The Official "Best Front Locker" thread

[Birfailed]

I love my new detroits, I think the yota turns tighter than my wifes G5 now.

[Thomas P]

i ran a spool on the street with 39.5 iroks as a daily driver, yeah it did suck as far as tire wear is concerned, but iroks wear out fast anyways, i think a spool and a harder radial tire such as a toyo or something wouldnt be so bad

[Stinky]

if you want it locked, weld it or spool it... i posted the proper way to weld a diff on here about 2 years ago, it's easy and will last a long time, if it's done right!!

i broke a lock-wrong with 36s... let alone it was a 4500rpm dump, it was in mud, deep mud....detroits are nice, thats what i have now, but i miss my welded rear, it was soooo much more predictable than an auto locker....and if selectable's werent so expensive, they would be great, i cant see spending that kind of money when you could simply leave a hub unlocked and lock it when you need it....plus if an auto-locker gets a shock load AS it's locking, and theres a lot of rpm's and a big tire on either end of it, hope your winch works or someone has a strap....a spool/welded rear is really not bad on the road, tire wear and a pita to park, especially if its a stick...but it wont randomly unload on you, sometimes causing a lane change if youre on it hard enough, which is super sketchy.... but dont get me wrong, a welded rear WILL break if its not welded properly....maybe ill find my post n put up on here....

[toyotanner]

i have always welded my rear up.. its cheap, easy, and dependable.
for the front i have had my lock-rite for over a year now running 37's and 39.5's been through alot of trails including  the rubicon and has yet to fail me

[82 HiLux]

....maybe ill find my post n put up on here....

well here she goes.....

1.  pull the third out
2.  pull the carrier out
3.  pop the ring gear off
4.  brake clean the piss out of the carrier(you want all the gear oil and
     any oils OUT of the metal)....see if you can find someone with an old oven, n leave the pregnant dog in
     there for an hour or so at like 400, that'll boil the oil out of the pores
5.  then use a 1/8" E7018 stick rod(you wanna use this rod cuz it has a substantial amount of nickel
     in it)...or if you can get nickel rods off someone or even buy em, run around 80-95 amps
     you'll want a rod high in nickel, since the carrier is cast
6.  then while its still hot(gotta weld cast while its pre-heated), just weld the spiders to the carrier,
     and weld the spiders to the center pin... and since your re-heating the center pin(which is
     already heat-treated, you will want to cut some piece of 1/4" plate to fit in the little windows
     on the sides of the carrier to tie the sides of the carrier together(in case the carrier were to
     crack, the plate will keep it together.
7.  just make sure you keep everything hot while you weld on it, try and control the heat in the
    carrier too, cuz if it gets too hot then it'l warp the ring gear mounting surface, then once your
    done welding it, keep it some where it'll stay warm for a while and
    that it takes a good 3-4 hours to cool down.... cuz if it cools off to fast, you'll have a load
    of subsurface cracks inside the cast, then when she gets torqued hard enough,boom!!
8.  once its cooled off completely, you might have to do some clean-up so the ring gear will fit back
     on....

not alot of people take their time when welding diffs, but if it's your only vehicle, that you drive
everyday, then do it right the first time.... then have fun destroying tires!!!  haha, you'll get annoyed
after a while of it CONSTANTLY scrubbing, around EVERY corner.... and parking lots on warm days, haha,
prepare for a ton of people watching you park.... cuz your gonna be squeelin allllllll the time....


Some people may disagree with the ring gear removal, but its a whole hell of a lot easier to clean the spatter out of it when the ring gear is off.... and also spatter hitting the teeth on the ring gear will cause tiny stress fractures in the already heat-treated metal... might not sound like much, but after a while, it could cause a failure

ENJOY!! Thumbs Up

[Thomas P]

and if selectable's werent so expensive, they would be great, i cant see spending that kind of money

id take my chances with a lock right, thats what i did, and if it does break you saved so much cash not going selectable you can afford a new one to replace it

[yota_krawler]

I think thats what I am doin

[Stinky]

haha beat me to it!!