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Lockers - Air Lockers - Questions

1K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  XJH-007 
#1 ·
I have started looking into what all I plan to do with my jeep when I get it, so I can budget what I can spend on the truck + what all upgrades I plan on doing....

I have been looking into lockers and when I read the information about air lockers, it got me concerned about using regular lockers....

I do plan on offroading a bit, but mainly my jeep will be used as my daily driver too. When reading the information about air lockers it makes it sound like regular lockers can be diffiult to downright dangerous when used in everday driving....

Is this an exageration to help sell the air lockers? or is it really a bad idea to put lockers into a daily driver? Is it marketing hype?

Are airlockers worth the price? (a little over double per axle + the compressor and I am sure higher installation costs)

Thanks in advance...
 
#2 ·
i would never have a regular locker in my jeep ,even though i have never anything but airlockers .

by the sounds of it from what i hear on here" its not bad " or "its just fine to run lockers as a daily driver" but i dont think i would ever get use to my jeep making banging noises or racheting

most of the time i dont need or want to be locked up with all 4 tires ,infact on a offcamber,muddy side hill trail ,lockers will hinder you makeing it all but impossible to navigate .

air lockers have gotten me out of some bad situations.the only locker i would have would have to be a selectable.
 
#3 ·
I am running detriots from / rear on mine. Daily driver. Doesn't bother me a bit. But then again I drove my 72 velle, built motor, locked ford 9 inch with 4k stall converter as a daily driver also hahaha.

Besides the clunk / bang every now and then you dont really notice them.

The offroad performence you gain is crazy, just gotta watch out for the muddy / slippery off chamber areas that was mentioned above
 
#5 ·
cocoloco said:
i would never have a regular locker in my jeep ,even though i have never anything but airlockers .

by the sounds of it from what i hear on here" its not bad " or "its just fine to run lockers as a daily driver" but i dont think i would ever get use to my jeep making banging noises or racheting

most of the time i dont need or want to be locked up with all 4 tires ,infact on a offcamber,muddy side hill trail ,lockers will hinder you makeing it all but impossible to navigate .

air lockers have gotten me out of some bad situations.the only locker i would have would have to be a selectable.
Did you have to install a new carrier and have adjustments done to your rack-n-pinion? I asked a similar question in another forum and someone said I would have to, with selectable lockers.

By the way BrianJeep ... air lockers aren't the only selectable lockers around. There are also cable-driven lockers (eg. OX locker) and electric lockers (eg. ECTED). Do a Google search. Any good tidbits you find, please share!
 
#6 ·
Any selectable locker is going to be a full-case locker, meaning it replaces the carrier inside the differential. At a minimum this will require resetting the backlash on the ring gear. Most people install lockers when they regear their axles anyway, so this usually isn't much of an issue. A 'Detroit' is also a full case locker that replaces the carrier.

"Lunchbox" lockers, like the LockRight, No-Slip, Gearless, and Aussie only replace the spider gears in your existing carrier, so no changes to the gear setup are needed.

As far as DD'ing with an automatic locker, that's really a subjective thing. Some folks don't mind it, others hate it. Automatic lockers are much more streetable with an automatic transmission though, that's for certain.

I've been driving with a Detroit in the back of my XJ for over 6 years now, and while it's liveable, I definitely wouldn't go that route again if I was doing it over. That's why we went with an ARB in the back of our TJ when it came time to regear and lock it. A lot just really depends on your budget and how picky you are about how your vehicle(s) drive.
 
#7 ·
It all comes down to how much you're willing to spend right now. Selectable is by far the best route........but most of us can't drop 2K to gain the off-road performance of a locker.....so we've started out with a lunchbox locker and moved up from there.

<violin music begins>

As I reflect back to my first locker and the subsequent lockers since then, I too slowly migrated to the Selectable locker.......if I could have afforded it then I would have done it then.
 
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