Topic: Rear Locker delema

[jrock]

So right now I have a 4cl Detroit in the rear on 37's and I DD the truck. I hate it. The Detroit has about a 1/4 turn of slop and every shift, accel/deaccel and crawl it kicks and bugs the heck out of me. I want to replace it.

My questions are:
Does an E-locker have a lot of slop?
Will a 4cl Aussie hold up?

 

[toyyota]

  Hey J. I never met you, but I have the red 1st gen you posted on the MCR9 thread. I went with ARB, for $100. more than the TRD's, they are something for you to look at. When your E Locker bumps a rock or leaks water, its $400. for a new motor. I've tried them both...

[jrock [OP]]

Out of the two, you recommend an ARB? So is there any slop in an ARB? Open or locked.

[fade]

Spool it and never worry again. Or weld it up.

[jrock [OP]]

Spool it and never worry again. Or weld it up.

yada yada. It's driven on the street

[toyyota]

When a Elocker or ARB is open, its open, no slop, hop, or chirp. ARB or TRD are a spool around corners if locked.

[bleakhorizon]

my aussie did the same thing after i drove it DD on the street for a while (with 33s even).....  got loose around the diff center pin... it was like a bad u joint gas-clunk   no gas-clunk ..

[jrock [OP]]

The lunch boxes even loosen up? I never thought that could happen. How long did it take?

[2manytoys]

I have a Detroit in one vehicle and an Aussie in another, both street driven. The Detroit is pretty old now and the Aussie is only a few months old. My son has an Aussie and it doesn't seem loose after a few years now.

They both feel about the same to me. Kind of annoying on the street. Typical for lockers I think. Definitely take some getting used to compared to an open.

I haven't noticed any "looseness" with the aging Detroit. Seems the same after all this time.

I don't think an Aussie locker will help you out. Maybe a selectable locker like ARB is the best way to go. I'd do it if I could afford it.

[bleakhorizon]

The lunch boxes even loosen up? I never thought that could happen. How long did it take?

I may be an extreme case ? IDK.   it works awesome in the front of my 84 still lol.....

i cant remember exactly how long it took.... but i do remember it was about as long as it took me to wear out a set of 33" tsl radials....  i liked to be hard on the throttle in the corners so it prob had lots of unnecessary wear

[H8PVMNT]

I love spools on the street...

[BoG-ToY]

I had a lunchbox almost kill me... you know that slop you were talking about. Mine opened up one day when pulling across an uncontrolled highway crossing, pulled out and there was just enough twist in the axles that it unlocked one side and then twisted just enough to unlock the other side, sounded like a giant ratchet spinning backwards and I was sitting pretty with a semi coming strait at me. I pressed the clutch, let up on the gas, as I heard the ratcheting slow down... clunk and lock in, I hit the gas, dropped the clutch and prayed (you could tell the semi driver was praying too) I fishtailed into the parking lot.... drove home and pulled the diff out and put an open on in that night, through the lockright up fron and ran an open rear.
I will never run an AUTOMATIC locker in the rear of my truck again. Open, Spool, selectable, or if its a light wheeler limited slip, but NEVER another auto locker

[superyota]

i would highly discourage using a 4cyl. aussie in the rear of your truck.  with 37's, and as much as you drive it, it wouldn't last long.  they are only rated for 33's.  running a 4cyl lunch box in the front is fine, but not for the rear.  i blew apart a v6 with a lockrite in it, but that was after 5 years of daily driving it and several hard wheeling trips.  i'm not too fond of arb's or e-lockers.  know too many people with them that have problems and they don't know it til they need it.  everything from a leaky air line, bad regulator, stuck gears on the e-lockers, etc.  if anything, i would stick with your detroit in the rear.  one reason why i went spool in the rear, not popping, and extremely predictable. the tire wear on a daily driver would suck though.  leave it alone and buy my civic for $1500, problem solved

[yota4x4sc]

arb is the way to go!!!!! electric  lockers are ok too but the motors always get messed up..my electric went through 2 motors..never had a prob wit the arb!!!!

[BoG-ToY]

I think the problem with a lot of these elockers having motor problems is people like to run them without relays, this reduces the current to the motor, adds stress to the position limiting switch and along others. You might say, well lower current is good for it, BUT not if its taking longer to engage building up more heat in the process instead of just getting the job done. when I have the money I will have e-lockers front and rear (unless I make a major score on an ARB) and I will run RELAYS for them both

[jrock [OP]]

I don't like ARB for the reason of air. That's a whole other system. E-locker seem to work fine in all the stock trucks I've been in. Plus, if the actuator's out, I can still do it manually.

As a DD I need to dump the Detroit. Unless Detroit has some way of getting rid of the slop. Offroad the slop is like having a horrendous case of axle wrap. At MCR the damn thing was lurching from rock to rock.

[BoG-ToY]

sounds like its time to get rid of that thing

[jrock [OP]]

sounds like its time to get rid of that thing

Hence the thread 









  

[BoG-ToY]

I know, but im just saying, I will definitely agree after hearing your MCR story, sounds like its getting ready to do what my lunchbox did...

[jrock [OP]]

I know, but im just saying, I will definitely agree after hearing your MCR story, sounds like its getting ready to do what my lunchbox did...

I know. I really believe this locker is in good condition and there is nothing wrong with it. I hear the same story from other detroits. It's just, for me, this thing is a pain in my butt.

I am looking at e-lockers now. I don't like the idea of my a locker not engaging, its one more thing to worry about, but as a DD the open diff is gold.

[81yotalove]

i have never had a detroit or daily drove a rig with a lunchbox either. but i have driven 1983-hilux's truck with a aussie out back on dirt and on pavement and you could not even tell it was there on pavement.he has daily driven it and wheeled it for over a year with 35's. if i ever buy a lunchbox type new it would be an aussie. i was impressed with his.

im thinking that most of the problem with the lunch box lockers is the clearance specs over time. it might be time to get some new side gear washers to bring them in specs again. with any metal to metal contact there will be wear and adjustment is needed over time.

[bleakhorizon]

im thinking that most of the problem with the lunch box lockers is the clearance specs over time. it might be time to get some new side gear washers to bring them in specs again. with any metal to metal contact there will be wear and adjustment is needed over time.

mine was definitely not repairable with washers....the center pin was wallered out... i will take pics the next time my front diff is apart...

i think a normal person with a relaxed driving style the "lunchbox" lockers would last a long time on the street, you just have to keep off the throttle in the corners (its how i drive, fast in corners slow on straights lol)

is the detroit your running a true trac ?

[BoG-ToY]

Mine was one the TIGHTEST end of the specs.. trust me, I tried that (was having minor problems before) I had the lockright shims, was well within spec of side gear clearance put in brand new springs and pins, and after ALL that, it still let go like that, for this reason, I dont care what I hear, from here on outt, I will NEVER put another automatic, NEVER in the rear of my truck again

[Snowtoy]

If you run the air lines correctly, i.e. keep them away from heat, sheath the blue line down to the housing, and limit the psi to 100, an ARB is about as fool proof as you can get, providing it is installed properly.  Over the last 6yrs my buddies and I have ran them in about 7 different rigs w/o issues, other than installer error.

[jrock [OP]]

mine was definitely not repairable with washers....the center pin was wallered out... i will take pics the next time my front diff is apart...

i think a normal person with a relaxed driving style the "lunchbox" lockers would last a long time on the street, you just have to keep off the throttle in the corners (its how i drive, fast in corners slow on straights lol)

is the detroit your running a true trac ?

I'm running the full detroit.

[Phazertwo]

ARB and never think about it again....

I had lock rights in my crawler, and my DD. I went to ARB in both and it was worth every penny!

0 clank and 0 clunk.  and no changing lanes for you when they get worn out (as far as I know ARB's don't ware out).

PZ

[yjay]

I have a full Detroit v6 rear in my dd. It has about 5000 miles on it and so far I could not be happier. I tow with it as well. It clicks on rare occasion, perhaps once a month, but nothing scary like my lunchbox did. I know the older style Detroits were a lot more violent but improvements were made to them so they are friendlier now and they are now called Soft Lockers. Perhaps yours is the older style? If not, before I spent all the money on a selectable, I would look inside to see if the center pin is in fact sloppy and if so replace it. I know people with ancient ones that work fine.

[jrock [OP]]

Do you have a link that can explain how to do that?

[yjay]

No I don't. The pin(s) don't go thru like a stock cross pin, but are kinda like an x shaped deal with a circle in the middle so can't be driven out. The unit would have to be disassembled. If they are sloppy in the case I'm sure that would contribute to the problem. A call to them would probably help for that as well as any input they may have on your problem, if you haven't done so.

[OOPS]

Here is a link to another locker to throw into the mix. It is made by Harrop/Eaton and it is from Australia. From what I understand it runs between 12-13 hundred dollars.

http://www.harrop.com.au/products/drive_line_and_suspension/elkr9334-00.html