welded vs lock-rite

[sixstringsteve]

have you looked at an aussie? I know lots of happy toyota owners who are running aussie lockers.

 

[zukijames]

i havent all i know is if had welded, lockrights, and arbs and love the arbs haha but hated having them front and rear.. if ya have problems with electrical, blow the fuse, compressor takes a dump ect you end up having no lockers at all and still have to finish /get off the trail.

That is why for this rig i was planning on rear spool( strong never have to worry about it not working) and arb up front.

I think my arb is why i never broke anything in the front axle and i got away with running 37s at 3psi with no hydro assist

 

[sixstringsteve]

Everyone's different, but here's my personal preference for toyotas:

- ARB (tied for 1st)
- toyota elocker (tied for 1st)
- Aussie locker (never owned one, but I've heard nothing but good about them)
- Detroit (never owned one)
- spool (super predictable, sucks on snow and sidehills)
- lockrite (just get an aussie if you want a lunchbox locker. Mine worked fine in a HP 3rd though)
- welded
- tru-trac (I absolutely hated mine)

I've never tried a spartan or a grizly

 

[zukijames]

elocker isnt as strong as arb i say elocker 2nd.

i love my detroits in my dana 44s and george breakall wouldnt wheel anything else..

and why does a spool suck in snow? are you saying like on the road? and how would it sidehill any different than a full detroit or an engaged arb?

not arguing just learning

 

[sixstringsteve]

true, it's not as strong, but it stays locked when a fuse blows, or your seal or air line leaks. That's why i have it tied for 1st place. I like arb's and elockers, pros and cons.

No, not just daily driving. In my experience, a spool sucks for crawling in the snow. Big time. I almost rolled my sidekick thanks to a spool (toyota elocker that wasn't wired.) The rear end just spins and spins in the snow, and it follows gravity and slowly slides down the hill. After that experience I swore I'd NEVER wheel with a spool in the snow again. It was freaky. I imagine an auto-locker (aussie, detroit, etc) would have similar issues, but I don't have enough experience with those in the snow.

Similar feelings on sidehills. Both wheels turn at the same time no matter what, which can cause loss of traction (instead of increased traction) and cause your rear end to slide downhill.

 

[chans]

If you weld just the spider gears then if you don't like it pull them out and put in a lunchbox. No need to weld them to the carrier. I would prefer a spool in the rear but not in the front since you can still turn a little easier which is less stress on the steering. A spool handles just the same as a locker in the snow and sidehills. Many a time I slid sideways down a hill or dune with two Aussies and two Detroits.

 

[iamsparticus]

spool is just a locker that dosent unlock, so arb, OX, e-locker would all act the same as a spool or welded, you just cant turn off a welded or a spool. Now a lunch box locker is close but not quite because it has a little give when turning and not under throttle. They all have the same effect in the snow and side hilling. Basically its a quality verse money spent, yes the lunch box lockers might not be quite as strong as a well welded diff james but if it breaks you carrier still is saved at the least. FYI if you weld you spider gears together you will not be able to get them out. Lots of people have welded diffs and loved it, my only concern is this is in a 80 axle which makes the parts twice as much so the cost to replace stuff is higher than a mini axle. So i think the performance of any of these will be the same LOCKED. The question you should ask is: 1 do i want to un lock this axle? 2 how much money can i spend with out taking funds from other stuff i want for the rig? you make the choice james any option is better than open

 

[O'neal]

Either spend the cash on a selectable locker,do the cheaper/spool or weld...My opinion is,lunch box lockers bring the suck...owned them,been around them and am not impressed with them,again that's my opinion

 

[zukijames]

so can someone put in bolt letters for me that they know for a fact a lockrite is stronger than properly welded dif

im just having a hard time figuring out how it could be stronger

 

[iamsparticus]

tell you what james lets test it, lets go to the junk yard and get a diff and a couple sets of axle shafts and we can use my runner as the test mule. I already have the lock right and spartan and we can test the welded diff see if either breaks under hard hard abuse. Money has it though that either one will hold up the same, but im willing to do the research

 

[chans]

FYI if you weld you spider gears together you will not be able to get them out.

Why not? Remove the cross pin and pull it out or if not cut it out and the carrier is still fine. If it is welded right it would be stronger then a lunch box with no pins to break. If you weld and fill in the spider gears into a glob wont it be like a spool?

 

[iamsparticus]

Why not? Remove the cross pin and pull it out or if not cut it out and the carrier is still fine. If it is welded right it would be stronger then a lunch box with no pins to break. If you weld and fill in the spider gears into a glob wont it be like a spool?

Think about it when you take out spider gears do the spiders and side gears come all out at once? No they dont you have to take out the spiders to get th side gears out because they are sunk into the sides of the carrier, but yes if you welded a small amount you might be able to cut it later to remove but i dont know how youd do that

 

[pELYgroso]

FYI, Yukon does not make a Spartan for your axle. The FJ lockright (PT 1630, I believe) is your best bet for a lunchbox locker. If it were me, I would get the lockright, put it in, beat on it, and most likely it will work great. IF it fails, buy a spring and pin kit (like $20), pull it, sell it, and weld up your diff. .....You will either have a lockright that you like, and a diff/axle that is worth a bit more if you ever sell it, or you will have paid a bit (the difference in purchase/sell $ of the lockright) for personal experience in what works best, so that when the next guy asks this same question on RME you can chime in with actual experience. I have a welded front diff (because I haven't gotten around to putting something else in) without ram assist, and I do have to be a little easy with it on the trail sometimes, but it works. ANYTHING you do could break, given the circumstances......If you have the $$ to spend, why not give the lockright a try? My .02

 

[zukijames]

i have no money to spend is the problem.. this cheap project has added up way too fast i should have just saved up and bought a used buggy.. but then i wouldnt have learned anything

i wont weld front.. rear we will see

thanks for everyones help and suggestions if i posted this on pirate i would have been told to die

 

[TJDukit]

I actually hate wheeling with a spool in the rear. Granted its a short wheelbase TJ with short arms. Even off road it makes the suspension do things I don't like. It loads the suspension up all the time when turning and in my opinion at least when it comes to a short wheelbase with short arms it isn't safe.

I also DD my TJ which is why on Monday I am having the limited slip put back in and hopefully by Friday my Spartan will be here so I can run it on Saturday. When I have the money to do it right I will do selectable lockers front and rear.

I will never wheel a spool again in the rear.

 

[pELYgroso]

I actually hate wheeling with a spool in the rear. Granted its a short wheelbase TJ with short arms. Even off road it makes the suspension do things I don't like. It loads the suspension up all the time when turning and in my opinion at least when it comes to a short wheelbase with short arms it isn't safe.

I also DD my TJ which is why on Monday I am having the limited slip put back in and hopefully by Friday my Spartan will be here so I can run it on Saturday. When I have the money to do it right I will do selectable lockers front and rear.

I will never wheel a spool again in the rear.

I agree with this. I have a Detroit in the rear and a spool in the front, and I prefer it that way over the other way around. The Detroit is there when I need it and does a pretty good job of unlocking when I don't. In the front, it's as easy as hopping out and unlocking a hub if I need to, but I very rarely do. I am careful about pushing it at full turn both going forward, and reverse, and it's worked out for me.

(eventually I'll probably put a spartan in the front, but for now the welded diff hasn't given me any problems)

 

[zukijames]

i will have full hydro so i dont think i will need to get out and unlock hubs. but the rear think..

are your lower links strait or trianguled mine will be 40 or so inches long and have lots of triangulation

 

[big cherokee]

i run a elocker in the front and rear but the rear one has a bad actuator so i just pulled the motor locked it in and made it a spool. in my yota it worked great on and off road, i love it in the snow as its predictable unlike a lock right that could unlock and what not. i have never had a detroit, im running assist in the front and still hate turning the thing even running a chevy ps pump.

if you could i would go elocker front there spendy but very tough. i just blew a rear axle in my yota running 40in tires hopping the truck and the elocker showed no sighns of fatige.

i had lock rights in my cherokee with 35s and hated them for many reasons i will not go into here.