Here's the example I was talking about. My buddy, in this Jeep, struggled for several minutes to try to make it over this obstacle only to be denied in the end. I walked over it like nothing. (Sorry, that sounds like bragging, but it was really the difference between a front locker that worked and one that didn't.)

 

I reread this thread and don't remember reading this little nugget of good information the first go around. Have you known of anyone that broke something from leaving the front locked? Seems like a good idea but was just curious if you knew of an actually occurrence.

I finally got around to finishing the wiring on the Lockers and took it out last weekend. I'm going to Moab again in a few weeks. This will be the first trip out there with lockers. Should be a good time.

Selectables seem nice for the pavement but my initial reaction is that auto lockers might actually be the best bang for the buck when it comes to wheeling. A few dozen more rock crawling trails will tell more.

 

I'm surprised no one brought up this option - what do people have to say about the option of a LSD in the front diff? All the broken CV stories, etc, make me want to go towards the option of spending the least amount of money in the long run (ie, buy the rear ARB and a front LSD). Am I correct to say that the LSD puts the same amount of strain on the CV's as would an open diff?

 

Partially because this thread is about mistakes that people make wheeling with lockers not locker options but yeah, LSD are a little less likely to break CVs than open diffs. It's the CV angle and wheel spin that tends to pop the joints. With a limited slip a rig is more likely to get past the obstacle than with opens. I started to get off topic a little. Sorry about that.

I did notice on the trail run the lack of steering with lockers and how quickly the drive train builds up stress in a turn. It was on dirt though. I'm looking forward to seeing how much worse it gets on slick rock.

 

Yep, I blew a CV right after winching my friend up a little ledge, more like attempting to winch him up. As I started moving forward after winching him I blew the cv on a slight incline, no obstacle.

Im running detroits front and rear right now on my new truck, and only have a couple of incidences on street where the have made some noises.

 

You never notice the front locked on slick rock out here.

Im going hydro assist coming next month, so that gets rid of most my steering problems.

 

He's talking about moab slick rock

 

then why is it called slick rock.....

 

I know right. It should be called grip rock or 80 grit rock. It's called slick rock because it gets slippery when wet. It was named from the early settlers that had trouble with their horses on the stuff because they had metal horseshoes. I personally would have named it drive train exploder ha!

So this is probably common knowledge to a lot of people and it's probably all over the boards in many places but I had a heck of time finding the info to change the ARBs so it can be locked front, rear, or both. By default the rear locker has to be engaged before the front can be locked. This is a simple mod that allows either front or rear to be locked on it's own.

This might be useful when off camber, both rear tires are on the ground, but one of the fronts needs to crawl up the rock face and is going to lift the other front wheel off the ground. Locking the front to help pull up the rock face while keeping the rears unlocked and open could help prevent sideways slipping.