Dual Transfer Case and front locker

[Uncle Ben]

Hey UB, isn't that pretty much true of EVERYTHING? They never fail when they are just sitting there. Ever break an axle driving to the grocery store?
Mine have never failed though. The O-rings have needed replacing. I do have redundant compressors and one did fail, while the other was perfectly serviceable, though!
It's all about redundancy.
Or about having two things to rely on, one or the other...

Actually I did have one break going to the grocery store! Snapped a rear axle on Long Grain pulling onto the highway!

BTW Bill, we are talking about rigs that actually go off asphalt!

 

[Rezarf]

FWIW, IanB installed a toybox... I think that is what it is. He might be of some help of what it takes to instal and get moving.... but his rig isn't moving

 

[leiniesred]

I've run open, tru-trac, and ez lockered, and ARB'd front diffs on the same truck.


Open = yeah.

Tru-trac = fine on the street in any condition, little squirrly on snow/ice, and only marginally better on the trail. Use the brakes to provide the bias to get it to lock up when a tire is in the air? That is how I broke the output shaft on the front differential.

Detroit EZ-Locker = not quite as nice as a REAL detroit, but pretty close. On the road, my top 4x4 speed was dropped to about 30MPH due to squirrlyness. On the trail it made things easy, except steering. If you can get to 2Low (twin stick? dual cases?) then you can unlock for those sharp turns on slickrock. Also, on sidehills locked, you tend to go downhill a lot more. (weight transfer to the low side = smaller effective tire radius so it "pushes" you down the hill.) On steep descents with compression braking going on, you are going to be locked the entire way. Steering will be tough. My wife STILL won't drive my truck after experiencing this; driving downhill, couldn't turn, almost rolled truck. (I think I turned off the engine for her before it went over.)

ARB=Perfect on the street open. On the trail, the only hard part it remembering to engage it. It unlocks easily. (sometimes I have to goose it, but that's about it)

UB: Jkimmel wrecked a detroit locker when something broke. Here the theory: The auto-lockers all have some backlash. This is enough room to let things unwind a little more than an ARB or E-locker when something breaks. The extra momentum is what breaks the detroits when the ARB lives on. I have had line/air supply problems only so far. All easily fixed on the trail. I haven't had to replace an ARB o-ring in 3+ years either. Again. the worst part for me is remembering to turn the things on. I didn't have this problem with the automatic lockers!

 

[MDH33]

So it sounds like the perfect combo for my rig would be the Orion and ARBs. How much coin is a full ARB setup these days?

 

[Uncle Ben]

So it sounds like the perfect combo for my rig would be the Orion and ARBs. How much coin is a full ARB setup these days?

OUCH! If ya gotta ask you better save up a while longer!

 

[MDH33]

OUCH! If ya gotta ask you better save up a while longer!

Ouch is right, I just looked at Cruiser Outfitters and looks like it would cost around 2 grand for just the parts. . . Might have to sell some other toys first.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Ouch is right, I just looked at Cruiser Outfitters and looks like it would cost around 2 grand for just the parts. . . Might have to sell some other toys first.

Too bad Timm bought the front axle WITH ARB and the locked FF from me for so cheap!

 

[J Kimmel]

UB: Jkimmel wrecked a detroit locker when something broke. Here the theory: The auto-lockers all have some backlash. This is enough room to let things unwind a little more than an ARB or E-locker when something breaks. The extra momentum is what breaks the detroits when the ARB lives on. I have had line/air supply problems only so far. All easily fixed on the trail. I haven't had to replace an ARB o-ring in 3+ years either. Again. the worst part for me is remembering to turn the things on. I didn't have this problem with the automatic lockers!

someone mentioned salvageable...

I bet it could've been, the side gear inside it was completely stripped. I heard you can buy replacement parts from Detroit. I did manage to break a rear at one point (remember that one ) and that Detroit was fine.

The only thing I can add...I had detroits F&R for a long time, DD all that stuff. It was a 4Runner, so LWB. I rode in a friends Jeep TJ that had a detroit rear, (read-SWB) and the handling characteristics were much different, a lot more squirrely than I had experienced in mine.

I think the wheelbase makes a difference, I'd opt for ARB for a SWB, I've got an ARB front now and I've had issues a few times and each time was solved by pulling the solenoid apart and cleaning it thoroughly.

 

[Cheeseman]

I always get on these things late. But I have ARB's in both my runner and 62. The main reason is that my wife drives both of these. Well she will again when the runner is finished in the not to distant future. She does not and will not understand anything other than an open diff on the street. Yes I know I should take her license away and that would fix things. But you, ... well,.... that ain't gonna happen. Thing is when an ARB is engaged it is basically a spooled differential at that point. So you learn to live with it. Check the seals. Keep clean air. Breath the axle and life isn't too bad. I wheel with the rear in all the time and use the front when I need it. But as has been said, don't try and steer. Nice to have the choice in the front when you need it.
________
Ship Sale

 

[(¯`·._.·[xtr3m3]·._.·´¯)]

I am in the same boat as you Martin. ARB and Orion would be sweet, but I can replace quite a few clutches for a whole lot less $, and usually get to the same spot.

Will the Orion fit in my 79 FJ40 without having to worry about the placement of the gas tank?