Oh yes I did! Harrop/Eaton E-Locker thread

[80t0ylc]

There's been some negative info spread around about the engagement of the Harrop e-locker, lately and how inferior it is to the ARB and other selectable lockers. Ran across this video in a thread on FB and just wanted to post it so others could be informed. Video is dated 4-24-18. It's about 4 min long & called:
Facts about Harrop Eaton ELocker Engagement

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I've gone through Rubicon, Death Valley and more recently the Hole in the Rock trail and the Harrops are perfect. Instant on, instant off seamless functionality. Anyway, speaking from fully testing them now for a year, they are the real deal.

In real life, under torque, they don't "unlock" in anyway you can feel. I think the torque keeps them bound enough that even the 1/8 turn engagement window, they stay locked up. Not one single issue.

 

[OGBeno]

I've gone through Rubicon, Death Valley and more recently the Hole in the Rock trail and the Harrops are perfect. Instant on, instant off seamless functionality. Anyway, speaking from fully testing them now for a year, they are the real deal.

In real life, under torque, they don't "unlock" in anyway you can feel. I think the torque keeps them bound enough that even the 1/8 turn engagement window, they stay locked up. Not one single issue.

Same. Love my Harrops front and rear in my 70 and have done most of the trails Andy mentioned with Harrops.

 

[dugsgms]

Just wanted to share my experiences with Eaton e-lockers. Installed 3 in the front of service trucks for the fleet I work for. These are fully loaded f-450/550s with Dana 60/super 60 front axles used to service remote radio relay towers and the generators associated with them. They have service beds, gas powered generator/welder sets, gas powered air compressors, full lube set-ups and enough spare parts/hardware to alleviate trips back and forth to civilation. When I say fully loaded I mean typically within a couple hundered pounds of GVWR which is alot on a F-550.

The lockers seem to be essentially indestructible and ridiculously reliable. All trucks have close to or over 100k miles of hard use on them and we have never had a failure. These guys regularly destroy 14 ply tires, leaf springs/mounts and on occasion axle shafts due to the terrain and the weight of the vehicles and the only time we had a e-locker not work was because of a poor wire routing job on my part causing a short to ground and a blown fuse. The guys simply love them and I can't say enough good about them, IMHO you can't go wrong with them.

I have a grizzly locker in the rear of my 95 and as of yet haven't felt the need to add a front locker but if the time comes I wouldn't hesitate to install a Harrop.

 

[wardharris]

Just wanted to share my experiences with Eaton e-lockers. Installed 3 in the front of service trucks for the fleet I work for. These are fully loaded f-450/550s with Dana 60/super 60 front axles used to service remote radio relay towers and the generators associated with them. They have service beds, gas powered generator/welder sets, gas powered air compressors, full lube set-ups and enough spare parts/hardware to alleviate trips back and forth to civilation. When I say fully loaded I mean typically within a couple hundered pounds of GVWR which is alot on a F-550.

The lockers seem to be essentially indestructible and ridiculously reliable. All trucks have close to or over 100k miles of hard use on them and we have never had a failure. These guys regularly destroy 14 ply tires, leaf springs/mounts and on occasion axle shafts due to the terrain and the weight of the vehicles and the only time we had a e-locker not work was because of a poor wire routing job on my part causing a short to ground and a blown fuse. The guys simply love them and I can't say enough good about them, IMHO you can't go wrong with them.

I have a grizzly locker in the rear of my 95 and as of yet haven't felt the need to add a front locker but if the time comes I wouldn't hesitate to install a Harrop.

Thanks for the vote of confidence

 

[ewillis]

There's been some negative info spread around about the engagement of the Harrop e-locker, lately and how inferior it is to the ARB and other selectable lockers. Ran across this video in a thread on FB and just wanted to post it so others could be informed. Video is dated 4-24-18. It's about 4 min long & called:
Facts about Harrop Eaton ELocker Engagement

Spreading negative info about the best locker available on the market? I'd question motives here. I don't follow social media, so not sure what is being said. I was confident based on international reviews and took the plunge as one of the first 80s in the states with the locker. I bought my locker from a non-endorsed vendor and have no dog in the fight. I've had the locker since this thread was started and ZERO...absolutely ZERO issues. Does what it should, does it reliably, and does it silently...

 

[wardharris]

CONSIDER THE SOURCE

Thanks for all the interest in our products. Georg @orangefj45 and I at Cruiser Brothers sell these because we believe in them. Like any tool, air and elockers have design and functional characteristics that differ. I don't know TJM but agree with Georg that the ARBs and Harrops are both quality products - similar, but different. In his separate business at Valley Hybrids, Georg has sold a ton of ARBs and knows them better than most shops. He still sells both to best suit the needs, preferences and budget of his customers.

My view of product promotion as a vendor is like my view of politics and media.

When it is time to make a decision on who to vote for or what to buy, who do you listen to? A political party or vendor? A biased "news" source? A paid spokesperson / web video blogger? An anonymous Facebook poster?

Or an individual that owns the product and has direct experience with it?

I can tell you that unlike some other brands, Harrop is not pushing their lockers, suspensions, armor, lights or camping gear here. They spend ZERO on elocker advertising and provide us with no marketing, advertising or promotional support. They offer a great product at discount that we then offer to our community. Harrop has American sales and we make a small profit - WIN/WIN.

As a result, we have an opportunity to support our friends and sell related goods from other vendors. What we DO NOT have is pressure to sell other Harrop branded products. We also don't run the risk of offending Harrop by not hewing to the "company line" - we can say whatever we want without fear of retribution or sanction.

We value the Harrop relationship, but our ONLY objective is to serve our customers, our shop partners and our community.

If you need a locker - air or electric - give Georg a call at 1-800-224-7801. Georg will sell you what you need and what you want - regardless of brand. He ships nationwide with good pricing and will get you locked up.

 

[wardharris]

THE REST OF THE STORY

Speaking of videos, here is one from Eaton on their 4-pinion design as used to support Harrop products.

Harrop is a licensed partner of Eaton, using their design, gears and other components (made in USA) together with Harrop designed and Australian manufactured components to product the Harrop Eaton ELockerTM as offered by Cruiser Brothers.

This video covers Dana 60/70 applications, but it is a good overview of the general design and function.

Eaton ELocker4 Differential

 

[80t0ylc]

Spreading negative info about the best locker available on the market? I'd question motives here. I don't follow social media, so not sure what is being said. I was confident based on international reviews and took the plunge as one of the first 80s in the states with the locker. I bought my locker from a non-endorsed vendor and have no dog in the fight. I've had the locker since this thread was started and ZERO...absolutely ZERO issues. Does what it should, does it reliably, and does it silently...

To answer your question on my motives, it was after a thread on FB was started by a guy owning an 80 and asking which way he should go for lockers - ARB or Harrop. Many negative posts citing the delay in engagement and changing direction. I watched video, which was posted in the thread, and thought it was good info and a reference we Harrop owners could have. Also for the uninformed searching for reasons to go with Harrop e-lockers. Looked through several mud threads & not seeing this video referenced because the last posts were dated before this video was made. Other interesting info in video showed the older 2 pinion design vs the newer 4 pinion design. I guess I was just tired of hearing & reading the negative crap.

 

[NLXTACY]

Hey Tom I didn't read your post as being negative, only informative. I too read thru that same FB thread and found the info interesting but I couldn't find anyone else with NOT A HORSE IN THE RACE to give un-biased feeedback that was negative. Its hard to sift thru sometimes. Although I currently do not have a Harrop I have helped install a handful of 3rds and of course the wiring. Its a solid AF system and I will have no issue going that route myself. I'm just so tired of the ARB circle-jerking

 

[wardharris]

To answer your question on my motives, it was after a thread on FB was started by a guy owning an 80 and asking which way he should go for lockers - ARB or Harrop. Many negative posts citing the delay in engagement and changing direction. I watched video, which was posted in the thread, and thought it was good info and a reference we Harrop owners could have. Also for the uninformed searching for reasons to go with Harrop e-lockers. Looked through several mud threads & not seeing this video referenced because the last posts were dated before this video was made. Other interesting info in video showed the older 2 pinion design vs the newer 4 pinion design. I guess I was just tired of hearing & reading the negative crap.

Tom -
I appreciate your efforts in researching this topic. I know the thread and have said my two cents there.

The negative comments from big tire rock/mud crawlers are valid regarding the Harrops, in some circumstances, but we have sold 500 of them with zero negative feedback from our buyers. There are other resellers in USA, so maybe those owners are their customers.

My cynical side has other questions about the posters, but I am not the Internet Police

 

[OGBeno]

I assume this said thread is on another forum somewhere?

 

[NLXTACY]

I assume this said thread is on another forum somewhere?

In FaceBook hell in the TLCA Pages.

 

[OGBeno]

In FaceBook hell in the TLCA Pages.

Oh. Go figure. Cesspool of idiocy, mis/dis-information, and bros. No thanks.

 

[80t0ylc]

Tom -
I appreciate your efforts in researching this topic. I know the thread and have said my two cents there.

The negative comments from big tire rock/mud crawlers are valid regarding the Harrops, in some circumstances, but we have sold 500 of them with zero negative feedback from our buyers. There are other resellers in USA, so maybe those owners are their customers.

My cynical side has other questions about the posters, but I am not the Internet Police

Thanks! I thought it was you that originally posted the video on FB so I went back & checked. Thanks to you for posting! It was this video posted just previous of yours, that you must be refering to for being valid negative. I saw this video right after it was made back in April, but missed the video that you posted on FB, made by Harrop, also back in April.

Hey Tom I didn't read your post as being negative, only informative. I too read thru that same FB thread and found the info interesting but I couldn't find anyone else with NOT A HORSE IN THE RACE to give un-biased feeedback that was negative. Its hard to sift thru sometimes. Although I currently do not have a Harrop I have helped install a handful of 3rds and of course the wiring. Its a solid AF system and I will have no issue going that route myself. I'm just so tired of the ARB circle-jerking

Thanks, Joey! IMHO, Harrop is the best choice for a simple, reliable selectable locker, for most offroaders - especially us 80 owners with OEM open diffs. And I think a lot of us are realizing it.

 

[noahfecks]

I have also been running them for just under two years with no problems.

Honestly short of bad wiring i dont see how you could even cause a user error failure, these things are great. have had almost every locker on the market and these are top notch

 

[Jorgito]

I have a question regarding the wiring of the eaton e-locker, I have purchased the front eaton which is already in the cruiser, also have the pin-7 CDL mod. The car came with the Toyota diff switch dial as the previous owner was preparing for the locked axles.

I would like to have the same wiring as @ewillis , the problem is that according to wiring diagram the 12v should be coming through blue cable on the locker ECU (which connects to the dial) which is not happening. There is no 12v at all, even tried to lock CDL with the CDL button but still nothing. Any ideas?

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

I am taking my rear axle's third member into a shop tomorrow to have it regeared and they are going to put in the Harrop as well. They told me that drilling the hole in the diff housing is up to me.

I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to predrill a hole for the wiring, but after looking at the installation guide, it seems like it is something that is done midway through install because of the routing of it.

Would predrilling the hole for wiring be a bad idea? Assuming someone would be willing to take measurements from their rear locker install if I can't drill the hole after install because that would require undoing the gear set up that the shop has done?

 

[wardharris]

@orangefj45 ?

 

[gearinstalls.com]

I'm surprised they preferred for you to drill the 29/64" hole. I suppose if you have a rear swaybar then it could interfere.....

Did this 9.5" diff a couple days ago for one of my customers.
You can see where the drilled hole has to go.
edit----You are welcome to send it to me also. Fedex ground rules.
Ken


Predrilling is a good idea. You may drill it AFTER the shop gives you back the set up 3rd.....just drill the hole so the filings fall out (pinion flange pointed up)and not into the 3rd.