hello everybody. i am really tempted at this hour to buy an arb bumper. i am getting a really good deal. now i have been looking around at all the polls and questions and it seems everyone has their own opinions on which a bumper and winch or lockers is a better choice. personally i dont think i want to go through the hassle of lockers. i would rather just bolt on the bumper, and that at least gives me some recovery points, and i dont get stuck to often anyways. i guess my question is, along with whether or not a bumper is a good idea, is what does it take to properly lock the rear end. i look at most clubs and they require recovery points and winches, but they almost never require lockers, thats why i am leading away from lockers. SO THE QUESTION, how does someone go about locking the rear end, ANY OTHER INPUT IS ALLOWED AS I AM VERY CONFUSED RIGHT NOW!! ABOUT BUMPERS AND OR LOCKERS, thanks very much, ~KyLe
heck, maybe i need to start out small with recovery equipment like straps and hi jack and some tools and how to use them! who knows!!! aaaahhhhhhhh!!!

 

There are many ways to lock your rear. ARB makes an air locker for the front and rear of your rig. It is a stout setup and very reliable from what I've hear. Adrian (aka Flygtenstein) has a '95 with ARB lockers fore and aft and an ARB bumper. It's a beast.

I believe you can also retrofit the Toyota E-locker to your rear. However, if you go through a retailer, it'll cost an arm and a leg. It's also not as quick to engage as the ARB.
That pretty much sums it up for "selectable" lockers, meaning lockers you can manual engage and disengage.

For automatic lockers, I've heard the Aussie locker http://www.offroadlockers.com is pretty good and fairly cheap. Tractech http://www.tractech.com/ makes a couple Detroit lockers for your rear. There's another manufacturer but the name escapes me right now.

If this is a daily driver that will be driven on snow or ice, a selectable locker is the better way to go. If this is a trail-only rig, an automatic locker is cheaper and opens up more trails to you.

Hope that helps.

 

haveblue pretty much covered it. also, you dont have to get a bumper to have tow points up front. depending on what rig you have, you already probably have a point or two up front, ya just might need to search for em

 

Aussie locker makes a locker for the rear of a 2nd gen (soon to come 3rd gen). It will set you back $200, and the Aussie locker has a great reputation among off-roaders.

 

I say you should go ARB Air Lockers front and rear. I love them, engage when you need them and disengage when you don't need them and it's open diffs, no drag or weird driving like you get with lsd's or fulltimes, or lunchboxes.

As for the bumper, I think Xtreme Mike is still doing the group buy on the TJM's, not sure though.

 

Thanks for the good press Alan. I am one of the few people who can say I have triple ARB's.

Winches and bumpers look good.

Lockers make you look good.

There is plenty of reading to be done on both.

I personally was not able to enjoy the benefits of having a tough bumper up front until I was on trails that needed the lockers.

Lastly, when the Aussie Locker comes out for the 8" 4 pinion third, it will fit 2nd and 3rd Gen runners, trucks, etc.

 

I have a Powertrax Lock Right #1620 for the V6 rear did (4 Pinion) and its performance belies its price of $198. It is true that I have yet to drive on an icy road, but in the dirt and up some insane hill climbs it really shines. There is an occasional "bang" and the clicking that sounds like a large ratchet wrench, but the quirks don't bother me. Besides since I was able to install it myself I saved some serious loot. I had developed a leak at the gasket for the 3rd member and since I had to pull it all off to replace the gasket, it was the ideal time to install a lunchbox locker. It has been the absolute best mod that I have done on my truck so far. I will likely get a full Detroit Softlocker when I do my SAS in a few months since I am planning on regearing to 5.29:1's anyway.

As far as bumpers go, I have custom Badland Bumpers tubular bumpers and sliders as well. There are pics of my truck on their website. www.badlandbumpers.com

 

I have a full time locker in the rear of my runner, and had an arb in my old truck (94 toy)... driving icy and snow covered roads with the full time is a real experience! If you contend with ice or snow and if you have the cash go w/ the arb! I like my true trac, but man... when it cracks on an icy day what a rush!!! although 4wd helps it pull back in line.