Brand new ARB locker leaking air

We had our installed about the same time at the same place as I recall.

 

Haha yes! "He who say not be named" although you had, if I recall, a good experience with them.

Three years later I'm still dealing with their bad build. The latest is a second flexible solar panel failure due to their insufficient design.

 

Dang.


They did strip the plug in my front diff, but made good on that. I have since moved north so no more encounters.

 

Good! My advice to everyone is to stay far, far away from them. I think we had a list of eight things that I found immediately and to their credit did finally correct. And then four or five others popped up over the next year that I had to fix. The worst one is that they ran an insufficient wire size from the truck battery to the camper battery which overheated. The repairing shop said we were lucky we didn’t burn our camper up

 

The only thing worse than the quality of an air locker is the quality of ARBs customer service. And that’s saying a lot. Because air lockers are trash.

 

The concept and mechanisms are not trash. They work quite well.

The execution is the weakness IMHO.

 

You need to rely on internal seals to fend off oil and dam air. Then you need to ensure there are no leaks in your air system running to the unit. Then it relies on an incredibly cheap solenoid to vent the whole thing. An e locker has fewer moving parts and less chances for failure. I say this as someone that drives around with a faulty air locker. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

E-lockers have some serious weaknesses, but I do agree less potential failure points.

 

This is all true, but any pneumatic system requires airtight sealing and no leaks and it is achievable. You can easily upgrade to a MAC valve which is what used to come with ARB's back in the day before they came up with their own. The locking mechanisms in the e-lockers tend to be not quite as simple as the mechanism in the ARB, but the ARB does require a good seal on the actuator. All said and done they each have their shortcomings and positives. The actuating power of the air lockers just can't be beat by the e-lockers and that's why I prefer them. I've known plenty of people that have struggled with ARB leaks too, but almost always it's install error and the sensitivity to installation of the ARB is its #1 weakness. Either one will work but I know it sucks to get stuck with a problem you can't seem to remedy.

 

So, I have an 03 TRD double cab with 488s and a front ARB installed by EGGS and factory rear e-locker. I had the complete third member and clamshell installed by a local mechanic whom I know personally and is very skilled. It was installed in January 2021. Immediately upon installation the front compressor would pressurize, kickoff, and engage the locker and then intermittently turn on shortly every 15 seconds or so while engaged. I thought nothing of it because it’s an overland rig and rarely needed - and I really didn’t know otherwise. Trucks driven occasionally on the weekends.

Fast forward 2 years and we relocate to Northern Indiana. Around 2000 miles or less on the truck since installation. We got dumped on with snow a couple of weeks ago and I get a chance to really use the locker - plus it’s super cold, less than 5 degrees. Immediately I notice that the locker engages, but the compressor runs now almost continuously. Of course I begin to research and come across this thread. I email ECGS and they are very responsive - telling that it sounds like a seal leak and they’ll warranty it. Super helpful but I haven’t really ruled out external leaks and will do so this weekend. Since I didn’t install the clamshell personally and am 700 miles away from my mechanic, I’ll have to do it myself IF the leak is internal.

Anyway, I get home this evening and give it another shot. Now since the weather has warmed up a lot, it acts exactly like it did down south - locker locks and much improved cycling of the compressor. Thoughts? I’m gonna get it into the garage this weekend and leak test the compressor, solenoid, line, and fittings. If I can’t find anything I’ll be forced to drop and send it in.

thanks!