Which locker?

[Richie]

Im told that the best mod i can do to me sj for off road is put a locking diff in the rear.
However i need to keep it road usable, any advice as to which locker i should go for? Thx

[Jordi]

If you've got the cash go ARB air operated diff lock.

[ScottieJ]

ARB is the only way to go if you want an optional Difflock.

However the cheap Chinese rip off air lockers seem to be holding up well from what I have been reading on austrian forums and they are half the price, they'll never be the same quality as a proper ARB though.

[Richie]

They are about £600 lol, what about the Spartan locker or the lock tight ones?
Do you think they will make that much of a differance?

[ScottieJ]

Well those are more of an unlocker than a locker.

If there is torque being applied they are locked, only when you coast do they ratchet.

Personally I wouldn't put one on a vehicle that does a lot of road miles, you will need to adjust your driving style, i.e coast around corners because as soon as you put power down it'll lock.

[Anton]

Scottie - they *can* ratchet when you've got the power on, if they're set up correctly and you're not too much of a leadfoot. They lock the inner tyre, and the outer one can "outrun" it. Essentially neither tyre can go slower than the crown, but *one* of them can go faster.

[Edweird]

Scottie - they *can* ratchet when you've got the power on, if they're set up correctly and you're not too much of a leadfoot. They lock the inner tyre, and the outer one can "outrun" it. Essentially neither tyre can go slower than the crown, but *one* of them can go faster.

To me that sounds like an ideal situation. If they could make them so that they do that under any conditions I'd have thought they'd be better than standard differentials.

[ScottieJ]

ok yes i might've worded that badly. Yes they do still allow it to ratchet under some throttle but there is no doubt you'll need to change your driving style and i see nothing desirable about the inner wheel being locked around corners under throttle or heavy engine braking. If you live in an area like me and spend most of your time driving driving down twisty, bumpy country roads. every opposite corner you go around the drive will be swapping to the inside tyre and not being spread evenly between the wheels like with an open diff. this is why people say that they can feel unpredictable and push forward around corners. For something mostly used offroad they are spot on for the job

But

I guess it all comes down to where and how you want to drive really, I for one don't hang about down country lanes and would rather let the inside wheel loose a bit of traction when If i put too much power down than have it locking up. I'd rather spend the extra and have the option of an open diff or fully locked diff, hence why I have an ARB for the back of mine, if however my Sj was rarely used on road I would probably have a lockrite rear (or just weld it) and the ARB up front

[Anton]

Not saying they're desirable in any way - they're cheap, they're noisy, and more often than not, they *do* cause tyre skipping as if they're a spool when you're accelerating around a bend. I'd hate to have to do a hill start whilst turning with one, in snowy/icy conditions (like if you have to pull over to let traffic through, and need to turn back into the road to go around parked cars) because you're very likely to loose traction with one tyre, and then you could end up going sideways down an icy road.

Then there's the problem that they give you great traction aid off road, but also cause the truck to want to plough straight ahead, making steering a pita.

I'd personally love to fit ARB's front and rear, and electric linelocks - so I can skidsteer as if I had fiddle brakes. You couldn't do that with a lunchbox locker.

Still, for the money, there is probably no better way to improve a truck's ability to get through the sloppy stuff.

[mike harris]

Lock rights are for cool people !!