Detroit or ARB lockers? What's your opinion?

[78crzr]

Looking at putting a locker in at least one axle, maybe both. Would you go with the ARB or the Detroit? I'm somewhat new to FJ40's, so I'm not sure which it even has in it at the moment. Did 78's come with Dana 30 front and Dana 44 or 60 rear? Any opinions or tech. info. would be appreciated.

 

[Landpimp]

1st off........fj40 and all(except Henry's SA fj62, had a wierd Dana 60 stock) land Cruisers came with Toyota axles, NOT Dana's

I really like the ARB(got 5 of em) if your gonna be driving on the street than a Detriot is not all that street freindly IMOP, I drove my buddies 40 with rear Detriot and when shifting it felt like it jumped a foot to the right(it doesn't but feels like it) On ice an Detriot(or similar) can be dangerous. The ARB can be turned on or off. ARB and Detriot are both equally as strong(AFAIK) but the ARB does have more thing to go wrong(seals, lines, electics, compressor) Personly the only issue I have ever had with my ARB's is a O-ring going out, it just blows oil out the selnoid, never stoped working......just blew oil.

 

[hammerhead]

I totally agree with pimp on this. If you drive ice or snow you don't want an automatic locker. I got a major surprise the first time I got in the frozen slippery. The back half of the rig seemed to have a mind of its own. When I was open diff my 40 was quite the snow dog. The ARB also has the advantage on the tight slickrock maneuverability issue. My turning radius increased with automatic locker.

 

[78crzr]

Landpimp and Hammerhead,
Thanks for the education on axles, etc. As I said - I'm somewhat new to FJ40's. Used to own (dare I say it) - J**ps until I got smart and bought the Cruiser.
I forgot to post a question regarding gearing. I've got 33X12.50's and am wondering if I should go with something like a 4.56 or 4.88? I'd still like it to be driveable on the highway and not be limited to 50 mph due to the gearing. Would 4.56 be the best route? BTW, I'm in Houston, TX so winter (all 2 weeks of 25 deg. F) isn't much of an issue here unfortunately!

 

[hammerhead]

What engine/tranny combo are you running? Stock? Small block Chevy? It matters.

 

[78crzr]

Essentially stock 2F. Stock carb, de-smogged with header and stock 4speed tranny.

 

[hammerhead]

I'm a V8 guy, so I can't answer the gear ratio question. I do know that at 65 mph with 35s, I'm turning 2800 rpm, using stock 4:11 gears.

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=78crzr link=board=1;threadid=4814;start=msg36549#msg36549 date=1062263450]
Landpimp and Hammerhead,
Thanks for the education on axles, etc. As I said - I'm somewhat new to FJ40's. Used to own (dare I say it) - J**ps until I got smart and bought the Cruiser.
I forgot to post a question regarding gearing. I've got 33X12.50's and am wondering if I should go with something like a 4.56 or 4.88? I'd still like it to be driveable on the highway and not be limited to 50 mph due to the gearing. Would 4.56 be the best route? BTW, I'm in Houston, TX so winter (all 2 weeks of 25 deg. F) isn't much of an issue here unfortunately!
[/quote]

78 fj40 if the gears are still stock would be 4.10's and IMOP wtih 33's you don't want to go any lower(like 4.56's) if you were running 35's then 4.56's would be a good swap. So IMOP leave the gearing alone.

John H

 

[Junk]

Consider this one vote against the ARB's.

 

[CruisinGA]

Gearing is unnecessary. I'm running 33's with a stock F and 3 spd, with stock 4.11's. Its fine. You have a 4spd so you are more than fine. You really don't need to ever gear down IMHO, but if you are running tires >35 you would probably want to swap to an H41 Toyo or SM420/465 Gm tranny.

 

[Slowerthanu]

I run an ARB front with a full Detroit rear and 4.88's on 35 inch MT/Rs and am very happy with the performance. RPM is quite limited though.

 

[phlyfish]

I'm running stock 4:10 with a Chevy 350 35's and love the HW speeds. No issues running 75 or 80 mph. Were I do feel it is on the trail. 26:1 with 35 and I start saying what crawl ratio. I have an SM420 on the floor in the garage to swap in this winter. Put me 67:1

 

[jojotheclown]

If you can afford it, switchable is definately better. I had LockRight's front and rear in my 4runner (called a surf here in Japan). I loved them, but turning in 4WD is a bear. Now I have a BJ-74 with cable lockers front and rear. It's nice being able to simple unlock the front fro turns and retain the 4WD.