I've seen ARB's in situations that no axle should be in and still work. Experience is why I went ARB front and rear.
Lockers
- Thread starter Desurfaced
- Start date
Top drivers and race teams run either in high-stakes races. It’s largely a Ford vs Chevy debate now days.
Slap an ARB or and Eaton in and go enjoy yourself.
Slap an ARB or and Eaton in and go enjoy yourself.
We CLE fans like to tease Cinci fans just to enjoy watching their reactions.
That was the trouble I had as well. Lots of old info.
My Eatons are a 4-pinion setup (they have been for a while) and engage as fast as I’ve ever needed them to. I’m not a RockGod, but I’ve been in the rocks enough to know I didn’t mess up in my decision to go with Eaton selectables. If you can afford it, buy once cry once.
Many older post spoke on how ARBs never broke on them for two decades, but a newer post tipped the scales for me when it said that a plastic piece broke inside causing an air leak. Any of these companies can have issues due to a bad batch here and there, but I decided to not chance it and eliminate the air since I didn’t need it. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them if Eaton’s weren’t available. I consider them options 1a and 1b.
Haha my family is from Missouri so it's all about those chiefs
id get disowned for rooting for the bengals lmfao. And the buy once cry once is my philosophy at the moment. This is the last big purchase I'm making. My goal is to not regret spending the money by compromising and regretting it later on. I don't really plan on doing any rock crawling, (mostly because idk anywhere near me that has a nice rock garden) mostly creeks, mud trails, and a little bit of bogging here and there.
Haha my family is from Missouri so it's all about those chiefs
Yea man, you'd definitely get disowned. lol
"I got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor..."
Put this in a scrapbook so you can have a good chuckle down the road.
That's typically my goal as well.
My 2 cents. Upgrade your axle shafts at the same time. Once on the trail and locked the unbelievable better traction puts so much more strain (it seems) on them stock axles. Both Jeeps i installed lockers with stock axles broke shafts shortly afterwards. Chromoly and lockers go together like ….
Excellent advice.
@Weasellee Did you break the front or rear shaft? I upgraded to US made Revolution and Gear axles in the rear during the regear, etc.
I have Yukon inners up front to go with the Yukon hub kit since R&G didn’t have inventory at the time (during peak covid).
They’ve held up to some spirited moments, so far, which is all I can ask for.
I have yet to break a stock 44 rear shaft (jinx). Multiple front 30 stock shafts and a stock 44 shaft. Usually brake when in the rocks with the Boggers. Boggers, rocks and cheap axle shafts don’t mix well.
I have only seen chromo shafts brake once and when it did it detonated and made a mess.
I thought about going that route, I really did. I just didn't want to spend the money on it, install it, and wish I went with the selectable lockers later on down the road. Then I'd end up spending the money on e lockers anyways.
Plus, this is the last big purchase I am going to make to get my jeep where I want it to be. I've got the lift, big tires and long arm kit. After I regear and get lockers, it'll be mostly cosmetic stuff like flat fenders, lights, and probably about 1,236 rubber ducks to put on my dash
Yessir! Seems like your On&set with what you want........question is now,Eaton E-Locker,ARB,Or an OxLocker ?....Decisions Decisions
I may end up going with an Ox upfront for my HP30 build due to the fact I can run it with a cable,or pneumatically OR.....with a knob if any of those methods fail!
For the moment I'm rocking my Eaton Truetrack in the rear Dana 44 I like it alot,Mainly cause I can do donuts no problem at an instant without the "oh wait....lemme lock my axle
" rather than flipping a switch! And it's also very very predictable ! However people report that with bigger tires i.e 37s it tends to not lock up so much on the rocks due to the higher leverage of a big tire ! With my 31s It lock up no problem at all just tap the brake and bam my axle is "Locked"But once I build my rig as a dedicated Crawler not just a fun daily driven rig I may just end up slapping my rear 35 spline Arb locker
I have yet to break a stock 44 rear shaft (jinx). Multiple front 30 stock shafts and a stock 44 shaft. Usually brake when in the rocks with the Boggers. Boggers, rocks and cheap axle shafts don’t mix well.
I have only seen chromo shafts brake once and when it did it detonated and made a mess.
Good to know man thanks for sharing!
Did not read things fully, however I seen the back and forth about lockers. I found whatever was cheapest on marketplace before I did my regear and ended up with an arb in the rear and e locker in the front. No complaints about either, and have 4.88's with my 35's (5 speed). Would now prefer the 5.13's but not disappointed in what I have.
That settles it. ARB is better than Eaton in the rear, and Eaton is better than ARB in the front.
What are your tire plans? My guess is the shop figures that if you're going with the lowest gears possible you're probably going to get the biggest tires you can fit, in which case an open diff will reduce stress and help the axle live a little longer.
If your going to be rock crawling you're better off with a locker and limiting tire size to what the axle can handle. With chromo axles and full-case locker the Dana 30 can handle 35s.
Mine came with OX cable lockers, and I've been happy with them. But if I was doing a new install I'd go electric. Easier and cheaper to run and repair wire than air hose or cable. I must say the cable levers are pretty cool, though. More levers more better.
If your going to be rock crawling you're better off with a locker and limiting tire size to what the axle can handle. With chromo axles and full-case locker the Dana 30 can handle 35s.
Mine came with OX cable lockers, and I've been happy with them. But if I was doing a new install I'd go electric. Easier and cheaper to run and repair wire than air hose or cable. I must say the cable levers are pretty cool, though. More levers more better.
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Ox is always the right choice!
You must have got that from AI on a cell phone.
I know this is of no concern to the OP since he has a Dana 44 rear, but I always like to clarify when I see this in case someone else is looking for similar advice and ends up in this thread.
I absolutely agree that a Dana 35 should not run a locker, but if that Dana 35 is upgraded to a Super 35 (with 30 spline 1541 alloy shafts), you can definitely run a locker and up 35" tires.
You might consider putting a high pinion 30 in place of the TJ Dana 30. The HP 30 is stronger and gets the driveshaft more ground clearance. Hopefully someone will be able to give more info about the HP swap.
It may require a drive shaft change depending on lift height and such. I had to shorten my DS at stock height.
Also, a UCF or Savvy engine skid will require a different bracing arm, as the DS is now much higher.
When looking for a HP30, which vehicles are a straight swap to a TJ, or do the axle brackets always require modification when swapping in a HP30?
slightly different take here, I'd first be sure you're substantially invested in wheeling before spending the money on selectable lockers because they're expensive, whatever source actuates them. Maybe slap a lunchbox locker up front & wheel it a few times to see where that gets you, cheap as hell and you can probably slap it in yourself.
Just saying, I went wheeling once shortly after getting my TJ in 2016 and immediately put in 30 spline Super35/Super30 with air lockers plus a bunch of other nonsense, wheeled it pretty religiously for 3 years then all the air came out of the balloon (figuratively) & lost I all interest, spent the past 5 years un-building it, aesthetically anyway as all the performance shit is still underneath, and using it as a convertible street queen. In hindsight I could've saved thousands by leaving it largely intact but adding a lunchbox up front & maybe a Detroit in the rear with stronger shafts.
If you're sure you want/need the big daddy lockers, I'm pretty sure they'll all serve your purposes very effectively.
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