I just added 4.88 Nitros and ARB Lockers front and rear. It'll be a while before I get the compressor and the air lines in but wanted to get some input from those out there on what to look out for when wheeling with lockers.

For example heading down or up a steep hill with some off camber might actually be better to run open/open. If a rig gets flexed out of course the locker is going to be handy but a lot of people look at lockers as the holy grail of wheeling and it's not always better. Just thought I'd ask about some wheeling experiences you've run into and try to learn about it before I make the same mistakes.

 

subscribed.

 

i find mine irritating(lockright so i cant unlock) when im ascending a steep hill at an angle and its softs ground or im assuming on steep rock very little traction it would be the same, when your trying to keep your speed up the rear end wants to push towards the down hill side and try to straighten you out facing you straight up hill which is annoying if the line you picked has you trying to ascend at an angle. its hardly noticeable in my case but im sure in a more extreme situation it would be more extreme of a flaw. as far as locker being the holy grail...no im sure it is not and a selectable would be nice but i will never go back to an open diff in the rear. id love to try a well built rig with lockers front and rear. this is prob common knowledge but there ya go. a rookies 2 cents not that its worth much

 

No, this is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for. Thank you!

I've broken 4 CV axles so far with two different rigs and I'm curious to see if the torque will make it easier to break more or less. Or how much drive train build up will happen and lead to failure if I try and turn some with the front locked. I know I'm going to break stuff because I like to find the limits but I'd sure like to avoid breaking things, rolling my rig, or someone getting hurt if I can!

 

im interested in seeing the thoughts too..

glen, I see you're running 305/70s. What size spacers do you have? Any rubbing? BL?

 

I just use my locker when I need it. I don't use it going on downhills really ever (at least that I can think of). If I think I'm gonna need it, I turn it on, otherwise I'm open diffs. I'm also the type that wheels in 2wd most of the time, until I need 4x4. I'll use the locker usually when I'm in 4LO and crawling or if I'm stuck and the tires are spinning. In 4HI, I usually turn it on when I want to keep my speed up through a rough part and not lose any traction like if I'm approaching a steep hill or a big mud hole or a deep patch of snow. Sometimes I lock it in 2wd instead of going into 4x4, especially if I have a lot of weight in the back to keep pressure on the rear tires.

Driving fast on loose dirt, snow/ice, etc.. with it locked can send you sideways if you're not used to it, so test it out and get used to it. I remember doing circles in a dirt lot just to get a feel for the ass end and how it slides out and almost counters the steering sometimes.

I'm not locked in the front, but I do know a front locker will undoubtedly add more stress to the CV axles so you want to be more cautious with it than the rear. I would avoid hard turning when it's locked and if your front is really wedged, I would try to back off and get a straighter angle because if there is too much force against the locker, the CV is usually the weakest point in the drivetrain and will break the easiest.

 

You must be automatic, haha

I have no choice but to run my lockers all the time, it's not annoying or a pain in the butt. My aussie up front is a lot easier than driving with my arb locked up front. The aussie allows for one tire to spin faster while the arb is a spool when activated.

Your just going to have to learn how to drive with them, we can give you all the advice in the world, but your gonna have to choose how to drive with both of the lockers.

I've never had mine become squirrelly on me going steep down hills, never had any problems in the snow with them (full time lockers).

You'll probably find with the weight of the 4runner your not going to find yourself with your rear end pushing you around climbing a hill in the mud.

And always remember, turn off the front locker if your winching.

 

The biggest problem I've had is once all 4 wheels spin you can get sideways real fast and drift off line. The good news is I don't very often spin all 4. I use the rear locker a lot more than the front and also use the rear going down hill (it helps with engine braking).

Also if you don't have the traction with all 4 locked to make it up a slippery hill, don't be tempted to use a lot of momentum to climb up because if you don't have the traction to go up you likely won't have the traction to stop from sliding back down. An uncontrolled rearward or downhill slide can lead to dangerous situations.

 

Solid. This is indispensable advice and a good reminder. I greatly appreciate you posting up real world experience. There's no substitute.

 

Your truck may be able to go more places than your driving ability. I don't mean that in a mean way, only that you need to be careful about getting in over your head. I've seen people turn over accidently.

You can pretty much go anywhere with a rear locker as with dual lockers. It's a matter of right foot prowess. Two lockers allows you to go places with less drama and likelyhood of breaking stuff as you can go slower, hence less shock and doing stupid stuff. A long travel suspension will get you places just as good as lockers though. I drove a whole trail one day not realizing that my rear locker solenoid was stuck. I kept turning it on and off thinking I was using the locker. I wasn't.

ARB makes great stuff. I worked with the head engineer years back on the RD90 and RD111.

Have fun.

 

lol yeah no doubt. I've felt the certain amount of built in safety with open diffs. I've noticed on my rig that flexing out while running open diffs means that I often stop before getting too tippy and I can feel when I'm floating a tire. I'm just hoping that I keep that clarity of mind to avoid ever flopping my rig, even better than the clarity, I hope I stay lucky ha! I've seen two rigs flop in person now both were locked. One here in Colorado the other in Moab.

On Poison Spider Mesa I watched one of my wheeling buds get into some trouble going up the waterfall because his locked rear diff caused him to drift to an off camber position. He got really tippy and wisely took a few minutes to regain composure after backing down.

Of the 50+ unique trails I've run in the past few years I do have to say there have been several times when luck saved me more than skill so I'm working on the skill and fattening up my brain. Often times it seems knowing when to say no is better then all the knowledge or skill. In this case I hope to keep learning from those that know more than I do Thanks for your input!

 

subscribed... i have a 85 runner sr5, 4cyl, manual that has become my new project. i have wheeled 2 times in my life (me driving that is) and have been looking for some gems of knowledge...

 

I have seen it, experienced it and preached about it. You can get into trouble real quick the slicker the trail is and the more off camber it is.

I saw a double, lunchbox, locked 4runner slide off trail into a snow field in an instant. I drove thru the same spot with very little problems (open, open).

This year, on a snowy trail, I was going up a hill and lost traction so I back up (off chamber trail)(rear ARB on) and my tail keeps sliding off trail. I couldn't figure it out then I hit me. I unlocked and drove right out.

Snow, off chamber, locked, you will be off trail.

 

At first if you don't succeed, blow another cv





These are from today, no going back from where I was at. Used the winch a good amount to get out

 

lol, holy crap... those things BLEW the hell up!

 

Whoah! Are you going to fill us in with a little hindsight? Looks like a great story.

 

Thattt suckks lol. Time to go sfa

 

haha crolison your goin to make not want to lock the front of my rig with your carnage pics! How did ya do that?

 

Was going up a trail at windrock, and it was a little different than I remember. Basically you have a shear rock face on my left and two ledges in front of me to climb to get out of this "gully" almost made it up the first ledge but tried to climb with pushing my tire into the shear rock ledge and blew the drivers side cv (the twisted boot). At this point it's a lot easier to go forward than backwards, so winching and giving it gas the drivers side literally exploded and threw shrapnel everywhere. Got up the 2nd ledge after winching off of a couple of trees and swapped out both cv's once I got to the gravel road at the end of the trail

Not yet, haha, this was only number 6 and 7

Eh, would have blown something up front being open upfront. I just got further before the inevitable

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who carries 2 cv's with them at all times not to mention the ungodly sized 35mm socket!