Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

I run auto lockers f/r on my street driven Tacoma. A few months ago I broke my front driveshaft wheeling and drove my truck home in a blizzard in 2wd and it was great in the snow, didn't need 4wd. I wouldnt even worry about street handling in 4wd honestly. On dirt roads you don't even notice the front locker. Auto lockers are the way to go IMO. One less thing to mess with and system to fail and it seems ARBs are always being messed with on the trails.

With twin sticks or a crawler you can cruise around in 2wd on the trail anyway to keep the bind down on the front end.

 

Speaking of lockers and sending diffs out. What's the best way to package and ship a diff to ecgs?

 

Home depot bucket lined with cardboard. I put the flange side up, put cardboard over that, and then cinch the lid down with shipping tape. They don't close perfectly but I put like six tapes strips holding the top and then do like 10 wraps around the bucket. I think I've shipped five that way and have never had a problem.

 

I had a 5 gallon bucket but the diff wouldn't fit in it...prolly have to find a taller one. Thanks

 

I know I’m in the minority but I love my air lockers. Never had an issue with them and the one time I thought I did, it ended up being my switch controller. I run Yukon zip lockers and my dad runs arbs. Been going for 10 plus years and only issue we’ve had was a sticky solenoid after 10 days of dirt roads and and no inner fenders. Little bit of air through it cleaned it out though.

I like the select ability and it puts less stress on stuff especially in the front.

 

It's amazing how quick the air lockers lock/unlock compared to the factory Toyota elocker

I think my ARB is leaking air because the compressor cycles quickly but I don't really want to tear the ifs clamshell out and ship it to ECGS yet. Too many other projects in progress lol

I like having a locker in the front over welding it, even an auto locker has a little bit of differential play to reduce CV or ujoint strain when turning with the wheels stopped

 

The air lockers are instant. I always had to rock the truck to get the e locker out.

check the solenoids and connection at the diff and for nicks in the lines. 90% of air locker leaks are between the compressor and fitting on the diff. Use pipe dope on the solenoids to help seal them. Mine will hold air for a day or so if I leave the battery on.

only reason I’m against the auto lockers is from watching them. There’s a visible delay in them locking and unlocking. Not a huge deal if you aren’t doing hard stuff but when you only have a 6 inch bump you want it all to spin at the same time.

 

And i do take back my trouble free statement. When I put my rear 9 in chunk in, when I had it regeared the guy accidentally filled the copper tube with flux and sealed it which wouldn’t let air pass through to lock. But that’s more of an install error on something I don’t know how to do (install gears). I ordered a new flange with copper tubing and resoldered it and installed and it’s been almost 3 years without issues.

and that was more my fault for not bench testing prior to install

 

One would be crazy to spool the front IMO. Especially with the use case of a full bodied truck.

I was all about the Harrop elocker until my last trip out when everyone in the group that had one had a failure, usually a chincy ass connector on the diff. I loved my Toyota e locker, but I also locked it after airing down, and left it locked until airing up.

 

I have got 50/50 mixed on the air/mechanical thing. I totally share your same mentality. One less thing to break. I got the grizzly zip locker today so its done. Also, one more thing I need to install in a compressor and tank. Whatever, this truck is like an official test dummy for me. I just figured out that I can't even use the free np261 t case cause it has slip yokes and im not about to run solid shafts. So.... Been pricing 14-15 week lead time atlas 2's and gonna weld up a ghetto shaft for front and back to test before I final final weld and paint. Then hope the angles are the same and wait for the atlas. Fucking truck builds!

 

Thanks. Yeah I totally bootlegged the barnes design. lol.

 

yeah I learned quickly that I was gonna be disappointed with the factory e locker if I wanted to unlock/lock it on the trail as needed haha. Leaving it locked in was king

now for a weekend wheeler I wish I had kept the welded rear and saved the time/money I spent on the locker

 

Yeah I wish they made a detroit/spool for the 3rd gens diff, I'd sell my factory elocker for guap and then throw those in and buy 1 tank of gas with the extra couple bucks

 

finally part of the group.

 

It's not advisable but if the elocker design is the same as the regular 8" elocker you could take the case apart and weld the spiders lol

 

http://gearinstalls.com/box.htm

 

I think they changed the dimens at some point. I bought a new one from Home Depot and it was about a half inch too short for a third but I had an older white bucket that shipped a third just fine

 

So true. Time becomes more valuable the older I get. Plus the wife ain't happy when I spend most of the time in the garage on weekends lol

I guess I am part of the minority as well lol. When I bought my D60, it was already built with a Yukon zip locker. At the time, I wasn't really crazy about it because I had the "mechanical lockers are better" mentality. But the zip locker was already in the axle, so it made sense to keep it.

Then, as soon as I started using it, I quickly realized how much I had been missing with mechanical lockers in the past. It's just awesome being able to have an open differential sometimes on the trails - especially in the front axle. It makes turning in some spots so much easier. And like you said, these zip lockers work extremely fast. I have a Yukon grizzly in the rear axle and have been seriously thinking about upgrading to a zip locker on that on as well.

 

How do you like the grizzly? The reviews I found on it were pretty split on it working well or failing prematurely

 

My experience with lockers:

-Will never run a mechanical or welded third
-Toyota elocker are nice but not as reliable depending on where you live and how often you use it. I know a few running them on SFA with 37 and 40 and also know a handful with IFS with 33/35 breaking them. Personally, I wouldn't built a SFA using a LP elock unless it's a 80 HP elock.
-Harrop elocker is better than factory elock. Is it sturdy and HD to abuse, IDK. I know a few guys owning it, so far, they have not complain but they're on IFS.
-Zip are good. Guys I know ran with 37" without issue. Haven't seen one grenade yet.
-ARB are good. They work great when it engaged. Everyone I know, myself included have leaks from the bad o-ring designed. Many will say it's installer error but when you have 8+ people using them from 5 different shop who did the install, that can't be installer error. 1 guy had a cracked internally, causing his compressor to engage constantly.
-TJM Pro Locker, so far 1 person I know runs it without issue for the last 6 years. Guess I'll find out when I get mine up and running. It's a piston driven actuator.

Ultimately, everyone will have different experience with lockers. You can try them all and see what work for you.