Locking differentials 2013 Tacoma (Not TRD) suggestions

I'm interested in putting lockers on my Tacoma and i'm just curious as to what good options are and what all will need to be done. Is there much of a performance/longevity difference when deciding between electronic or pneumatic? will I have to put in different axels as well? Any good sites to buy the gear from? The type of off-roading i do is in Utah so rock crawling, mountains, slick-rock, etc... Thanks in advance for your help!!!

 

I went with ARB front rear because they had a deal going on and the dealer gave a heck of a discount when doing both.

 

Www.eastcoastgearsupply.com

 

ARB are air lockers correct? That would mean also installing a compressor?

 

Detroit or Grizzly lockers are half the price, what am I loosing by going that route?

 

Plus the Detroit acts more like a spool(like you'd put in a drag car) and you cannot control when it locks. it will engage when driving on hard surfaces. if you don't mind that and buying a lot of tires, go for it

 

I would also recommend ARB. Yes you will want to install a compressor as well.

Auto lockers like a Detroit will lock automatically whenever there is a difference in wheel spin above a certain threshold. Going around a corner on the street could cause it to lock. This would be dangerous in any snow driving. They also are noisy. ARB is transparent until you hit the lock button which is far more preferable, especially on a truck driven on the street. Plus you can lock it before tackling an obstacle vs it locking once you have slipped.

Edit: You will have to have a shop that does gears install the ARB lockers. BTW welcome!

 

Definitely go with ARB's.... We had a pair of them in our Jeep - frigin awesome!!
Nothing like going up a hillclimb (unlocked) and spinning all 4 tires half way up.... Reach down, flip the switch...and immediately the lockers kick in and you're moving again. It's awesome!

Yes...you need an 'air source'. You can buy the ARB air compressor that'll get you locked , but that's about it. Or....if you're gonna do it...GO ALL OUT.... and get a full compressor with an airtank and have enough air to operate the lockers & air up your tires.

If you're doing an ARB in both the front & rear.... ARB's replace the carrier in the diff and require a gear setup. If you've ever thought about changing your gear ratio, now's the time to do it.

It's a very expensive project...but well worth it. I would highly recommend a professional install also.

 

I've heard a number of folks talk about picking up a spare diff to re- gear and install lockers at the same time to make the swap easier, but it seems like the diffs are tough to find. Is there any other reason to go this route other than not having to give up your truck for as long? Or I am just as well off re-gearing and getting lockers installed in the diffs currently on my truck?

 

I'm guessing people re-gearing are running a big lift with big tires, no need to re-gear just to add a locker. re-gear doesn't make the install any faster

 

If i do just the rear for now and the front later would i still want to re-gear? Also where would be a good ratio to swap it to if i still use the truck as my daily driver? Thanks for all the replies folks??

 

So if I'm running a 4" lift (i'm fairly sure thats what I've got, the truck came with the lift and i haven't found a way to figure out what size might already be installed) and 33" tires (again just estimating) how concerned should i be with changing the gear ratio?

 

It depends on tire size and your transmission / engine. I was told anything larger than 33s on the 6cyl manual and you should think about re-gearing. Anyone able to chime in on ratios?

 

285s are approximately 33"

265s are 32"

 

Thanks they're 33's ran out and looked quick, as far as engine its the 4.0 V6 with a nice cold air intake and exhaust (again not sure on brands, sounds real amazing though). The previous owner was obviously a mall crawler with money to put into after market items because its easy to tell everything done to it was installed professionally, and there isn't a single scratch on frame or otherwise to suggest that it has ever been off-roading.

 

This isn't correct. Those are the figures for the width of a tire. The second number after the / is the aspect ratio or height of a tire.

 

Use this to get your tire measurements in inches and mm.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc

 

Thanks for this clarification, and sorry for any confusion my lack of knowledge has caused.

 

Do you have problems obtaining highway speeds on windy days? If you just cannot get any speed or the truck needs to keep downshifting to keep speed, you might need to consider a re-gear. if that isn't any issue, you don't need to re-gear. When people re-gear, they are most likely gearing down, but then you lose your speed. Not sure where the comment came about needing to re-gear to run lockers? I think that person confused those with e-locker/smaller rear diff getting an open center rear end to accommodate going to an air locker. You have the larger rear end you're good to go.
As for the tire thing, different brands vary in size, so those charts shouldn't be taken to heart. For example, the duratracs are taller and wider than the KO2's of the same size.

 

I made the comment about re-gearing and fully understand that the two are completely unrelated. I brought it up because it makes sense to do both if you're pulling the diffs for a locker and plan to re-gear anyway.