Squeaky Penguin's (Trip Reports) Build Thread

I don't carry any for the double cardan joint, all of the others are the same though on our 1st gens, front and rear. The double cardan would be a pain to try and do on the trail and if it broke, usually takes more then just the joints out.

 

I bet my front diff has about 150 miles now. I'm in 4wd whenever my truck is going straight down the road. I have a specific route I take to work to maximize the time I can run 4wd on dry pavement. I have not/will not try it on the highway though, only 40mph top speed for front engaged on dry pavement.

 

Think it's 100-200 miles, then 500 miles, then 1000. then back to normal for oil changes.

That's recommended anyways.

 

Ok. I'm also at a 150 miles too. I would run the diff for about 25-35 miles at a time and disengage for about 10 miles. Dirt roads about 45-55 mph. The reason why I ask is because I don't have a heat gauge and wanted to compare to what you guys are doing.

 

You're supposed to do two or three break in drives before the mileage counting. Supposed to be about 10-20 mins long of easy driving. then let them fully cool down and do it again.

 

Yeah I did that already. I spent a day doing the heat stuff with an 1hr-1.5 cool down in between. Only 14, 16, 20 miles on the each time. Slow speeds.

 

Haha, need some meat on them arms. Interested to see how the locker changes your game.

 

me too. The people i have wheeled with that had them, it never actually helped them out of a situation really..its worth it for the stronger spider gears though.

 

After you get the front in I think you will easily prefer swapping a rear. Get help if you can. I came a lot closer to smashing my face trying to maneuver the thing in there as it wasn't a clear passage in. Good going

 

Maybe you're not doing trails that are hard enough and warrant a locker? You don't see many pictures of trucks on here in those situations. Mostly all four on the ground, in which case no need for a locker. There's no doubt that a front locked ifs rig can go further than unlocked in snow or rocks.

 

had a rig going up THe Wall on poughkeepsie and the front locker didn't help him once he got off the line and was 3 wheeling.

Hand another doing a small hill in snow..he got maybe 4' further than i did..

 

Driver error no doubt..

 

I went up both sides of Poughkeepsie this year in the rain. I do have pics.. Front locked

 

haha fair enough..

 

I spotted 3 rigs up The Wall with only rear lockers..im confident an open truck could do it. Was hoping to try to prove that theroy but i have a LBJ bolt explosion 200 yards before it so i just winched up as i only had 3 bolts holding my driver side LBJ on.

But, a front locker isn't needed for that spot.

 

The main point to getting a front ARB IMO is to get rid of the stock spider gears.

Sure i'll come in handy at some point no doubt. But increasing the diff strength is the main purpose IMO.

 

Today I had to put my front driver 4 feet in the air in a slot to climb. If I wasn't locked my passenger wouldn't have pulled and enabled me to keep going. So in this case the right line was in three wheels in which I needed a locker. The unlocked rigs didn't even try it.

Sorry Bret..I owe you a beer back on track..but yo will live the lovker

 

Super excited to be in a situation where I need the front locker. I don't think I'll use it very often, but when I need it it should be awesome.

Front went in yesterday with a lot of help from my brother. It's certainly fairly awkward to lift in there.

I was about to say you don't need any lockers for forest service roads. Anyways, I bet I could have made it up Poughkeepsie wall if I had the front locker this past year.

We did it in the rain last year. Only one in our group made it up without winching and he had 35s. I didn't scrape anything, but lacked traction.



Anyways, pulled the 3rd again today to fix the slight oil leak. Just wanted to take care of it right away. Drain bolt didn't look too bad after the heat cycles yesterday:



Spent a lot of time to make sure the 3rd member doesn't leak again, hopefully it holds out this time. At least pulling a 3rd isn't too difficult, especially compared to the front.

Found a IR temp gauge, measured 120 degrees after a light 15 minute drive, so I'm happy with that.

I've keep having to add quotes to this reply. Anyways, I enjoy beer, and lockers, and lower gears!

 

Being dual locked is a game changer if you are running challenging trails. You don't have to use momentum near as much so it's a lot easier on your stuff too

 

Missed this one last night. Very much disagree. How many front diffs have you heard of the spider gears failing? Even if they do fail used stock front diffs can be found for under $100 easily.

I spent $900 on an ARB locker to have a locker. Spider gears didn't even cross my mind.