Air lockers? I need some explanation please

never used air lockers and don't know much about them. Can someone explain what the benefits of them are? I have a locking rear diff but what different about airlockers? Do they require onboard air to use them? How does that work and how would you set that up? Are for 4wheel low only or hi? Pros and cons?

 

Air lockers are powered via an air compressor mounted somewhere on your truck (activated by a switch in your cab) versus an e-locker that's powered electronically via the switch in your cab. Both lockers work the same way as far as providing traction, if you have the TRD OR with the rear e-locker there's no sense in replacing it with an air locker...that'd be a crazy waste of money IMO. Unless you're considering an air locker for your front diff. Most people that put lockers up front go with ARBs (air lockers).

 

An ARB locker can be activated at any time whereas Toyota programs their e-locker to only work in 4lo (or under a certain speed if you have a 2wd model). It's just for safety/liability reasons really...on 1st/2nd gen Tacomas you can modify the wiring to make the locker work anytime but not sure if anyone's figured out how to do it on a 3rd gen yet.

 

Okay I think I'm starting to understand it better. So if I put an airlocker on the front diff that would give me better traction on the front tires? Would the tires spin with out the locker in the front or if I don't use the locking diff in the rear?

 

What kit from ARB works for the front diff of the 2016 Tacoma? Asking for a friend...

 

Front lockers are really only for hardcore rock crawlers...the rear locker works great for most people and it's much safer to only lock the rear on an independent front suspension truck like the Tacoma. The rear is a solid axle and is much stronger than the front end...when you lock the front of an IFS truck you have a much greater chance of snapping one or both of the CV axles from the stress that the locker can create. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, but I'd only consider it if I was into some of the more crazy rock crawling trails that are out there. You have to be a lot more careful with a front locker on IFS truck than you do the rear.

Have you gone out on any tough trails and played around with your rear e-locker yet? Combined with 4x4 and a good AT tire, I think you'll find that its more than sufficient for most of what you want to accomplish, at least until you get bitten by the offroad bug even harder and fall deeper into the mod rabbit hole.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm new to the Tacoma set up, I used to have nothing but full size chevy 4x4's lifted and the works but no locking doffs. I have not played hard enough on my taco yet but I do intend to. Don't think I will be as extreme to need a front locking diff. My older chevy did good but it was always to heavy or big for certain areas where I had to winch out a lot. So that's why I downsized and decided to go with something more prone to off-road builds.

 

agree with all this. many or most say if you add a front locker also upgrade your hardware in the front suspension and it'll get expensive quick. you will initially get more out of top notch tires for your application and support stuff to keep you going.