Rear locker questions....

Went wheeling over the weekend....my verdict....I need a rear locker!!! Besides the e-locker conversion, what do you guys run? Mine is a 97' 2.7 4x4.I will weld the rear diff if necessary....

 

My bad....the cheaper the better.I wish I could afford an arb.

 

Could do a detroit locker

 

What do you mean by not street friendly?

 

I can deal with that.

 

Detroit locker is half the price of an ARB, although I'm not sure they make one for 1st gen rear...

 

I hope that this is purely and off-road rig because that's a little dangerous.

 

I wouldn't use an any-time locker on the road. It locks up when throttle is applied, if my research serves me well. Luckily I stumbled upon an e-locker axle and have performed the swap with friends. Can't wait to use it and not get stuck in the wet grass.

 

Is there a kit/mod to give my 1st gen the locking rear if I don't already have it? If not any recommendations? ARB?

 

Detroit does make a locker and a gear-driven LSD for the 1st gens. I have the LSD (aka TruTrac).

 

Might want to consider a good limited slip instead of a locked dif. They are really the best all-around solution.

For a locker I'd only put an ARB on my truck, besides the factory eLocker that I have now. And the loss of limited slip with a locker is a bummer since I spend almost 90% of my drive time on road.

 

Agreed, LSD is good and safe on-road whereas lockers are only usable when turned on. I would definitely use an LSD and whatever the e-brake trick is to make it work instead of a full time locker.

 

I wouldnt weld the diff...a full time locked rear is a bitch for handling, a little unsafe in slippery conditions(eventually it would bite you in the ass no matter how good of a driver you are, youd swap ends at some point especially in packed snow/ice conditions) and very hard on components and tires when turning in situations with plenty of traction (which is 98% of the time) a selectable locker is ideal but if the $$ is a problem...well...thats a problem. I run the arb, if i didnt have that i would want the toyota e-lock. If those arent an option for you a lsd like the true track mentioned above would be the next best thing. But really a selectable is the way to go and if you go air locker youve now got on board air which is super super nice to have, especially for airing up tires incase of a puncture or if youve aired down when in a wheeling situation...

 

Powertrax no-slip. Much more street friendly and virtually silent. I installed myself and have 20k on it with no issues. Install is much easier/cheap than an arb or detroit.

 

Thats the 'backwoods' solution . . . . cheap and stupid

 

I've never met anyone who had luck with or liked their welded rear end. They all regretted it.

 

I've had a LockRight and an ARB. Go with the LockRight. I couldn't tell any difference on the road with the LockRight as compared to stock other than some noise. ARB is nice to be able to turn it off and on but too many parts that could potentially fail. You have all the electrical and all the pneumatic parts to maintain. Compressor, airlines, actuator, wiring, switches... All those parts can fail potentially leaving you stranded somewhere.

 

This is a good choice, if the advertisements are true. Its the least expensive way to gain real traction.

However, almost any non-selectable locker could be a liability in icy conditions. I remember one time on an icy incline, where the locked truck in front of me slid all over and couldn't make it up. I made it up with my clutch-type LSD.

Devinzz1 , I notice you live in the 'frozen north'. Has this been an issue with you?

 

Was also looking into the Powertrax No-slip. Live in SoCal and not that many icy roads here so I am not too worried about ice.

 

Trust me. This locker is better in snow/icy conditions than a good clutch type lsd. In slippery conditions the clutched lsds seem to not "slip". With the no slip as soon as you let off gas it unlocks (you can unlock the diff and spin tire with nothing but your pinky)