[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by 88hatchy

I compared two competing products that are very similar in their design and are on the market at the same time. Aside from maybe the tail lights, CJs and TJs are very different in design (and are obviously not competing). The OX locker is just as reliable as an ARB locker.
Your Space Shuttle analogy is inacurate, it was not built to compete with another product. It was build to meet the needs of an evolving space program.

The answer is yes, OX lockers perform on par with ARB lockers.

Yes, you compared two competing products, but your basis for recommending one over the other was the POTENTIAL for failure while admitting the historical reliability of the one not recommended and that was your deciding criteria.

OX will only ever be on par with ARB when they have been around as long and have made as many lockers as ARB has with the same or less defects per 1000 that ARB has. Wait, have they even made a 1000 lockers yet?

[88hatchy]

How many broken OX lockers have you seen?

[clintrivera]

Originally Posted by 88hatchy

How many broken OX lockers have you seen?

I'm not sure I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a vehicle equipped with an ox locker. They are pretty easy to spot, with that giant ugyly diff cover. Of the handfull of OX lockers that I've actually seen, one of them was having trouble engaging the thing.

On the other hand, I see (and hear) ARB's on every single trail run I go on. By sheer number, you are going to see more failures on ARB's since they actually sell them. A TON of them.

If you want to make yourself feel better about your purchase, go ahead. I'm not sure you are going to convince anyone that there is no good reason ARB's destroy OX lockers not only in sales, but in use in competition.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by 88hatchy

How many broken OX lockers have you seen?

Besides the one that OX told me was a paperweight and several of the D-60 versions that wouldn't stay engaged? Not many.

[Jeeper69]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

They are, my rear Detroit Locker was originally behind a 5-speed manual before an automatic replaced it. But even so, there was not a major difference that I really noticed between how it worked behind the two different transmissions. I considered it nearly as well behaved behind the manual transmission too. Which is to say I loved my Detroit Locker when it was behind the 5-speed just as much as after the conversion to the automatic.

When people say that "it finds the low side of slopes", what does this mean(I'm thinking the Jeep is sliding, if so wouldn't open diffs cause the same problem)? Why don't most people just get Detroits to save money then if they're so great? I guess I don't understand...

But I'm really leaning towards the Detroit locker after this thread

[floridajpr]

If you have never had an OX locker, then you are just assuming, guessing, putting out info like I seen on the trail once or a friend of mine said?

Straight out of Moab Jeeper Magazine!

Technical / Installation Articles - Engine / Drivetrain

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You have to understand also that we people that have OX lockers think that ARB's and alot of the other popular lockers are great lockers also! We just do not understand why people think that by talking about how great of an experiance we have had with our OX lockers, people still jump on the OX locker like it is a POS or it has to be around longer than thier particular locker they have/use to be as good as thier locker!

We just are giving the info of people that actually have and use the particular OX lockers to the people that want and ask info about lockers. When the product that the people that have and use the product get attacked by someone whom has never had or used the product there is usually a counter attack and then this happens! If I am on the trail and I need help and you have a different locker than me, I would gladly ask for your help and I think Vice Versa! Lets all be friends now and Get along with each other. No tellin when one might meet the other on or off the beaten path and need some assitance! I would help out another Jeeper no mater WHAT!





OX Locker
Article written by Moab Man

Date Added: 05/04/2006


I'm going to say it right up front; The Ox locker is a smooth shifting, bomb proof locker. It is almost zero maintenance and incorporates many features not found on other lockers.









The Ox Locker is a selectable locker offering both a fully open and fully locked differential. A simple shift of the lever takes you from a smooth daily driver to a serious off roader. Many of you know that OX Locker was around before but disappeared for a while. As unfortunate as that was, I'm thrilled to say the company has come back bigger and stronger with a better OX Locker than ever before.

If you're familiar with the original OX Locker, there were complaints about the cable actuation and the locker not staying engaged. The biggest problem seemed to be from people NOT FOLLOWING THE CABLE SETUP DIRECTIONS! OX Products has continued to refine the locker by adding four springs in the shifting collar of the locker. These four springs help to drive the collar into the unlocked position in the event of a broken cable. This is perfect for the daily driver wheeler.

While they were improving an already rock-solid product, OX decided to add one more spider gear to the inside of the locker to help disperse the load. Any other locker on the market uses only three spiders, but this is simply one of those times where more IS better.

For the overall construction of the locker, I have to defer to the comments of my mechanic who does all my gear and locker work. He stated that this is simply the heaviest, solid, most overbuilt (in a good way) locker he has laid his hands on. It so impressed him that he changed his mind on the locker he was planning to install in his own Jeep.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by floridajpr

If you have never had an OX locker, then you are just assuming, guessing, putting out info like I seen on the trail once or a friend of mine said?

Try again. All of my info comes straight from my personal experiences and living on the trail with one in JV that blew up and was not warrantied. I did the installation of the cable and shifter so I know what's involved there.

Straight out of Moab Jeeper Magazine!

Technical / Installation Articles - Engine / Drivetrain

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





OX Locker
Article written by Moab Man

Date Added: 05/04/2006


I'm going to say it right up front; The Ox locker is a smooth shifting, bomb proof locker. It is almost zero maintenance and incorporates many features not found on other lockers.









The Ox Locker is a selectable locker offering both a fully open and fully locked differential. A simple shift of the lever takes you from a smooth daily driver to a serious off roader. Many of you know that OX Locker was around before but disappeared for a while. As unfortunate as that was, I'm thrilled to say the company has come back bigger and stronger with a better OX Locker than ever before.

If you're familiar with the original OX Locker, there were complaints about the cable actuation and the locker not staying engaged. The biggest problem seemed to be from people NOT FOLLOWING THE CABLE SETUP DIRECTIONS! OX Products has continued to refine the locker by adding four springs in the shifting collar of the locker. These four springs help to drive the collar into the unlocked position in the event of a broken cable. This is perfect for the daily driver wheeler.

While they were improving an already rock-solid product, OX decided to add one more spider gear to the inside of the locker to help disperse the load. Any other locker on the market uses only three spiders, but this is simply one of those times where more IS better.

For the overall construction of the locker, I have to defer to the comments of my mechanic who does all my gear and locker work. He stated that this is simply the heaviest, solid, most overbuilt (in a good way) locker he has laid his hands on. It so impressed him that he changed his mind on the locker he was planning to install in his own Jeep.

If you are somewhat astute, it's not hard to read between the lines and understand that some of the engagement and disengagement issues they were having were mitigated or attempted to by adding additional springs.

That said, I thought the cables were bulletproof and didn't break?

As far as the extra spider gear, if the lockers are or were a "rock-solid" product then why the modification which does not move cost down?

The author should also check to make sure ALL other lockers are in fact 3 spider designs.

[floridajpr]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

Besides the one that OX told me was a paperweight and several of the D-60 versions that wouldn't stay engaged? Not many.

Number one problem with OX lockers is people do not follow the INSTRUCTIONS on how to route and install the cable! Sounds like the person not following instructions, not the locker!

[floridajpr]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

Try again. All of my info comes straight from my personal experiences and living on the trail with one in JV that blew up and was not warrantied. I did the installation of the cable and shifter so I know what's involved there.




If you are somewhat astute, it's not hard to read between the lines and understand that some of the engagement and disengagement issues they were having were mitigated or attempted to by adding additional springs.

That said, I thought the cables were bulletproof and didn't break?

As far as the extra spider gear, if the lockers are or were a "rock-solid" product then why the modification which does not move cost down?

The author should also check to make sure ALL other lockers are in fact 3 spider designs.

All coming from a person that has never had an OX locker! It's always, I seen it on the trail or a friend of mine said or something to the nature. Stop knocking a great product, just because you have another different great product and understand that there are multiple great products out there which in turn makes competition, which in turn lowers the price of great products for the masses to enjoy! Go make some great brake pads and rotors.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by floridajpr

All coming from a person that has never had an OX locker! It's always, I seen it on the trail or a friend of mine said or something to the nature. Stop knocking a great product, just because you have another different great product and understand that there are multiple great products out there which in turn makes competition, which in turn lowers the price of great products for the masses to enjoy! Go make some great brake pads and rotors.

While I may not have personally owned an OX, I was responsible for the rig it was installed in, I did the build, I helped pick out the parts, and then we went wheeling. When it broke, it was me who picked up the pieces, it was me who towed the rig out, it was me who then arranged for a gear guy to set up the ARB and remove the OX.

What you overlooked is I don't have to own something to know it. The rig it was in belonged to a very dear friend and we spent many many days on the trails together in JV and due to him having an illness as a child, his mobility is limited, so my promise to him was always to be near him on the trail in case he needed assistance. Nearness out there means his rig always followed mine as in next in line.

I lived up to that promise just as I did when I put the brake kit on it, put the hub kit on it, put the steering on it, installed the cage in it, put the lift kit on it, put the rear axle in it, installed the A/R on it, put the CTM's in it, and then I did all the maintenance on it. So while it may not have been my personal rig, it may as well have been because the only thing that was different was I didn't drive it on the trail for him or pay for it.

So like I said, try again.

[biffgnar]

Originally Posted by floridajpr

Go make some great brake pads and rotors.

Personally I have many more non-brake related parts on my jeep that were designed by Blaine than I do brake-related parts so if you think his expertise stops there I'd suggest doing a bit more research.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by biffgnar

personally i have many more non-brake related parts on my jeep that were designed by blaine than i do brake-related parts so if you think his expertise stops there i'd suggest doing a bit more research.

x2.

[Garza]

I'm going to chime in with my experience. I've been rockcrawling since 1994. I started competitively rockcrawling in 2000. I had ARB's f&r in my personal trail rig Toyota 8" axles. The comp Jeep had Dana 60s with ARB's. In over 10 years of combined trail riding/competition, I never had one issue with a switch, seal, o-ring, or trouble with a locker engaging or disengaging. Only had a problem with the old small compressor which is an easy fix. Over the years I have personally installed 9 ARB lockers whether it be my or a friends rig.

Fast forward to 2010. I get a request fom a friend to help install his Dana 30 OX locker. The locker install itself was not hard, but we had issues getting the thing to stay engaged. Some tweaking with the cable and the shifter seemed to fix that. After several months, he convinced a couple of his buddies to get an OX. Now on my last wheeling trip before I moved out west, I find myself on the trail with 3 rigs with OX lockers, 2 of them f&r 1 front only. Not 2 hours into wheeling, one of the Jeeps nails his front diff into a rock and the front locker won't engage. Closer inspection showed he nailed it right where the cable enters the cover....I instantly think...what a crappy design. It bent it/pulled it enough to damage it and rendered it useless the rest of the weekend.

Now I know that example is no fault of a failed part or piece of OX, but IMHO was and still is a crappy design. Add the air actuator and I say crappy X2.

I personally have nothing against OX, but I won't recommend them just based on my experience with ARB's. Of all the competitions I was in and been to, there is a reason the ARB was/is the selectable locker of choice.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Garza

I personally have nothing against OX, but I won't recommend them just based on my experience with ARB's. Of all the competitions I was in and been to, there is a reason the ARB was/is the selectable locker of choice.

You and I both having existed in a competition environment know that if there was a hint of an advantage to any style of locker regardless of it's cost, it would be in many rigs.

[Jeeper69]

Originally Posted by Jeeper69

When people say that "it finds the low side of slopes", what does this mean(I'm thinking the Jeep is sliding, if so wouldn't open diffs cause the same problem)? Why don't most people just get Detroits to save money then if they're so great? I guess I don't understand...

But I'm really leaning towards the Detroit locker after this thread

??