Side note...just looked at your website. Might need to update it unless you are just blowing smoke because out of all the members listed with reg specs, only 1 or 2 have ARB lockers. Most are lockrite, detroit, eaton, spooled or welded.
Huh....I have seen many problems with ARB lockers. Mostly centering around the little bolts coming loose or snapping off, then there is ripping the air line off, failed compressors. Wheel long enough and hard enough and you'll see all the lockers on the market fail.
Bolts backing out, super common, seen it many times...
Busted pistons....
Shattered gears.....
Not that any of this would really apply to a tow vehicle.
Side note...just looked at your website. Might need to update it unless you are just blowing smoke because out of all the members listed with reg specs, only 1 or 2 have ARB lockers. Most are lockrite, detroit, eaton, spooled or welded.
Huh....I have seen many problems with ARB lockers. Mostly centering around the little bolts coming loose or snapping off, then there is ripping the air line off, failed compressors. Wheel long enough and hard enough and you'll see all the lockers on the market fail.
Bolts backing out, super common, seen it many times...
Busted pistons....
Shattered gears.....
Not that any of this would really apply to a tow vehicle.
NL, when I see issues like you point out I know the problem instantly...User based! I often had rigs show up at the shop with all kinds of problems. Equipment failures are in fact rare, what I see are user/installer failures. Half my shops business was fixing problems brought about by those trying to save a couple of dollars and do it themselves.
I put 80,000 miles on a on a pair of Dynatrack ProRock 60's with ARB's. I have run some of the toughest trails around, I led runs in Moab for several years and I took my clients on 4+ rated trails only.
Dynatrack makes some of the very best performance axles in the marketplace, they are an OEM supplier for HiPerf axles to several major manuf in the auto business. They use ARB because they work and do not break.
Any ARB I have seen is the old style. ARB completely reengineered their lockers about 10 years ago and while there is not such thing as true bullet proof I have never seen one break or heard of a breakage where it was properly installed.
Air lines: YEP, seen lots of problems there, again user error. I installed mine in '03 and NEVER have had a problem, tore any off or had a air compressor fail on me.
The only other locker I put up with the ARB is Detroit, the rest I have seen leave a trail of broken parts and tears for the owners and regrets they did not spend the few extra dollars for the ARB and have it properly installed. As someone who has been off roading for over 45 years, owned a shop that built rigs to challenge the toughest of trails I only used ARB!
As my card said:
SavageSun Engineering: Built to get you there, ENGINEERED to get you back!
Don
17 Oaks Ranch, Texas
US Army (RET)
'11 F350 4x4, CC, LWB, DRW, Lariat
AF 1150, solar, satellite
Vietnam Combat Veteran
NL, when I see issues like you point out I know the problem instantly...User based!
Don't really know what you mean there. Shouldn't all opinions be user based?
LOL not talking opinions, talkin about improper installation, failure to follow instructions, not using a torque wrench, use of tools that don't fit or do not support the job at hand. Using improper parts etc etc etc. Run a shop, you will understand...
From my own experiences with aftermarket locking differentials I would now opt for a manufacturers limited slip that is covered by their drive train warranty for 5 years or 100K miles. There is peace of mind factor.
Regardless I would never take a truck with a hard sided camper anywhere that a locking differential would be critical. For one thing I need to be considered about the stress on the truck with a very heavy load in the bed and the truck and its suspension and drive train components operating with little in the way of reserve. Limited slip with 4WD is good enough, and where it is not there is the option of adding a winch.
Lockers are expensive to buy, to install, and they are prone to failure. I think that with regard to off-road use there needs to be a balance between performance enhancement and reduced reliability. My primary concern is with not breaking down 20 miles from the nearest paved road and 200 miles from the nearest town.
With the ever increasing risk here of getting off OP's Q, I would like to add some grist to your opinion mill.
First, most of the statements here are from hard-core off-roaders with a 4000 lb. + or- rig.
I too have been hard-core since about 1965. I have had every kind of locker and limited slip ever made up until about 10 years ago. But, that's another discussion.
A 10K lb. + TC is a whole 'nother animal. The problem of course is the high weight factor, compared to a rock crawling jeep. The time you need all 4's locked up is when you have very uneven ground pressure on one or two of the wheels. Translate that to be a wheel off the ground, or the axles twisted up mightily with little ground pressure on diagonally opposed wheels. This is exactly a scenario you want to AVOID with a TC. Keep those axles parallelRusty Nail at Moab)
Modern truck frames and suspensions are NOT made to take much twisting. I keep hearing rumors of how bad the Dodge hydroformed frame I have is, but so far, no cracks. 12 years of beating the 'whee' out of it. To keep the stress down, I always loosen the tie downs when off road. Not stupid loose, but enough to go with the flow when the frame and bed start to contort.
My view is It is enough to have a limited slip diff on the rr axle, if it's a tightly preloaded one. The reason is 'give'. There is no give to a true locker. My fave, and the one I've had for years is the Power Loc LS. The secret is strong preload on cone shaped wet clutches. With the bed empty, I can 'chirp' those big super singles going around the corner. But they will eventually give with a heavy loaded truck around that same corner, seamlessly holding on as long as they can.
There is discussion about the lack of longevity of true lockers on the rear axle of TC's or other very heavily loaded light and medium duty trucks over on one of the Dodge Cummins pages. One guy couldn't figure out why just pulling a 53,000 lb. Pintle/bumper pull farm trailer over loaded with hay over county roads had anything to do with locker longevity. (my eyes are rolling)
That being said, when my factory unit bearings give up the ghost, ( at 140K mi. they still seem O.K.) I will change over to new inner front axle parts that will include an ARB or OX locker (for a Dana 60) new 35 spline outers/wide spaced bearings, hardened one piece axles, and interior selectable hubs. The reasoning is;
When you really need extra traction, you can put the hubs on, switch on the
ARB pump (or OX mechanical), dump the tire pressure down to 22 lb. and grind your way out of trouble, hopefully. But, when you don't need 4WD, the front axle is free wheeling with no front drivetrain parts spinning or moving at all back to the transfer case. The woe is the expense. It is bucks to do this. Below you can inspect my ARB lines if you look closely: coming down the first waterfall on Jackhammer I had poor ground pressure.
To wrap it up, I can say in all of the extreme off-roading I've done with my TC, I've never needed a front locker. Why? Because I avoid getting the axles twisted up or having a wheel off the ground beyond the limit of suspension travel. With 6K lb. on the rear axle, there is plenty of ground pressure and traction with a LS and those wide-moes.
regards, as always, jefe
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SoCalDesertRider wrote: I'd look at the True Trac non-clutch limited slip for the front axle.
+1
I have and recommend TrueTrac in the front. You will not know it is there until you hit the mud-sand-snow and you just keep going where you used to bog down.
My Lock-Right has been in the rear of my F350 for the last 7 or 8 years, hauling 4K lbs in the bed of the truck for the last 5 years. No problems with the Lock-Right at all. Very happy with it.
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