Arb front locker?

Check for deals going on before you purchase. Like a month after I bought my front and rear locker and compressor, they offered getting the compressor for free when you buy two lockers. I emailed them, they said sorry but you purchased before the sale period. Lol, they did send me some free hats and stickers and other swag though. I have broken one front axle with it, I wasn’t even pushing it hard, but I did have the wheel turned at a pretty good angle. I’m running NAPA front axles with lifetime warranties, so it only cost me my time for intstalling the new axle. I’m running the ADD and I’ve not had any other troubles. The front locker is there, and I’m not gonna remove it for anything, but I will admit that it’s probably the single most expensive item I’ve ever purchased that I very very rarely use. It is something to think about.

 

Op I know you said your truck has locking hubs, so it won’t matter as much for you. For anyone running the ADD it’s is a very good idea to wire your front locker switch to where it will only work with the truck already in 4wd. I used the 4wd lamp in the instrument cluster to feed power to my front locker switch. Nothing like taking a chick for a ride down the road and her flipping switches asking what does this do?? Right after your ADD has a coming out party.

 

Wow, that's like, a lot of info to unpack here... lol...

But I like the idea of using the 4wd lamp...

 

I prefer lunchbox lockers over the selectable in front especially. A lunchbox will ratchet while you are turning and lock when you need it. Guys forget the ARB switch all the time and fall off the line or have issues with leaks, switches, etc.

@Justinogo runs dual lunchboxes with no problem

 

Where did you get yours from? I was going to get them from ecgs in the next week or two. I already have the compressor just not installed in truck yet. I also thought about waiting to see if there was any Black Friday deals then. They are $940 each at ecgs. But then again, I’m impatient.

 

I don’t remember exactly where I got mine. I didn’t have the cash to buy all at once either. I bought all of them at different times. Arb are the ones that were promoting the deal, no matter where you bought them you would still get the compressor for free.

 

Ok cool. I’ll look out for that. Thanks.

 

Can confirm. IFS with dual lunchboxes. Spartan locker up front has been excellent, reliable, and is very predictable. 10/10 would reccomend. Feel free to ask any questions @shawnster88

 

Sorry didn't read all the responding posts.

Lock the front sparringly. Manual hub CV's are much weaker than ADD CV's. Once they blow, they blow at the birfield stub and take out the manual hub assembly (so keep a spare of one of those too along with spare CV's) and they may destroy the bronze bushings in the hub ( no longer available separately).

I'd never run an ARB with manual hubs unless I locked the rear first, was hopelessly stuck and couldn't winch out. My two ¢.

I have a front trutrac and it's more forgiving from what I've been told. Easy to lock it up with one wheel traction with the e-brake.

 

Keep in mind that your manual hub CVs are inherently weaker than ADD ones, they like to break right where they neck down and go into the spindle. I had one break and completely shaft the spindle's splines, which isn't great considering that manual hub spindles aren't easy to find.

 

I never knew that about manual hubs/CVs, everyone always talks about how appealing they are but that doesn't sound appealing at all, lol.

 

I would tap power from the rear locker switch, that way you can not turn on the front locker before the rear locker

 

I would say it depends on your type of 4x4. If you go for really intense bouts I would actually recommend a "lunch box" front locker. If you tend to go for longer, more scenic drives I'd so go for the selectable. The lunchbox is going to be a lot less prone to breakage IMO since they have the ability to slip under extreme load. An ARB is a true locker so there is no give, only snap. I would also say an ARB is for a more experience driver. You can get yourself into some shit when you know an easy escape is a button away, sometimes the way out costs more than just traction though. Having a good "feel" for breakage conditions is key.

I've ran both and I would tend to lean towards a selectable because most of my excursions are the scenic variety with the occasional nasty scrum. I prefer to have the extra turning. That said though I've never broken an axle using a lunch box and I've broken 3 using an ARB.

 

Maybe I missed something, but how does the E-brake do anything with a front trutrac?

 

I could see situations where you're trying to get the front up and over, but need the rear open so it doesn't bind, like a tight corner. The pros in their tiny little buggies even have the ability to drive just the front wheels and engage the rear brake to drag the rear around tight corners.

 

This is just an option you can do, to help with breaking axle. There is a lot of "what if" or if you got deep pocket like the pros

 

yep, one of many options.

 

Has anyone upgraded to chromoly axles up front? Off road around here is mostly sand, washed out roads, hills (sand mostly), no rock.

 

I don't hear of many people breaking axles. The CVs usually go first.

CVs are easy(ish) to replace in the field, so a lot of guys want those to stay the weak link in the system.

If you're breaking a lot of CVs, might be time to consider a sold axle...

 

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. If I was doing that kind of off roading where I’m snapping cv axles often then it would be time to sas.