When should I use my lockers?

[Stevesnj]

I am no 4wheeling expert but have been on rocky trail rides at an off road park in the Pennsylvania Mountains but have gotten through everything, water, rocks, hills etc. in low range. But as my title states, 'When should I use my lockers? and when have you found you needed to use yours?

thanks

 

[spartan]

Surely you jest...

When you are going through terrain that causes one or two wheels / tires to lift off the ground and lose traction is the primary function. Otherwise just plain old gnarly hard core off road - steep, slick, muddy.

You need to find some new trails if you haven't needed them, but want to use them. Make sure they work first.

 

[Stevesnj]

Yeh they do work...whew. Are they meant for just straight up climbs or should I avoid tight turns. I love Toyota quality but have never had a Toyota truck with lockers.

 

[Corbet]

When you no longer move forward without them.

 

[george_tlc]

Wheels off the ground or wheels with limited traction

Locked & climbed straight up (basically idled up):

Locked & climbed straight up:

Unlocked & trouble (tried several times at various speeds & got stuck):

Time to winch up:

Snow conditions - lockers can help (unlocked wasn't moving), locked:



cheers,
george.

 

[spartan]

Where you need to be careful with lockers is in a situation where you suddenly get traction and the lockers " steer " the truck. You could be steering right and a rear locker move the whole vehicle left or straight in slick conditions for example. Practice.

 

[CruiseOrlando]

I engage my rear locker on a regular basis to exercise it when offroad, not because I need it. Sometimes the front, but I don't like having the front on due to the lack of steering and stress it puts on the power steering.

There are two situations when you should use them:

1) You've lost traction on the line you're taking and you want to continue on this line. This assumes that you don't need to keep momentum - this leads to #2.

2) There are some situations where you should have the locker engaged BEFORE you hit a low-traction situation. These situations require advanced knowledge of the terrain you're about to encounter, which means either you've done it before, scouted it, or have someone else telling you what's going on Generally these are situations where you're going to have quite a number of wheels off the ground at different times, leading to Spartan's comments above.

Being in a situation where you need additional traction due to lockers is important to know in advance, especially if that situation can lead to a loss of traction event where you put yourself/truck/others in danger due to your inability to maintain your line.

Lockers also help save the trail due to not creating as deep of a rut in the ground if you're on loose soil.

 

[Stevesnj]

Wheels off the ground or wheels with limited traction

Locked & climbed straight up (basically idled up):

Locked & climbed straight up:

Unlocked & trouble (tried several times at various speeds & got stuck):

Time to winch up:

Snow conditions - lockers can help (unlocked wasn't moving), locked:



cheers,
george.

Nice, thanks!

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Not much to add here. In our area we use them a lot in the winter on snowy/ice roads and often with chains. I have used them on really steep sections with loose rocks. Of course, the old adage that you always leave one option open in reserve applies. You don't use chains and lockers to get in if that's the only way you have of getting out. In April/May/June etc... around here you have mountain roads with a few snowy spots like in north facing shaded corners. So, it doesn't warrant putting on chains just for a short section just to have to take them off again in a minute. You might walk and look, but based on experience you might just lock up and give it a shot. These are times you will know intuitively based on experience. You also just might push in, pull back, push in, pull back, and might use lockers in some fashion while doing this.

1. Any wheels off the ground.
2 Snow/Ice
3. Getting out of a situation
4. Pulling a thick tree trunk/stump out of the ground (personal experience)

On that last one I was sitting on pavement all locked up in low and had all four wheels chirping and slightly bouncing the vehicle as all four wheels lost traction. I did figure out how to pull the tree out of the ground and finally drug it across a yard. My father in law was impressed.

Remember that a locked axle might affect your direction of travel faster than an open diff axle. Two or four spinning tires can move laterally very fast on snow/ice + slope. Just something to be careful and cautious about. I have found that fully locked on a slippery surface I do have steering, but not as good as unlocked on a dry surface.

5. Recovery

A few weeks ago I was in chains and locked up trying to pull an ill-equipped Tacoma owner out of one of those snowy corners up on a mountain. I still got high centered a couple of times and was eventually unable to recover the guy even after 5 hours. However, I will add that I had never been in such a situation and after some thought I realized how I could have used my recovery gear, most of which was still brand new, correctly to pull him out. I was in snow with studded chains, locked up, and I was digging holes through the snow and ice and throwing mud and rocks everywhere.

Just in the short time since then I've wired up my winch, added synthetic line, bought an exhaust jack, air compressor, etc...

I'd say enjoy your wheeling and if you never need lockers or any other kind of "recovery gear" that's totally fine.

 

[SiRaDuDe]

I think the actual question should be:

When shouldn't I use lockers?

Since there are several conditions that can cause major damage if lockers are engaged.

For example:
1. Never use front lockers while driving in reverse.
2. Never user front lockers when front wheels are fully turned or at tight turns.
3. Never use rear lockers while coming down a steep slippery incline (or be ready to catch your rear end)
4. Never use lockers in pavement.
5. Never engage stock lockers while doing more than 5mph

Any more?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Why not reverse? Not even in snow/ice or other slippery surface?

 

[SiRaDuDe]

Why not reverse? Not even in snow/ice or other slippery surface?

(just repeating what I was told)

I really don't know, I at least try not to use the front on reverse unless the wheels are straight and even then only at last resort, I have old birfs that have been flipped and the reverse side might be a bit worn.

Other than that, I cant think why not, I guess if the front wheels are straight and not turned much you could use them in reverse, I've seen a some birf go in reverse while locked but that might just be coincidence?

I guess the front Birfs might not be strong enough as to push out (in reverse) a really stuck vehicle just by themselves (in case rear tires have no traction), putting your Birfs in possible danger of damage?
As you might know in a stock locker setup, you CAN NOT engage the front locker without the rear locker being engaged first, this might tell me they are meant to be used as an aid to the rear but might not be meant to be the main carrier of a full Push/Pull/LOAD?
While on reverse you have now turned the Front axle as the main carrier of that PUSH/pull/Load. (all depends on terrain and traction ofcourse) and I think the weakest point on the front axle might be the BIRFS.

 

[SiRaDuDe]

Now I remember where I got the reverse thing from, but I still don't know exactly why.

Slee - 80 Series Land Cruiser Newbie Guide



7.1 Using Front and Rear Lockers
Courtesy of George Coyant.In random order...

• Don't use them on paved roads.
• Disengage the front at least if you need to turn. Even momentarily.
• Engage them just before you think you'll need them.
• Don't go down steep hills with the front locker engaged.
• If you go down hills with the rear engaged, be prepared to catch the rear end if it slides out.
• Exercise them every now and then. Whilst parked, hit each button until you hear the compressor engage.
• Have a locker/compressor cut out switch wired up (I think this is standard now).
• Experiment over an obstacle. Get the feel of what each locker does and experiment with speed over the obstacle. You'll be amazed at what you can now just idle over.
• They engage immediately but if there's a bunch of energy stored in the driveline, you may have to back off for a second after disengaging to have them physically disengage.
• Change the diff oil after a 1,000 or so km.
• Change the diff oils at say 20,000km intervals to help clear any muck in the diff housings.
• Keep an eye on the air release at the solenoids. If you see diff oil spray out upon disengaging, the piston oil seal has gone. This used to be quite common, however the current seal is good if fitted correctly. It's fiddly.
• If you're in a tight area and need to swing the rear out, you can engage the rear locker only and dump the clutch. It'll turn on its own axis...
• Don't engage the front locker when reversing.
• You can use air lockers in high range. In fact, can engage them at up to 100kph as long as one wheel on an axle isn't spinning.
• If one wheel is spinning wildly, don't engage that locker.
• By engaging them early, you'll save digging great holes in the track.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Oh, birfs. Okay. I don't really know much about that part yet.

When I use lockers I tend to need to go back and forth. We use lockers all the time.

I'll keep that in mind about reverse. It says not to engage them while moving in reverse, to my understanding.

 

[flexy flatty]

The high pinion 8" ring gear in the front axle is significantly weaker running in reverse than it is while being driven forward. By locking the front axle you have doubled the available traction and therefore have increased the load on the ring and pinion by a margin big enough to start having to be worried about stripping teeth. It's a tradeoff you have to consider, sometimes you have no choice ut to risk the breakage, just drive with an accordingly light foot.

 

[serenity]

Another consideration to take is tire damage. The tracks in my local area are predominantly hard clay base covered with sharp fist sized rocks. Letting wheels spin is a sure way to ruin a tire so I engage lockers anytime there is a chance for excessive tire slip, even if I'm not lifting a wheel or losing forward progress.