Rear e-locker

It is a well known problem that has plagued those lockers from day one. Ive seen it happen in person and a guy who's stopping by my house in a little bit has had nothing but problems with it so much so he's thinking of running cables and getting rid of the actuator. There are aftermarket actuator delete kits it's such a common issue.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...not-engage-bad-actuator-help.html#post4406682

 

I suggest you read up on the problems that plague the arb as well, the most expensive open diff on the market.

I haven't ever cracked my eloxker open in its 175k worth of service and it works flawless each time. You can't compare the 2nd gen diff's to these they changed something on them and they screwed it up big time.

 

wut? Some oil backs up the line when on crazy steep inclines? My rear and locker is warranted for 5 years from East Coast Gear supply.

Never heard of the new ARB locker failing. Find me some info and Ill believe you... but there certainly is more e-lockers blowing ring gears and actuators failing than ARB's failing and thats a fact.

I paid $700 for my third (20k on it with new bearings and gears) with a ARB compressor and it took a half hour to swap the third in.

 

Its the extra .4" that makes all the diff.

 

http://www.4x4earth.com.au/forum/differentials/19067-why-would-anyone-want-fit-arb-air-locker.html

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/newbie-general-4x4-discussion/967548-toyota-e-locker-vs-arb.html

I just think its nuts that you guys are suggesting to go with 700+ dollar option, that relies on the skill of the installer who set it up, over what sounds like a smoking deal to get his truck locked up for cheap.

personally the only rear selectable i would run is the Toyota e locker. The arb has too many failure points for me. I have a fzj80 rear axle being dropped off at my house tomorrow to swap in and I'm going with a lunch box locker since its reliable as hell and i don't need to re-gear (if i did it would be getting a detroit).

 

its the same size ring gear, no such thing as a toyota 8.4" toyota ring gear.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-truck-4runner/228681-myth-settled-8-4-v6-4cyl-all-8-a.html

 

Why does every thread asking about elocker swaps have to turn into an ARB vs elocker debate?
Instead of saying "just buy an arb" maybe people could actually help answer the OP's questions. Not everyone wants an arb.

As for the question, you should be able to take the entire rear end and swap it over. You will need a stand alone wiring harness and switch to make the elocker work. As far as his truck it shouldn't cause any issues going to a non-locked rear end.

 

It's a highly observable and recorded fact that most Toyota owners get big boners off anything ARB

 

...much ado about nothing?

 

I'm getting this axle cheaper than any junk yard offers though, all I'm asking is if the donor truck will have any problems with their ecu once they swap with me. I plan on running 35s on it.

 

I just swapped one in. Tested it out this weekend and it was great!

I did not use the control box found in a factory installation. I used a momentary DPDT switch with no relays.

 

One other thing, if you are not a pre-runner (2wd), then you may have to re-gear the front axle to match your swapped-in e-locker axle, which likely has 4.10 gears.

 

Hmm.. He is a pre runner, but he is v6 and automatic. I'm 4wd v6 and automatic. Does he have different gears than me?!?

 

And the elockers may be fine in the first gen... the extra 200 curb wt wouldn't make that much of a difference but the 20" of added leverage (wheelbase) may. Anyway, for me I didn't like the fact that they may or may not lock/unlock when in a tight spot webwheeling - something that never happens with either of my ARBs.

 

Very true paul, nuttin' like compressed air to shove shit together, as far as the E-locker goes I harp on people to engage it routinely , even if they never intend to use it, so many times I hear " My locker didn't work when I needed it too." Then you find out they've NEVER energized it & wonder why it failed...

 

Or if enough oil gets in my line maybe I'll convert it to a hydro.

... and when I was mentioning the 20" extra in WB, I was talking about the longer WB in the 2nd gen.

 

There's so much wrong in this thread. Slander nailed it, there is no difference in size on the 8.4 vs the 8. ARB's leak and elockers stick from non use more than anything...pick your poison. Comparing a first and second gen truck with a factory elocker isn't fair. Two totally different animals aside from the issues Toy had setting up the rear end from the factory on the second gens.

Swap in the axle and save the money.

 

So there is no difference in strength between the two axles? Because I do plan to run 35s here soon and later on bigger once I sas

 

It's hard to quantify the strength of each... The advantage of the 8.4 is that the carrier bearing caps are joined to reduce deflection under load, preventing the alignment of the ring and pinion from changing as much as it would otherwise.

It seems that the general opinion is that the 8.4 is a stronger unit. But there isn't any controlled experiment to judge that from. Only anecdotal evidence. Of course proper gear set up plays a large part in durability. It is possible that the e lockers that break are worn, factory setup that have a lot of miles on them by the time they are wheeled.

 

The whole FJC and 2nd gen Tacoma diff breakage stunk like poor QC on Toyota's part on whomever set the gears up at the factory. Does the girdle make a difference, sure, but the fact that you had diff's breaking on the street on stock trucks meant something else was up with the units not design related. The 1st gens didn't have that problem, it seemed they were breaking while people were doing more extreme wheeling with them (typical). This is besides the fact that the motors can get gummed up if you don't use them regularly (don't use an ARB for a few years on a DD truck and I'm sure you would have similar issues )

I still would not be worried about 35s on a an e locker provided you don't floor it everywhere off-road and use some common sense. There are plenty of guys wheeling them on 35+ tires and even some mini truck guys run these in the front on trucks on 35"+ tires.