Front vs rear lockers

R

Rayz

New member
hello sorry if this has been covered before,tried search but ....I have a stock 2010 dr sport auto,w/3:73, 16 inch rims, am going to a 17x9 rim w/ 35" w/3.5" lift and am debating between 4.88 and 5.13 ratio, at he same time I would like to put in possibly an Ox locker (cable actuated, broken air lines do not amuse me ;)) would like to do both axles but may only be able to afford one locker atm... so lock up front or rear? gut is telling me rear, also an Advance Adapters Rubi-Crawler as well as proper driveshafts is in the mix at a later date...I'd like to end up with a very capable trail rig while being able to maintain 65-70 (I hardly ever go 70) Thanks for any help/advice..oh and it see's about 200 miles aweek (freeway)...cheers! ...ray
 
since you have a sport i would only lock the rear even if you go with 4.88. if you go to 5.13 i wouldnt even think about locking the front as it will make your r&p even smaller up front.
 
cozdude said:
since you have a sport i would only lock the rear even if you go with 4.88. if you go to 5.13 i wouldnt even think about locking the front as it will make your r&p even smaller up front.
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This. If you're upgrading your axle later, do the rear (assuming you'll upgrade your front). Personally I want to lock my front to make my front axle pull my rig when im stuck (im thinking on road snow as well as crawling) rather than push my rig up. But in a d30 I wouldn't get a locker up there.

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JKWrang said:
This. If you're upgrading your axle later, do the rear (assuming you'll upgrade your front). Personally I want to lock my front to make my front axle pull my rig when im stuck (im thinking on road snow as well as crawling) rather than push my rig up. But in a d30 I wouldn't get a locker up there.

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cozdude said:
since you have a sport i would only lock the rear even if you go with 4.88. if you go to 5.13 i wouldnt even think about locking the front as it will make your r&p even smaller up front.
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thanks , was leaning toward the 4.88's :) so about the front axle...with a D30 would a tru trac be the way to go? It will probably be like forever before i do an axle swap...and does it work well with the factory traction control?
 
Rayz said:
thanks , was leaning toward the 4.88's :) so about the front axle...with a D30 would a tru trac be the way to go? It will probably be like forever before i do an axle swap...and does it work well with the factory traction control?
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my factory traction control works great and my diff is still open up front. i dont see a need for a locker of any sort up front but thats just me
 
cozdude said:
my factory traction control works great and my diff is still open up front. i dont see a need for a locker of any sort up front but thats just me
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trails like the Dusy Ershim ,and the Rubicon its best to have lockers front and back :) or at least an LSD in front..but then I've no experience with factory traction control offroad last jeep was a yj with D30tru trac up front-worked great
 
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Rayz said:
trails like the Dusy Ershim ,and the Rubicon its best to have lockers front and back :) or at least an LSD in front..but then I've no experience with factory traction control offroad last jeep was a yj with D30tru trac up front-worked great
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in that case since you are out west (sorry i missed that part) they yea a tru trac up front would help. if you do 4.88's you could put a locker up front like the ox locker your talking about for the rear.
 
Agree with locking the rear first because it's a D44. I went with an ARB. If you don't want air, also consider an Eaton electric.
 
I wouldn't go past 488s on a d30. Gets too small.

I would lock the rear first as most of the time it will offer more traction (typically you are trying to go uphill when you need more traction, and probably 75% of your traction will be on the rear axle, so you want both of those wheels spinning!)


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You can in fact lock a dana 30 however it is risky. I know a guy who has a locked dana 30 and has had no problems i also know a guy who stripped the ring gear in a dana 30 on stock tires. Thats all I will say about that.
 
bl17z90 said:
You can in fact lock a dana 30 however it is risky. I know a guy who has a locked dana 30 and has had no problems i also know a guy who stripped the ring gear in a dana 30 on stock tires. Thats all I will say about that.
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I stripped 4 teeth off my d30 ring gear on my cj5 a couple years ago with 33's and stock 3.21 gears.

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well thank you all! at the risk of starting The Great Locker Debate of 2014, I was leaning towards the Ox cable because its a more mechanical operation which to me seems like less to go wrong, air locker= air line,air compressor air tank, electric=wires subject to shorts ,vs manual cable stand alone -does that make sense? thanks for advice on D30, will probably go with a tru trac seems it would be a little more forgiving than an actual locker (?) I would just put a Detroit in the rear but like for snow/ice locked is not always best..as I understand it , more thoughts and comments appreciated! I will be looking more into the e-lockers though :)
 
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Rayz said:
well thank you all! at the risk of starting The Great Locker Debate of 2014, I was leaning towards the Ox cable because its a more mechanical operation which to me seems like less to go wrong, air locker= air line,air compressor air tank, electric=wires subject to shorts ,vs manual cable stand alone -does that make sense?
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if you go with an air locker you dont need that much to make it work honestly. i have the ARB twin compressor and thats it! its great cause it works the locker and doubles as a tire filler.
 

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I constantly had problems with my air lockers. I currently have electic lockers, but if I was starting from scratch I too would lean towards the Ox locker. I've never tried one but that's the point.
 
From what I've heard the cable locker isn't that great. With the cable needing constant adjusting and not an easy trail fix if something was to happen. E-locker or air. Myself I would choose air. My :2cents:
 
I would say the 4.88 with 35's would be about perfect. My 08 jkur has the same setup your thinking about. as for the locker situation Put the Rear in first I wheeled a ton with only a rear locker for years. I would still recommend the ARB over any other. they are easily the strongest unit I have ever abused. Yea broken air lines suck but if routed correctly there no more a weak link than the electric wires that are on our Rubi's. Biggest problem with an ARB locker is to keep moisture out of the airline. They make kits for the ARB compressors to remote locate the intake into the compressor Not to mention is kinda nice being able to air up tires on the trail...
 
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