LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
This is a coomon question, so while I read your post, I scanned to the bottom THB.
You sound like a grounded guy(person) / gender unimportant:
—— E-locker diffs are great, but Harrops are better units now.
— And really, you sound like you’d benefit more by learning the ways to modify the x-case and add a GOOD winch (the mega-winner over any axles) - get a ‘95-‘97 & in excellent drivetrain condition.
Add the winch & winch bumper, after you add slider/runners - ggod ones.
Then worry about pumpkin BS - you’ll find you probably want bigger rubber, so that makes a R&P swap a issue too.
— So when you decide beyond that winch & bumper, and the sliders you got so you didn’t thrash your rockers on a relatively LWB frame- decide on tire size to do R&P’s when you do Harrops or ARB’s (but really Harrops)
Unless you super-cheap “luck into a 3x Locked 80” - most are already owned & beaten.
A core issue of factory e-locked 80’s is the weak RH side RR axle shaft, if you move beyond 315’s/34.5” rubber - it is a very real issue.
I love creampuffs w/ open diffs - they are the last of the raw 80’s you get a solid platform you do your own thing to, without having to fix mods from some wildcat previous owner.
E-locker 80’s are over-hyped nowdays unless a PO can show serious provenance & stuff like a HG job already done, yadda yadda.
Beyond that, a ‘95+ w/ a winch will do a crapton of stuff - then worry about a RR diff mod, and maybe a FR if you’re doing R&P’s.
The trans case function is the big stuff to master - search ‘pin-7 mod’ - super flex esp if you add the CDL switch most don’t come with.
You sound like a grounded guy(person) / gender unimportant:
—— E-locker diffs are great, but Harrops are better units now.
— And really, you sound like you’d benefit more by learning the ways to modify the x-case and add a GOOD winch (the mega-winner over any axles) - get a ‘95-‘97 & in excellent drivetrain condition.
Add the winch & winch bumper, after you add slider/runners - ggod ones.
Then worry about pumpkin BS - you’ll find you probably want bigger rubber, so that makes a R&P swap a issue too.
— So when you decide beyond that winch & bumper, and the sliders you got so you didn’t thrash your rockers on a relatively LWB frame- decide on tire size to do R&P’s when you do Harrops or ARB’s (but really Harrops)
Unless you super-cheap “luck into a 3x Locked 80” - most are already owned & beaten.
A core issue of factory e-locked 80’s is the weak RH side RR axle shaft, if you move beyond 315’s/34.5” rubber - it is a very real issue.
I love creampuffs w/ open diffs - they are the last of the raw 80’s you get a solid platform you do your own thing to, without having to fix mods from some wildcat previous owner.
E-locker 80’s are over-hyped nowdays unless a PO can show serious provenance & stuff like a HG job already done, yadda yadda.
Beyond that, a ‘95+ w/ a winch will do a crapton of stuff - then worry about a RR diff mod, and maybe a FR if you’re doing R&P’s.
The trans case function is the big stuff to master - search ‘pin-7 mod’ - super flex esp if you add the CDL switch most don’t come with.