Front locker slow to disengage (1 Viewer)

[WCBlueSky]

My front factory locker normally engages almost instantly but often takes a little time/movement to disengage. This got me into trouble while wheeling last week on slick rock. I was basically going straight but somehow got a front wheel pushed up against a wall and couldn't turn at all. I tried backing up and going forward a few times, but it still would not disengage. Eventually I got out of the bad spot by man-handling the steering wheel as hard as I could (lucky I didn't break anything), and after going forward for a while the front locker unlocked.

Does anyone have any tricks to get the front locker to unlock more quickly? I'm sure getting into the bad spot last week was driver error and in the future I will not use the front locker unless absolutely necessary, especially on slick rock. But what do you do if you absolutely need the front locker to get up a steep Z-turn hill but it won't disengage to allow you to turn when needed?

 

[bhsdriller]

From what i've read/experienced it is what it is with these. Mine's the same

Think you'd need an airlocker for that type of position

 

[ppc]

Most likely the reason the front will not unlock is because the forces of "windup" in the entire drivetrain. To eliminate those forces first thing would be to unlock the center diff locker, then shift transfer case into neutral., carefully release brake pressure if possible. Be aware that doing so your vehicle can roll unexpectedly even with the transmission in park. Worst case you may have to jack of one of the front wheels trying to rotate the wheel by hand to free everything up. The absolutely worst thing you can do is "man-handling the steering wheel as hard as I could ".

 

[WCBlueSky]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[jonheld]

The factory lockers require periodic maintenance like every other system on the vehicle.
The FSM doesn't call this out, but it is a fact.

 

[WCBlueSky]

The factory lockers require periodic maintenance like every other system on the vehicle.

Yeah, I already opened up the front actuator motor and cleaned it all up and greased everything, so it engages quickly and reliably. Getting it to unlock quickly is the issue.

 

[LandLocked93]

Yeah, I already opened up the front actuator motor and cleaned it all up and greased everything, so it engages quickly and reliably. Getting it to unlock quickly is the issue.

Even with this done, still could be the actuator motor having become weak in one direction? Feel like I read that somewhere.
Or the third member 'fork' is more stiff in one direction than the other?

I'm looking at going thru the actuators this summer. They are slower in winter than summer and require drive line unloading for best performance (tho not always, and sometimes the disengage sounds like someone smacks the t-case with a hammer - TINK!)
Curious what the fix turns out to be.

 

[WCBlueSky]

sometimes the disengage sounds like someone smacks the t-case with a hammer - TINK!

I also get the same loud TINK sound, like there is a lot of pent-up energy released.

I wonder if when I put the actuator motor back on I accidentally clocked the position of the actuator to favor the engage, so the force on the disengage is less

 

[jonheld]

If there's any tension in the driveline, you'll get the "tink". I used to get it with ARBs in certain situations as well as the factory lockers. It can happen in the center diff too.