e-locker ish.. decision time

[NW-sickboy]

so here is my dilema

I have had my rear locker cleaned out/rebuilt twice and now it needs it again... my front has had to be taken apart/cleaned out once as well.

Now that i live in the midwest and there seems to be mud everywhere i am considering going arb or aussie, maybe part time kit...

I currently have 4.88s in ...
what are my options and whats involved.... I can take out the rear and get it working but if i take it out i would rather sell it.. seems like e-lockers go for a decent price..


soooo..

sell both lockers keep my axles? (pretty sure my housing would take a non locker 3rd but not the other way around).. would have to find a set of non locker 3rds

sell axles (front doesnt have stock bracketry) with 3rds and lockers.. still basically looking for a trade...

trying to feel this out..... in a perfect scenario i would go ARB's...... but i really like the idea of an aussie rear (can you even get a detriot rear for an 80?)


OR

man up, rebuild the rear again and keep going.. anyone have any old indian tricks for keeping these lockers more reliable/sealed?

 

[extremetoy1]

go to a cable conversion, search it has been done and is the way to go

 

[NW-sickboy]

with the downey gear?

 

[cruiser4life]

No help to your question though having had trail experience with both e-lockers and ARB's, I am curious about the collective opinion of e-locker inferiority to the ARB lockers. Is it THAT significant?

 

[NW-sickboy]

No help to your question though having had trail experience with both e-lockers and ARB's, I am curious about the collective opinion of e-locker inferiority to the ARB lockers. Is it THAT significant?

Issues i have had so far....

E-locker getting filled so full of mud and crap they wont engage


I broke a rear shaft and tiwsted the other rear axle shaft in the locker itself.... had to cut into the housing to torch off axle shafts so i could remove the third.. see this thread for further discussion ( https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=61283 ).... I think in some applications there is a clear advantage.

Makes me really like the idea of a detriot rear selectable front.....

not a huge deal but arbs are instant.. elockers take a bit to engage..

so strenght, maybe reliability, and faster..... (if you are spliting hairs) but its all reliability.. sucks showig up at a trail head with no rear locker.

 

[Toyminater]

No help to your question though having had trail experience with both e-lockers and ARB's, I am curious about the collective opinion of e-locker inferiority to the ARB lockers. Is it THAT significant?

not a big difference in my opinion, just it so cool to have some factory lockers thats what the big draw is, is the "coolness OEM" factor. I have some 80 s myself one with and one without

 

[KLF]

You can't put a non-elocker diff in your front housing, the bolt pattern is different and there's a big notch in your housing now that won't get covered up. You'll need to get a new housing for the front if you want to switch to an ARB up front.

 

[Josh83]

I have plowed mud with my housings and never had to clean out my aussie locker For a hard core rig, ditch the elockers. I know you had major issues with your axle shafts before, due to the elockers also. At least go with ARB fr/rr. My choice would be arb fr/aussie rear.

 

[NW-sickboy]

I have plowed mud with my housings and never had to clean out my aussie locker For a hard core rig, ditch the elockers. I know you had major issues with your axle shafts before, due to the elockers also. At least go with ARB fr/rr. My choice would be arb fr/aussie rear.

The real bitch about this is getting a different housing for front and rear.. now if i still lived in utah i think it would be easy to find someone to swap with ... here.... who knows...

Really liking your set up Josh.... actually if i could have your rig i would swap in a second as i would have kept my 80 nice and clean and wheeled something a bit different.

I would still recomend to 95% of people to find an 80 with e-lockers but i had no idea this issues even existed when i bought an 80.

 

[FJBen]

go to a cable conversion, search it has been done and is the way to go

how is it the way to go? Toyota makes some (rare as hell around here, US) Downeys, not real good posts on it, and they are on indefinite back order. Ox lockers, don't make any toyota versions.

It would be a complete fab piece and still basically gets you the same e-locker setup, won't engage any quicker (the teeth still have to line up, and can suffer the same breakage as he had before)

Switch to ARB, or aussie rear.



oh, and trade me 3rds! I need 4.88's!

 

[GXO]

oh, and trade me 3rds! I need 4.88's!

I got some, no thanks to you mister!

I am interested in all of this, but I have yet to see anyone I wheel with in an 80 gunk up an OEM locker...maybe just a midwest thing?

I know we have mud down here, maybe it is the clay that helps

 

[NW-sickboy]

I got some, no thanks to you mister!

I am interested in all of this, but I have yet to see anyone I wheel with in an 80 gunk up an OEM locker...maybe just a midwest thing?

I know we have mud down here, maybe it is the clay that helps

everytime i had this thing gum up on me was when i lived in utah/idaho.. this was one of my first times wheeling out in the midwest and it wouldnt engage at the trail head so i assume it was the last time out when i was on a utah snow/muddy trail run.

 

[FJBen]

Is the breather tube loose? or not hooked up on that locker? Cause thats the only way I can see water/mud/crap getting in there. I would think you could easily more waterproof that breather tube and route it higher/differently.

 

[NW-sickboy]

are you talking the diff breather tube? if so that is routed all the way up to the engine compartment.

 

[FJBen]

are you talking the diff breather tube? if so that is routed all the way up to the engine compartment.

Nope, the locker breather tube.

The cirlce is the breather hose on the locker harness, it plugs/fits into the spot where the arrow is pointing. That keeps crap out of the locker assembly.

 

[NW-sickboy]

just ran out and got under my rig... Its just the stock breather.. might help extending it.... either way i am pulling both thirds this winter... thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[bjowett]

I've seen plenty of ARB's with issues over the years... I think either can and will bite you in the ass.

It would not be difficult to have an 41xx alloy axle shaft built, cryo and shot peen the splines... good to go.

Cable conversions are easy to build. Use shift cables and brackets from Toyota cars w/ auto transmissions. Ideally the shift mechanism and cable from a mid 80's 4x4 Van is used. There other parts, too, but that will get you started.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Leave the front E-locker, swap the rear to ARB. You do not need to swap the rear housing if you do this.

I am done with twisted axles splines and stuck e-locker parts. The problem is that any axle that you are making for heavy rock crawing will be softer and twist more and that will actually increase the problem. I think if you have the axles cryoed and treated to resist the twisting, they are going to break easy.

 

[FJBen]

just ran out and got under my rig... Its just the stock breather.. might help extending it.... either way i am pulling both thirds this winter... thanks for the heads up on that.

Cool, ya make sure that line is connected to the "harness" line, cause if it's just that shorty, it will fill up in no time and screw your locker.

 

[NW-sickboy]

Leave the front E-locker, swap the rear to ARB. You do not need to swap the rear housing if you do this.

.

so no issue with the axle housing being different than the third members? i know there is a notch, will a non e-locker 3rd cover that up or will i have to keep my e-locker 3rd member to go ARB rear.....

Ideally i would like to fix the elocker and sell it to fund my move to aussie or ARB.... are you running PIGs axle shafts in the rear of your short bus or the moser shafts with different flanges?