Was deal thread, now TJM locker install thread

[abuck99]

Looking at your broken circlip, it looks like the material is different; that maybe they made a running change at some point from carbon steel clip to what yours is; stainless or something with lower tensile strength.

Look at the end of the actuator- black carbon steel circlip, compared to yours.

 

[04gto]

Looking at your broken circlip, it looks like the material is different; that maybe they made a running change at some point from carbon steel clip to what yours is; stainless or something with lower tensile strength.

Look at the end of the actuator- black carbon steel circlip, compared to yours.

View attachment 1417593

View attachment 1417594

Also notice how my actuator is raw metal and your picture is painted or anodized. I think mine must be an older version.

 

[abuck99]

Also notice how my actuator is raw metal and your picture is painted or anodized. I think mine must be an older version.

The actuator picture was ripped from @ih8everything post earlier in this thread. Not sure I recall what mine looked like ( its now buried inside the diff). I found another similar actuator failure over on the 80series thread- circlip failed.

from this thread: TJM Pro Locker Arrived!

Well, here is a picture of the popped actuator end. Now I have get with Mike at TJM USA to see what we can do to solve this issue. I would like to keep the TJM if they come up with a way to mount the copper line end away from the ring gear. The 5.29 gear is just too big for the line to mount that way.
View attachment 573520View attachment 573521

I am going to drain my diff this afternoon and see if any parts are sticking to the drain plug, also going to poke an inspection camera inside and have a look about.

 

[04gto]

I drove down to see Wes at TJM in El Cajon this morning at 8 am sharp. My confidence in TJM as a maker of the Pro Locker is renewed. I was able to confirm that all the lockers are still made in Australia (other TJM products are made in various places). Wes nor anyone else I met at TJM tried to blame me or my installer for the problem. They simply diagnosed the actuator failure as the clip simply being improperly seated, probably at the factory, so I will say it here first and post it many other places later: check the clips on the end of the actuator thoroughly. Make sure they are properly seated in the groove. If you look closely at my actuator you can see the wear from the clip slowly working itself out of position over the last 5 months. The clip eventually caught on the teeth of the ring gear and was yanked out. Luckily none of the parts inside the actuator (a spring and plunger) were ejected into my differential. Only two loose parts were caught in my differential, that was the clip which broke into two pieces. The Actuator itself was still tethered to the bulkhead by the copper line. I asked (paraphrasing) 'Why do you have so many 'spare' actuators in stock if they almost never fail?' Answer- Because of a few being damaged due to improper installation or units rubbing against ring gears (also installed wrong). I read somewhere in an AU forum that TJM recommends gears no lower (numerically higher) than about 4.88 due to the increased thickness of the gear and very high likelihood of the ring gear breaking the copper line. Fair enough, my gears are stock and if I do go to lower gears it will be the low range gears in my transfer case. Wes also mentioned but did not 100% confirm that TJM is moving to a 'lifetime warranty' on the TJM Pro Lockers.

Parts that Wes replaced or gave me today free of charge:

New actuator and attached copper line.
New Solenoid (original was DOA, been using an ARB unit)
New Locker switch as the original had one dead light.
New Compressor switch, I have an ARB switch but the TJM switches are a tad nicer (same manufacturer) and have the guards to keep you from hitting the switch on or off by accident.

Edit: also just in case, a new bulkhead fitting and O-rings.

AGAIN: The problem, which I will post on other TJM Pro Locker threads later, was diagnosed as an improperly seated clip. Nothing more. So I am going to warn everyone who might be installing one in the future to really make sure that the clip is in correctly.

What did this problem Really cost me?

1. A lot of worry and stress that I may not be able to drive my LC100 1250+ miles home from remote Montana without breaking the piggy bank.
2. About 2-3 hours of my time diagnosing and checking everything out in Montana (with limited tools in 12 degree weather) to make sure it was safe to drive home.
3. About four hours labor at my Gear shop (picking it up in a couple hours) J&S Gear. John and Gary at J&S Gear are great mechanics and really know their ish. However Gary is a very pleasant (if quiet) guy, and John is more typical old wrench, he is a bit of an Australian Dick. Would not hesitate to recommend them to all. (Edit $400+/-)
4. I used a rental car for one day to get from the shop to home and to SD and back ($50 +/-). Plus gas ($35+/-).
Edit: Total $485 +/-
Edit: 5. One day off of work.
6. Missed my sons basketball game today.

And you know what? After all that, I am still satisfied with my choice of the TJM Pro Locker. Why? s*** happens.

 

[abuck99]

04gto

Thanks for the update. Good to know you had a satisfactory resolution.

 

[shanester]

I drove down to see Wes at TJM in El Cajon this morning at 8 am sharp. My confidence in TJM as a maker of the Pro Locker is renewed. I was able to confirm that all the lockers are still made in Australia (other TJM products are made in various places). Wes nor anyone else I met at TJM tried to blame me or my installer for the problem. They simply diagnosed the actuator failure as the clip simply being improperly seated, probably at the factory, so I will say it here first and post it many other places later: check the clips on the end of the actuator thoroughly. Make sure they are properly seated in the groove. If you look closely at my actuator you can see the wear from the clip slowly working itself out of position over the last 5 months. The clip eventually caught on the teeth of the ring gear and was yanked out. Luckily none of the parts inside the actuator (a spring and plunger) were ejected into my differential. Only two loose parts were caught in my differential, that was the clip which broke into two pieces. The Actuator itself was still tethered to the bulkhead by the copper line. I asked (paraphrasing) 'Why do you have so many 'spare' actuators in stock if they almost never fail?' Answer- Because of a few being damaged due to improper installation or units rubbing against ring gears (also installed wrong). I read somewhere in an AU forum that TJM recommends gears no lower (numerically higher) than about 4.88 due to the increased thickness of the gear and very high likelihood of the ring gear breaking the copper line. Fair enough, my gears are stock and if I do go to lower gears it will be the low range gears in my transfer case. Wes also mentioned but did not 100% confirm that TJM is moving to a 'lifetime warranty' on the TJM Pro Lockers.

Parts that Wes replaced or gave me today free of charge:

New actuator and attached copper line.
New Solenoid (original was DOA, been using an ARB unit)
New Locker switch as the original had one dead light.
New Compressor switch, I have an ARB switch but the TJM switches are a tad nicer (same manufacturer) and have the guards to keep you from hitting the switch on or off by accident.

Edit: also just in case, a new bulkhead fitting and O-rings.

AGAIN: The problem, which I will post on other TJM Pro Locker threads later, was diagnosed as an improperly seated clip. Nothing more. So I am going to warn everyone who might be installing one in the future to really make sure that the clip is in correctly.

What did this problem Really cost me?

1. A lot of worry and stress that I may not be able to drive my LC100 1250+ miles home from remote Montana without breaking the piggy bank.
2. About 2-3 hours of my time diagnosing and checking everything out in Montana (with limited tools in 12 degree weather) to make sure it was safe to drive home.
3. About four hours labor at my Gear shop (picking it up in a couple hours) J&S Gear. John and Gary at J&S Gear are great mechanics and really know their ish. However Gary is a very pleasant (if quiet) guy, and John is more typical old wrench, he is a bit of an Australian Dick. Would not hesitate to recommend them to all. ($300+/-)
4. I used a rental car for one day to get from the shop to home and to SD and back ($50 +/-). Plus gas ($35+/-).
Total $385 +/-
Edit: 5. One day off of work.
6. Missed my sons basketball game today.

And you know what? After all that, I am still satisfied with my choice of the TJM Pro Locker. Why? s*** happens.

Wow, had no clue TJM is literally about 10 minutes down the road from me. I'll have to swing by and have them take a look at my truck. I'm pretty sure one of my solenoids is bad.

So when you had parts replaced for free, are they just honoring the manufacturers warranty?

 

[04gto]

Wow, had no clue TJM is literally about 10 minutes down the road from me. I'll have to swing by and have them take a look at my truck. I'm pretty sure one of my solenoids is bad.

So when you had parts replaced for free, are they just honoring the manufacturers warranty?

So the TJM in El Cajon is shaping up to be TJM's US centered products r&d, design and engineering center. They are working on setting up a small showroom area as well. I don't think they have a shop and do any kind of customer vehicle diagnostics or installations though. I know they do install some prototypes, mock ups etc there though. However, if like me, you take them your faulty parts that you removed and they are still under warranty, they may give you replacement parts. It would be sweet if they had there own sales and installation center there too.

 

[04gto]

So I think somebody already posted this article here in mud previously. I read it last summer even before I bought my LC100 and signed up on Mud. It actually mentions TJM having a known issue with the circlip six years ago. It is a really good write up on lockers, just forgot about it.

ABSOLUTE TRACTION | Australian 4WD Action

 

[abuck99]

^ I remember reading that article to the end and totally spaced on that data point.

So I think somebody already posted this article here in mud previously. I read it last summer even before I bought my LC100 and signed up on Mud. It actually mentions TJM having a known issue with the circlip six years ago. It is a really good write up on lockers, just forgot about it.

ABSOLUTE TRACTION | Australian 4WD Action[/QUO

 

[bushdoctor]

SATURDAY WAS A TERRIBLE DAY...First of, am glad to be able to write this, not at a hospital somewhere and my rig in the junkyard. My diff malfunctioned miserably as we set out to hit the road from San Diego to LA. Heard a click sound, followed by loose pedal (no acceleration) followed by a loud vicious screech on the front wheels that had fully locked (ALL these within a span of 10 secs). The truck couldn't roll. The Mrs. and I were in utter shock. Luckily we were just coming to a red light and were slowing down. I couldn't help but think what the outcome would have been had this happened cruising at 65+ mph on the highway with other cars. Just counted ourselves lucky as we figured out what to do next.

Called AAA and towed the car back to Huntington Beach J & S diff shop where the installation had been done (96 miles away....) It wont be until Monday before I know the full root cause of what happened. With all these issues folks are facing, I'm VERY concerned about this air-locker "deal". I'd hate to go through this again let alone have some else face such a disastrous encounter.
Come Monday, I will have more info and figure out how to proceed.

It's been a long day. I had a trip planned for Death Valley this coming Saturday and now all that seems to be jeopardized

 

[bushdoctor]

Not common to see a Land cruiser being towed

 

[shanester]

SATURDAY WAS A TERRIBLE DAY...First of, am glad to be able to write this, not at a hospital somewhere and my rig in the junkyard. My diff malfunctioned miserably as we set out to hit the road from San Diego to LA. Heard a click sound, followed by loose pedal (no acceleration) followed by a loud vicious screech on the front wheels that had fully locked (ALL these within a span of 10 secs). The truck couldn't roll. The Mrs. and I were in utter shock. Luckily we were just coming to a red light and were slowing down. I couldn't help but think what the outcome would have been had this happened cruising at 65+ mph on the highway with other cars. Just counted ourselves lucky as we figured out what to do next.

Called AAA and towed the car back to Huntington Beach J & S diff shop where the installation had been done (96 miles away....) It wont be until Monday before I know the full root cause of what happened. With all these issues folks are facing, I'm VERY concerned about this air-locker "deal". I'd hate to go through this again let alone have some else face such a disastrous encounter.
Come Monday, I will have more info and figure out how to proceed.

It's been a long day. I had a trip planned for Death Valley this coming Saturday and now all that seems to be jeopardized

So sorry to hear this.

Now I'm thinking I might pay to have the front 3rd removed just to double check everything.

This is turning out to be a nightmare.

 

[dubitup]

I'm curious to see what the findings are of this failure. My truck is being done next week to install F/R TJMs lockers and Nitrogears from @just differentials

From what I've seen, read etc many of the failures seem to be improper installations not the TJM lockers.

Alex

 

[abuck99]

Bushdoctor- sounds pretty scary.

What speed were you driving when it let go? Any warning lights/sounds ABS/VSC?

You may have the shop inspect the entire driveline- the locker itself is stronger than any of the related components-so parts like : CVs, flanges, DS & ujoints
will take the shock load and should be inspected.

 

[savirc]

SATURDAY WAS A TERRIBLE DAY...First of, am glad to be able to write this, not at a hospital somewhere and my rig in the junkyard. My diff malfunctioned miserably as we set out to hit the road from San Diego to LA. Heard a click sound, followed by loose pedal (no acceleration) followed by a loud vicious screech on the front wheels that had fully locked (ALL these within a span of 10 secs). The truck couldn't roll. The Mrs. and I were in utter shock. Luckily we were just coming to a red light and were slowing down. I couldn't help but think what the outcome would have been had this happened cruising at 65+ mph on the highway with other cars. Just counted ourselves lucky as we figured out what to do next.

Called AAA and towed the car back to Huntington Beach J & S diff shop where the installation had been done (96 miles away....) It wont be until Monday before I know the full root cause of what happened. With all these issues folks are facing, I'm VERY concerned about this air-locker "deal". I'd hate to go through this again let alone have some else face such a disastrous encounter.
Come Monday, I will have more info and figure out how to proceed.

It's been a long day. I had a trip planned for Death Valley this coming Saturday and now all that seems to be jeopardized

I'm glad you and your family are okay. This however does not sound like a locker issue it sounds like ATRAC, ABS or something else. There has been similar threads on people with out lockers. I recall a user locking up at 60mph somewhere on mud with a 470. Just don't rule that out, cheers.

 

[abuck99]

^ Bushdoctor if you have Techstream you might plug in and check for DTC's. If your event triggered ABS/VSC there will be a record of it.

 

[bushdoctor]

^ Bushdoctor if you have Techstream you might plug in and check for DTC's. If your event triggered ABS/VSC there will be a record of it.

Good point. I don't have a techstream, but I do have a scan-gauge. I will double check if any codes got triggered.

 

[abuck99]

Scanguage won't read DTC's just OBD P-codes.

 

[04gto]

SATURDAY WAS A TERRIBLE DAY...First of, am glad to be able to write this, not at a hospital somewhere and my rig in the junkyard. My diff malfunctioned miserably as we set out to hit the road from San Diego to LA. Heard a click sound, followed by loose pedal (no acceleration) followed by a loud vicious screech on the front wheels that had fully locked (ALL these within a span of 10 secs). The truck couldn't roll. The Mrs. and I were in utter shock. Luckily we were just coming to a red light and were slowing down. I couldn't help but think what the outcome would have been had this happened cruising at 65+ mph on the highway with other cars. Just counted ourselves lucky as we figured out what to do next.

Called AAA and towed the car back to Huntington Beach J & S diff shop where the installation had been done (96 miles away....) It wont be until Monday before I know the full root cause of what happened. With all these issues folks are facing, I'm VERY concerned about this air-locker "deal". I'd hate to go through this again let alone have some else face such a disastrous encounter.
Come Monday, I will have more info and figure out how to proceed.

It's been a long day. I had a trip planned for Death Valley this coming Saturday and now all that seems to be jeopardized

Any updates?

 

[bushdoctor]

Any updates?

None yet. Will know more tomorrow. They didn't get a chance to take a look