ARB Front locker

I had the same reservations about the rear cubby mount, seemed like it would just get covered in anything the wheel slings up. Under-hood should be slightly cleaner, and has been for me so far.

Inside the truck wasn't an option for me; the noise the twin makes would be pretty obnoxious for anyone in the cab while it's running.

 

ARB had a bad batch of seals for a long period of time that resulted in many users needing to warranty their lockers. Covered but a major hassle

 

The Slee mount is a work of art, it jams a big chunk of metal into a small spot.

 

I like the slee mount, but had some reservations so I made my own.

 

The third revision of the bonded seal was put into production in July 2019. My lockers have not leaked since receiving them back from ECGS. They get used a lot. I would certainly make sure the production date of the locker is after July 2019. If not I would insist the bonded seal be replaced at the time of install. I know for a fact ECGS is only shipping the newer bonded seals but YMMV with other companies.

As far as front lockers and breaking CV's go. RCV solved my issues. Expensive but I was totally over trail swapping CV's.

 

I have a cold air intake that takes up extra space where the slee Mount goes. also the shop doing the work is an offroad Tacoma Spectialist and they advised against mounting in the engine bay because of heat issues.

I like the cubby mount idea. The fender liner should keep things relatively clean up there no? I also have a tonneau cover. The only thing I’m wondering is how easy is it to access the filters when mounted in the bedside cubby?

 

If the shop doing the work are offroad tacoma specialists, you should listen to them. I'm just a tacoma generalist.

 

i have the tiny compressor that only does lockers on the slee mount. gauges arriba.

 

They’re good but their suggestion on a hidden mount inside the fender means I would have to pull off the wheel then the liner to access the compressor in the future to clean the filters.

im sure if they knew about the cubby mount they would have suggested it. I’ll bring it to their attention.

 

What shop is it? Krave? They are great guys. I've personally never had a problem with mounting compressors in the engine bay, and do it often in our shop. I've been running it personally in the engine bay for around a year and it's been good. I also ran it in between the bedside and bed in front of the rear wheel (Long bed) and it worked, but it definitely got dirty. Ran it there for around 3 years.

For the locker discussion, I don't regret getting the front at all. I end up using it often, despite being told I would rarely use it. It's an "easy switch" for sure. I think most broken CV's come from a combination of a locker and a heavy foot. I've never broken a CV (knock on wood) but I also go slow with it engaged, and if my line doesn't work after a couple tries, I change it up. I used to use momentum to get up stuff when I was open-open, which I believe was way harder on the truck than locking the front and going slow and steady.

 

yes KRave. They are definitely passionate about Toyota’s and take pride in their work. I have a long bed and that’s the spot they’re thinking of. Cubby mount seems like a happy medium between potential heat issues in the engine bay (Krave doesn’t recommend and I’ve seen comments from users online saying the same) and inaccessible/dirty area inside the fender. the cubby mount has a bottom plate that adds another layer between potential mud and the compressor.

Your logic on the front locker vs momentum is exactly what I’m thinking. I’m sure I’ll put it to good ‘responsible’ use.

 

I've definitely heard about the heat issue, but have also never seen a compressor fail first hand due to engine heat. Either way, it's not a bad thing to avoid!

 

The ARB mount p/n 3523010 replaces the left cubby and mounts the compressor towards the bedside. Expedition Essentials uses the same location but mounts it toward the bed.

Read more here. I wouldn't run either as I have a high clearance bumper and the wheeling I do is very likely to introduce foreign matter to that area.

 

In the same boat here.....I am waiting on ECGS diffs with 4.56's and Harrop lockers. I'm of the opinion it's better to buy once and cry once. The front locker may only be used a fraction of what the rear is but I don't like doing things twice. If I decided to go the ARB locker route, I would have had KRave do the work.

 

How often were you swapping CVs? how fast were you at doing trail fixes?

 

A dude I wheeled with in Texas would bust 2 or 3 in a weekend of wheeling. On the trail he'd take about 30 mins to swap, on the concrete pad at camp it would be about 15 mins.

 

I had my dual cases in for 2 years before I went to RCV last year. I broke 11 CV's in that 2 years. I broke 3 on the Dusy in 2018. That was one every 10 miles and I still think I hold the trail record.

It takes about 20-30 minutes from the time the CV snaps until I'm rolling again.

 

Wow, thats fast!!
Ive never replaced one.. I've got one ready to go into my first gen taco that Ive been hesitant to dive into. I'm also starting in on building a trail ready 3rd gen and realize I had better learn to swap a CV.

 

It's super easy. Do it a few times and you'll have it down.

As for doing it on the trail, make sure you keep a big breaker bar in your kit and a 35mm socket for the axle nut. At home you can zip it on and off with an impact but on the trail unless you bring a battery powered impact with you, you need to break it free by hand. On the 1st gen it's torqued to 175ftlbs and if it's stuck on there then without a breaker bar you're gonna have a hard time

I always keep a quart of gear oil in my truck too cause you lose a fair amount out of the diff when the CV axle comes out.

 

Does anyone that wheels not carry cordless tools?




You should still carry a breaker bar though.