How many triple locked 100's here?

[Joe422]

I recently learned that Harrops work as beautifully in reverse as they do going forward. This thing has bailed me out of a couple of bad situations.

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

 

[OwnerCS]

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

I really haven't noticed that issue. Note that I don't rock back and forth maybe as someone stuck in a big snowdrift. Engaging the e Locker is more proactive than reactive. I learned when I'm going into a sticky situation where I need it. I just stop or slow down and let it engage and roll through it. Sometimes, I might be climbing a mountain where the locked rear diffs are not enough. Then I just turn on the e Locker and move on through it. I turn it off as soon as I'm past the problem area. A few times if I'm moving really slow, I will engage it while I'm rolling and then it takes over. That really comes from understanding how the engagement mechanism works internally and learning the touch for engagement when moving very slow.

One of the most dangerous cases where it bailed me out was in reverse. I had pulled down into an area (tight hole) where both rear wheels were elevated, spinning and making little contact with the snow-covered ground. One of the front wheels was also spinning. Engaging the e Locker let the front wheels do the work to back out.

I like how it works underwater. I usually turn it on as I'm making deep water or mud crossings because I can't see what I'm driving over and the added stability that it provides. Being submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water or mud is not the place where you figure out that you need the front to be locked. I don't have ATRAC, so I lean on it for stability more than someone with ATRAC.

One of the main reasons I went with the e Locker is the ease of installation after it had been built by gearinstalls.com. I'm somewhat in the middle of nowhere and didn't know of a local place to go for help or installation at the time I was ready to install.

I'm a long way from Arizona, Colorado, California, Oregon, or North Carolina. where it's easy to find builders and installers. It was a DIY job that needed to go perfectly out of the box. If it didn't go well, I would be up a creek and I knew it.

The rear LSD still works very well. As long as it still works, I love it. I'm starting to appreciate it more as time goes by. I don't need to think about turning it on. It works when I need it.

 

[Patassa]

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

I don't have extensive use with mine, probably only locked up 10-15 times in a year, I've never noticed it on the sort of trails I do, which is not hard core rock crawling or anything that I've had to rock back and forth to get through. I've watched that you tube video a few times and harrop/eaton's response videos, and I think the point about there always being stress/binding on the wheels effectually minimizing the time felt "unlock" to something negligible is convincing to me. (also, there was a design change that may or may not have changed the original video's complaint, I'm not sure what design he had)

The pros of this design outweigh the cons for my use.

 

[MongooseGA]

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

The concerns posted about them online did have me apprehensive, but at the time it was between the Eatons and the TJM Pro (air). ARB was never a consideration. Well, TJM was out of stock everywhere so Eaton it was. I use mine quite a bit and have absolutely zero regrets.

 

[Hulsty]

Both my cruisers are locked at both ends (ARB's in the 70), Factory rear and ARB in the front of my 100.

 

[trdcorolla]

Do gears/lockers change the amount of fluid needed during a drain/refill? How about for transfer case regears?

 

[OwnerCS]

Do gears/lockers change the amount of fluid needed during a drain/refill? How about for transfer case regears?

Not for my front locker. Not at all.

 

[abuck99]

Do gears/lockers change the amount of fluid needed during a drain/refill? How about for transfer case regears?

Nope

 

[OEMGUY0720]

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

The way around it is simple; before going through an obstacle just turn on/engage the e-locker. Because if you engage it when you need traction, 98% chance it won’t lock the left and right wheel, which, should be the correct way to use any air locker as well.

 

[abuck99]

TJM (air locker) is instantaneous-
There’s no ramp effect. Haven’t heard of airlockers L&R axles locking independently- ?

 

[OwnerCS]

The concerns posted about them online did have me apprehensive, but at the time it was between the Eatons and the TJM Pro (air). ARB was never a consideration. Well, TJM was out of stock everywhere so Eaton it was. I use mine quite a bit and have absolutely zero regrets.

TJM does look like a stout locker from the videos I've seen. I didn't know anything about them two years ago when I started looking. I faced a bunch of availability challenges building during the early days of CV.

 

[abuck99]

Yeah Covid really killed the sales cycle for TJM (and ARB and others). I waited 6 months to get a front locker. Now I'm waiting on my Nitro gears for 3+ months thus far.

TJM's only problem is market approach to North America. They've had a bumpy road to after sale support and inconsistent availability over the years. They had some very good dealers/installers set up several years ago and then they switched distribution to Summit Racing as their sole retail outlet, and all the other dealers pretty much quit them. Then when the volume wasn't high enough, Summit quit them and dumped product at cost which diminished the value of the brand. The pretty much burned the bridge with the dealer distribution model. So now they are exporting to the US going through their own small subsidiary based in California to inventory, ship and offer customer service. If they are able to fully commit resources to the US market, there would be greater interest and consumer awareness.

 

[OwnerCS]

Yeah Covid really killed the sales cycle for TJM (and ARB and others). I waited 6 months to get a front locker. Now I'm waiting on my Nitro gears for 3+ months thus far.

TJM's only problem is market approach to North America. They've had a bumpy road to after sale support and inconsistent availability over the years. They had some very good dealers/installers set up several years ago and then they switched distribution to Summit Racing as their sole retail outlet, and all the other dealers pretty much quit them. Then when the volume wasn't high enough, Summit quit them and dumped product at cost which diminished the value of the brand. The pretty much burned the bridge with the dealer distribution model. So now they are exporting to the US going through their own small subsidiary based in California to inventory, ship and offer customer service. If they are able to fully commit resources to the US market, there would be greater interest and consumer awareness.

I've seen that happen to many other great products when they land in the hands of a bad distributor or lack a good U.S sales and service network.

 

[Moridinbg]

My front ARB locker is leaking. It has pretty much always been leaking, but I finally want to do something about it.

If it’s the copper tube, that should be doable in situ with only the cover removed, right?

What if it’s the seal(s)? does the entire center has to go out for that with everything this means - CVs, balljoints, PS axle, right? Do I have to drop the full diff? I am working with limited resources, so that would be bad.

 

[Escape Artist]

For those with aftemarket E-Lockers, it seems like they unlock / lock when you reverse tire directions.. roll back ,etc. but in real world experience, is that really even an issue? or no biggie? I still keep going back and forth on E vs Air...
Thx in advance!~

For me it hasn't ben an issue ... in fact it has made it slightly easier to be able to crank the wheel over to one side or the other while I start to reverse and that is especially easy. My old 71 Bronco had ARB's and I had to disengage the front locker to turn if I was backing up to get a better line. I was on the fence about the 4.88s with a 5 speed but I did it anyways along with the 3.1 reduction gears (SUMO) in the T Case AND the 10% underdrive for hi-range. Even with 35s it is lower geared than when I was stock / stock. The crawl ratio went from 34 :1 to 59 : 1 which is significant with an auto. Feels about like my manual Bronco did with about 90 : 1. FYI everything in the T case is whisper quite ... no whine. I had all the gears cryogenically treated and REM isotropic treatment - worth it.

 

[Octous]

My front arb is leaking too. It’s the next major project to tear it out and figure out where the leak is

 

[abuck99]

My front ARB locker is leaking. It has pretty much always been leaking, but I finally want to do something about it.

If it’s the copper tube, that should be doable in situ with only the cover removed, right?

What if it’s the seal(s)? does the entire center has to go out for that with everything this means - CVs, balljoints, PS axle, right? Do I have to drop the full diff? I am working with limited resources, so that would be bad.

I’ve not heard of the the copper tube leaking- and the actuator seal had been redesigned several years ago for more reliability- that said if you have to replace the actuator- sorry to say it’s a full disassembly of the front end to get the carrier out.

Check the plastic air line fittings from the solenoid to the bulk head fittings for leaks, check the air line it self, check the bulkhead fitting for leaks before anything else. Email ARB they are pretty responsive.

 

[OwnerCS]

I think this thread should be a sticky. Lots of good information here for someone considering a locker.

 

[Moridinbg]

I’ve not heard of the the copper tube leaking- and the actuator seal had been redesigned several years ago for more reliability- that said if you have to replace the actuator- sorry to say it’s a full disassembly of the front end to get the carrier out.

Check the plastic air line fittings from the solenoid to the bulk head fittings for leaks, check the air line it self, check the bulkhead fitting for leaks before anything else. Email ARB they are pretty responsive.

It was a serious leak from the locker within the differential housing. I could hear the air escaping via the breather and the air compressor running all the time. Blew the driver side CV seal too, due to the breather being too restrictive for the amount of air the compressor was pushing. The amount of air going through was making me think it might be the copper tube - maybe it got caught on the gears?
I had it installed in the car for a year without connecting it to the compressor and it was like that when I finally attached it. Was tested to be OK on installation. Las I tried to activate it was 3-4 months ago and it was still leaking.

I am travelling through South America, so today I went to the ARB dealer in La Paz, Bolivia, who sent me to the guy that installs the lockers around here. The guy was unbelievable and beyond useless. I was explaining to him what a breather is and why differentials need them?!
But when I activated the front locker to demonstrate the leak - it was working fine all of a sudden, no leaks. I am not letting those monkeys touch my car with a 10ft pole, but I am wandering what is it that could fail with such a huge leak, then get fixed by itself all of a sudden and when it will fail again??

 

[neoworm]

It was a serious leak from the locker within the differential housing. I could hear the air escaping via the breather and the air compressor running all the time. Blew the driver side CV seal too, due to the breather being too restrictive for the amount of air the compressor was pushing. The amount of air going through was making me think it might be the copper tube - maybe it got caught on the gears?
I had it installed in the car for a year without connecting it to the compressor and it was like that when I finally attached it. Was tested to be OK on installation. Las I tried to activate it was 3-4 months ago and it was still leaking.

I am travelling through South America, so today I went to the ARB dealer in La Paz, Bolivia, who sent me to the guy that installs the lockers around here. The guy was unbelievable and beyond useless. I was explaining to him what a breather is and why differentials need them?!
But when I activated the front locker to demonstrate the leak - it was working fine all of a sudden, no leaks. I am not letting those monkeys touch my car with a 10ft pole, but I am wandering what is it that could fail with such a huge leak, then get fixed by itself all of a sudden and when it will fail again??

it's the oring. its always the oring.