3rd Gen 4R E-Locker in a 2018 Sr5 4x4

I found a fairly reasonable e-locker out of a 3rd Gen 4 Runner. Is this a plug and play solution to add an elocker to my truck? Is there anything I would need to do to make this work?

 

The short answer is no

 

Damnit, can you expand on that at all?

 

http://sonoransteel.com/phong/retrofit_electric_locker.html

There is quite a bit that has to be done to the housing to swap in an elocker. It can be done on the SR5 axle as it is a traditional 8” housing. Swapping in a Detroit or a Yukon Grizzly locker would be my choice if I had an 8”.

 

You could get an ARB rear air locker with compressor and have onboard air, as well. (Limit arb lockers to 105 psi)

 

I've thought about that, but this would be less than half the price of the arb unit alone, if it worked.

 

If it works great, but keep in mind there’s more to it like the ECU involved.

The great thing about air lockers is you have the tank always pressurized so it’s instantly locked with the push of the button. Plus you can run air tools and fill tires.

There’s another thread of a member trying to put an elocker in his SR, he couldn’t get it to work.

 

Damn thanks man.

Mods feel free to lock or delete this as it seems I started a useless thread.

 

I’d say this is better than 95% of the threads here.

 

Thankfully I haven't needed a locker yet, but it'd be nice to have. This is my first taco and I've been very impressed so far with just tossing some tires on it.

 

Agreed!!!

 

The cheaper way is better tires and some recovery gear.

 

@traumahawk got the e-locker functional as far as I know, I don't know if anybody else tried and failed.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2017-e-locker.585669/page-5#post-20380348

The final take-away for the 3rd gen Tacoma e-locker is that it doesnt appear too bad to manually activate it (separately from the 4wd ECU). However you won't do any good dealing with the 4wd ECU, you have to manually control it and provide feedback lights if desired. During development, Traumahawk was running with a resistor and flyback diode to make the install as close to the Toyota 3rd gen electrical properties as possible, easily. As far as I know that worked fine, no issues reported.

NOTE, I don't know anything about the electrical properties of the 3rd Gen 4 Runner, which may or may not be electrically similar to the 3rd Gen Tacoma.
NOTE, I don't know anything about the physical installation of the e-locker into your existing housing.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Seriously. It's about trucks and not about fitting 33s.

 

If it fits you would be far better served if you could activate it manually. Then you’d be able to use it in 2wd and most likely not even need to engage 4wd.

The best mod I ever did on my old pathfinder was putting in a lock-right drop in locker.
It made a huge difference in what the truck could do.
Also manual hubs which save wear and tear and allow you to use 2wd low.


If you haven’t bought the e locker yet I’d look into a mechanical one. I had no driving issues after figuring out what to avoid doing.

 

I thought it was more complicated than providing voltage. If so, it gives me a few ideas about locker anytime mod that I may research and post in that thread.

 

I would like to go that route but I question my skills on making that work and not screwing up my DD. Maybe ARB while more expensive would be the better option in this scenario, for me.

 

I wouldn't put an auto locker in a nearly brand new vehicle lol. Auto lockers work great when you need them to do what they are designed to do, but they can be very unpredictable on the street especially in bad weather.

I had the same one (Lockrite) in my 99 Prerunner, made it much more capable on the trails but it's street manners got real squirrelly, particularly in the rain. Any tire slippage at all and that sucker locks up and can make your otherwise uneventful day an eventful one.

 

Are you questioning the install or the wiring? You can always have a shop install it and the wiring shouldn’t be too complicated (if you opted to run it to a switch) instead of the computer.

The lock right was super easy to install. The ARB is more involved and you’ll need a compressor, ox lockers make cable operated ones.
I’m not sure what’s available for the 3g tacos.