Eaton lockers?

[AK Troutbum]

Hello all, as I continue to slowly build my, now two years old to me, '92 FJ80, I've decided to triple lock it. I think I've decided to go with Eaton e-lockers over ARB air lockers, and now I'm looking for the best deal I can find. My questions are, does anybody know of any good deals being offered on Eaton lockers ($1420/each seems to be about the best price I've found), and about how much can I expect to pay to have them (both front and rear), installed? I'm a little bit of a back yard mechanic, but not so accomplished that I think I could install them myself.

 

[CharlieS]

I bought my Eatons through SDHQ in AZ and had them set up by Zuk. I removed and reinstalled the diffs myself, saving the labor of R&R. I think all, in $5-6k makes a reasonable estimate with the variance being how much of the R&R you do yourself.

 

[Czechmate]

I bought my Eatons in 2020 and 2021 for $990 each at the time. Rear first then decided to go 3x and did the front. I pulled the thirds and sent to Zuk in Az. He did a full rebuild of the third (all new bearings) with locker for something around $500-600. All in around 3k for both but I don’t believe Zuk is taking shipped diffs anymore.

 

[Czechmate]

Forgot to mention, I bought the Eatons from West Coast Differentials and got free shipping.

 

[MooseMichaels]

I just finished installing front and rear Eatons with 4.56 gears from cruiser outfitters - I got a master install kit and third member seals from them as well. I found the price was in the ballpark, and allowed me to get everything in one place. The bonus was - they had everything on the shelf and ready to ship!

 

[OffRoadScott]

When I install my gears and lockers I will go with Eaton as well. Reason behind my decision, ease of trail repairs if a wire is damaged or ripped.

 

[JoeCova]

Honestly you could do them yourself following the FSM and maybe watching some youtube videos.

Generally speaking you will see about $1000 in labor per axle more or less plus parts. The front is a lot more work ebcause you have to pull everything a part and most places will also want to do a full axle service which is just more parts and labor.

I have a quote for front and rear locker install for ARB from Slee for $6322 and $7734 from Red Line Land Cruisers.

I ended up just doing it myself all said and done for half the cost but went with ARBs

 

[80t0ylc]

Hello all, as I continue to slowly build my, now two years old to me, '92 FJ80, I've decided to triple lock it. I think I've decided to go with Eaton e-lockers over ARB air lockers, and now I'm looking for the best deal I can find. My questions are, does anybody know of any good deals being offered on Eaton lockers ($1420/each seems to be about the best price I've found), and about how much can I expect to pay to have them (both front and rear), installed? I'm a little bit of a back yard mechanic, but not so accomplished that I think I could install them myself.

Whoever does the install, it's a good thing to keep in mind, if you're also considering a gear change - say for larger tires - this is the perfect time to do it - when the diffs are out. Zuk (gearinstalls.com) also did my Harrop and 5.29 gear install. This was like 7 yrs ago and I also r&r'd my diffs and delivered them, in person to him. (Oregon is a lot closer to Phoenix than Alaska...lol) I'd recommend Zuk if he's still in business, 'cause he does it right - the 1st time! Being a "back yard mechanic" can get a lot of stuff done, and also into trouble if you get over your head. Hopefully your '92 is not your DD 'cause you'll need another rig while the job is being done.

 

[JoeCova]

Whoever does the install, it's a good thing to keep in mind, if you're also considering a gear change - say for larger tires - this is the perfect time to do it - when the diffs are out. Zuk (gearinstalls.com) also did my Harrop and 5.29 gear install. This was like 7 yrs ago and I also r&r'd my diffs and delivered them, in person to him. (Oregon is a lot closer to Phoenix than Alaska...lol) I'd recommend Zuk if he's still in business, 'cause he does it right - the 1st time! Being a "back yard mechanic" can get a lot of stuff done, and also into trouble if you get over your head. Hopefully your '92 is not your DD 'cause you'll need another rig while the job is being done.

He does local drop off only

 

[CharlieS]

Whoever does the install, it's a good thing to keep in mind, if you're also considering a gear change - say for larger tires - this is the perfect time to do it - when the diffs are out. Zuk (gearinstalls.com) also did my Harrop and 5.29 gear install. This was like 7 yrs ago and I also r&r'd my diffs and delivered them, in person to him. (Oregon is a lot closer to Phoenix than Alaska...lol) I'd recommend Zuk if he's still in business, 'cause he does it right - the 1st time! Being a "back yard mechanic" can get a lot of stuff done, and also into trouble if you get over your head. Hopefully your '92 is not your DD 'cause you'll need another rig while the job is being done.

You can minimize downtime by having him build a second set of diffs and then you're only down for the time of the R&R. That's what I did.

 

[Broski]

Can you pull the thirds yourself ?

 

[80t0ylc]

He does local drop off only

Yes and also he's moved from Chandler (Phoenix suburb) to Prescott

You can minimize downtime by having him build a second set of diffs and then you're only down for the time of the R&R. That's what I did.

That's a good idea, but it would be nice to have access to another rig during the swap, unless it is walking distance to anything needed. Since it's a fairly involved process, it would be wise to allow for the unforeseen things that almost always pop up.

Can you pull the thirds yourself ?

A very good basic question that needs to answered beforehand!

 

[alia176]

If you're a "backyard mechanic", installing lockers is pretty straight forward. Unlike setting up R&P, which I consider to be black art . With that said, if you want to -regear at the same time then yeah, a pro oughta tackle this project. Zuk (www.gearinstalls.com) is our favorite but there's a caveat with him. You have to send him cash, due to the new tax laws, he won't accept Venmo/PP/etc. Or, drop the diffs+cash off at his house in AZ on your way to the family vacation! Just in case y'all wanna get some sun from the winters of Alaska

 

[CharlieS]

I haven't used them for this job, but Cruiser Outfitters and East Coast Gear Supply also sell and set up lockers.

 

[Broski]

If you're a "backyard mechanic", installing lockers is pretty straight forward. Unlike setting up R&P, which I consider to be black art . With that said, if you want to -regear at the same time then yeah, a pro oughta tackle this project. Zuk (www.gearinstalls.com) is our favorite but there's a caveat with him. You have to send him cash, due to the new tax laws, he won't accept Venmo/PP/etc. Or, drop the diffs+cash off at his house in AZ on your way to the family vacation! Just in case y'all wanna get some sun from the winters of Alaska

Who sends CASH

 

[Broski]

Seem that the original poster left the chat

 

[AK Troutbum]

Seem that the original poster left the chat

No, I'm still here. Shipping my diffs across the country doesn't sound very appealing, especially when there are plenty of reputable places here locally that can do the work, although it's kind of funny beings that I just got back home, less than a week ago, from a two week vacation in AZ. I do appreciate all the feed back on this though, and now I'm thinking that I might also just go ahead and get it re-geared as well. I'm getting 35's put on tomorrow and since it already struggles keeping up hwy speeds when going up hills/over passes, etc., I'm probably going to want to re-gear.

 

[JoeCova]

No, I'm still here. Shipping my diffs across the country doesn't sound very appealing, especially when there are plenty of reputable places here locally that can do the work, although it's kind of funny beings that I just got back home, less than a week ago, from a two week vacation in AZ. I do appreciate all the feed back on this though, and now I'm thinking that I might also just go ahead and get it re-geared as well. I'm getting 35's put on tomorrow and since it already struggles keeping up hwy speeds when going up hills/over passes, etc., I'm probably going to want to re-gear.

I would consider 5.29s. I went to 35s and 4.88s and it’s “ok” but still pretty gutless and struggles in the hills. By struggle I mean I just have to drive slower via downshifting

 

[80t0ylc]

No, I'm still here. Shipping my diffs across the country doesn't sound very appealing, especially when there are plenty of reputable places here locally that can do the work, although it's kind of funny beings that I just got back home, less than a week ago, from a two week vacation in AZ. I do appreciate all the feed back on this though, and now I'm thinking that I might also just go ahead and get it re-geared as well. I'm getting 35's put on tomorrow and since it already struggles keeping up hwy speeds when going up hills/over passes, etc., I'm probably going to want to re-gear.

I would consider 5.29s. I went to 35s and 4.88s and it’s “ok” but still pretty gutless and struggles in the hills. By struggle I mean I just have to drive slower via downshifting

I also run 35's and originally, I would have put 4.88's in because I read somewhere, possibly in this forum, that that was the best setup. However, Zuk suggested 5.29's because he had gotten enough feedback from his customers that they wished they would have gone with 5.29's. I pull a trailer when overlanding and it works great, except for the long highway passes. The only other down side is when I do 80 on 80 in my 80, it really pulls the revs That's an inside joke for those that live near I-80. (80 mph, on I-80, in my 80 series). But seriously, after running 33's and upgrading to 35's with stock gears for a while, when I was done with the lockers and new gears, I got the pep back in my 80! And off road, it was even better.

I'm OK with 70-75 mph on the highway:

 

[CharlieS]

Would the Sumo high range transfer gear be a good pairing with the 5.29:1 diff gears?