risers

When ARB saw the failure, they replaced the case and a couple of other parts that were damaged when it let go, for no charge. Was not a lot of question... (none) about it not being a manufacturing flaw. The replacement was fully machined


Mark...

Thats cool Mark, but what about labour?

Rob

 

[Mark W]

Tell ya what... call 'em up for me and see if you can get the labor costs out of them


Mark...

 

[Cruiserdrew]

ARBs in 2 trucks, and my experience has been pretty good.

In my 80 series, I have never had a problem in 6 years. I had the compressor go bad once, but ARB was great about replacing it.

In my 40 series, I had one compressor go out early on, since then, perfect. After 7 years of hard use, the rear is starting to act up. It will often not hold air properly if the the differential oil is cold, but once the truck has been driven a bit, it locks fine.

On the last Rubicon trip, at first it would lock and hold air maybe once every 10 trys. As the week went on, it became more and more reliable. It's still kind of erratic though. One time it will lock and be airtight, the next it will lock and cycle the compressor every 30 seconds or so, and occasionally it will lock but the compressor runs continuously.

Anyway, I'm pulling the ARBs out of the 40 to install in the 60, and while out, I'm going to have it reworked and see what the problem is.

It's a great product though, and other than the glitches described, they have worked very well for me.

 

[Poser]

After 7 years of hard use, the rear is starting to act up. It will often not hold air properly if the the differential oil is cold, but once the truck has been driven a bit, it locks fine.

Drew-



Please remove the air line at the bulkhead fitting at the rear axle and let me know what you find....

 

['74 UA FJ]

Question:

If installed and working correctly, how long will an ARB hold air once pressurized and locked? I am thinking about running them with a N2 tank and it would be nice to, once locked, close a valve on the tank side and not have to worry about keeping pressure to the unit.

 

[Tapage]

Question:

If installed and working correctly, how long will an ARB hold air once pressurized and locked? I am thinking about running them with a N2 tank and it would be nice to, once locked, close a valve on the tank side and not have to worry about keeping pressure to the unit.

Really good question .. pretty interested in know if ARB have a factory rate ..

In my case the most that I ever run it locked are about 4 hours .. and was me unlocking it.

 

[pjohnson]

One word....... York.

It runs my ARBs, fills my tires, blows dirt and crap out of my truck, runs my die grinder and other air tools... As long as the crankcase is kept full of oil, it'll run forever (virtually).

Phil

 

[BiG BoB]

ARB's probably aren't the best locker for every situation, but for the purpose they were designed for, they are brilliant.

It seems from reading on here, that quite a lot of people build up their 4wd for offroad use, and don't use it a lot on the road any more.

Here in Australia, where ARB's are obviously from, its not entirely uncommon to see mum dropping the kids off at school in a Landcruiser or Patrol, with all the fruit installed. Then they'll go off to the supermarket and park up amongst all the other housewives.

The vehicles need to be dual purpose, safe and comfortable to cross the simpson, head up cape york, or any of the other brilliant drives we have here, but still safe and comfortable to drop the kids off and go to the shops.

It's the reason you don't see (as many) aussie rigs with huge tyres, massive lifts, and wild modifications. ARB airlockers leave the vehicle factory feeling for daily use, but flick a switch and it will walk up and over anything in its way.

PS Not only did I come home from hospital in a 60 Series, I got dropped off to primary (elementary?) school in it every day, learnt to drive it in the desert at 10 years old. It wasn't dad's car, it was my mums

Now of course it's mine, she was tired of climbing up into it after 20odd years and they do their trips in dads vehicles (currently a Prado).

Back on track however, the ARB are a good unit, but like anything complicated, if you pay with peanuts you get monkey level work. If you're not 100% capable of doing it yourself, have it done by a proffessional workshop and I'm sure you'll get happy reliable service out of your lockers for a long long time.

 

[Poser]

The vehicles need to be dual purpose, safe and comfortable to cross the simpson, head up cape york, or any of the other brilliant drives we have here, but still safe and comfortable to drop the kids off and go to the shops.

It's the reason you don't see (as many) aussie rigs with huge tyres, massive lifts, and wild modifications.

According to the friends I have over in that country, they do not permit you to build your truck up similarly to how we do in the USA and operate it on public roads without having the vehicle go through an engineering inspection, which apparently makes a colonoscopy appear inviting.

 

[fj40forlife]

I have a welded dif Ill trade you for your arbs =)

 

[BiG BoB]

According to the friends I have over in that country, they do not permit you to build your truck up similarly to how we do in the USA and operate it on public roads without having the vehicle go through an engineering inspection, which apparently makes a colonoscopy appear inviting.

That's correct, our roads are a lot safer here!

It is possible to register just about anything, it just needs to be proven through engineering to be safe.

 

[millas]

I have ARB's installed in my 79 Series for the last 18 months. They are definately worth the bucks I've spend on them. Only problem I've had till date is the electrical connection to the compressor the didn't make a good connection. After I've fixed that, not a day's problem again.

 

[VETTE60]

I think it depends on your purpose. I have ARB's front and rear and love them because I live where it snows in the winter. try driving tight windy roads with an always locked rear end on snowy or icy roads and you will eventually end up wiped out in the ditch. Detroits are tried and true, but they both have their application for intended all around use. Driving on Granite sucks while you are locked weather it is a detroit, spool, or lincoln locker. you will go through tires much quicker. and if ARB's fail, it just means you are driving with an open diff. I can deal with that.

I have seen a few guys run air switches and no wiring which is a good way of getting around the electronic part but you still need a good compressor. I have been running my stock ARB compressor and have not had any problems.

I do like the Idea of having a "trail fix" to back up that compressor if it fails.

on another note...One of my wheeling partners was running a detroit in his Heep and while that thing was loded and going to the trail on the highway he was in a corner, hit a small dip in the road and the locker locked up and sent him in the other lane and almost off the road with the whole family. am not sure exactly how detroits work but I belive they engage more when under more torque and load (please correct me if i am wrong) ...he went and swapped out to ARB's shortly thereafter

 

[Mikesta]

You went onto a trail ride knowing that you had a leak and want to get into all of this hypothetical crap? .




Fix your leaks and you will not have an issue.




It really is just that simple.



If you cannot handle that task, find someone that is competent to perform the repairs and be done with it.

He's a perfectionist... but he's not perfect... but he is right.