Locker Newbie - Looking for some "Words of Wisdom" on wheeling with lockers ...

Going from personal experience wheeling a Suzuki Samurai with a front locker only, it SUCKED for, well, every off-road situation we came across. Going down a loose, dirt-rock hill the back end always wanted to slip out to the downhill side. Going up a loose hill of any type of terrain, the front end would slip out, going to the downhill side of the trail. Steering was impossible. Traversing a hill sideways, forget it! Couldn't steer into the hill at all. The front of the truck would just slip right down the hill. This was the worst mod my brother ever did to his Samurai. I don't know why he didn't do the back instead. I can only imagine a JK would be the same, but I'll never know.
 
JeepJeep75 said:
Going from personal experience wheeling a Suzuki Samurai with a front locker only, it SUCKED for, well, every off-road situation we came across. Going down a loose, dirt-rock hill the back end always wanted to slip out to the downhill side. Going up a loose hill of any type of terrain, the front end would slip out, going to the downhill side of the trail. Steering was impossible. Traversing a hill sideways, forget it! Couldn't steer into the hill at all. The front of the truck would just slip right down the hill. This was the worst mod my brother ever did to his Samurai. I don't know why he didn't do the back instead. I can only imagine a JK would be the same, but I'll never know.
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I will have to swap it around and try the rear engagement first. At this point I don't know any better. But I can say it has worked out pretty well thus far. Thanks guys.

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Randy Tadevich said:
I will have to swap it around and try the rear engagement first. At this point I don't know any better. But I can say it has worked out pretty well thus far. Thanks guys.

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You should be able to just swap the connectors on the manifold solenoids (and obviously relabel your switches up front by swapping covers) to change it around I would think.
 
90% of the time you only need the rear locker...only lock the front when absolutely necessary, then unlock the front asap...it puts less stress on your front axle (which usually is the weaker of the two) and makes steering much easier.

I have arb lockers front & rear in the Brute & JK6, and an arb in the rear of the Anvil & stock rubicon locker in the front...the rear locker always engages 1st, followed by the front selectively.

When climbing sand hills or dunes, you should be in 4hi and no lockers engaged


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^^^ this. I will lock the rear before a big obstacle but rarely ever engage the front unless it's pretty straight and I'm struggling.

Most of the time I only use both to get out of mud holes that were deeper than expected


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2nd.gunman said:
^^^ this. I will lock the rear before a big obstacle but rarely ever engage the front unless it's pretty straight and I'm struggling.

Most of the time I only use both to get out of mud holes that were deeper than expected


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Exactly! When you have the front locked you have to plan ahead so you have enough space to unlock and unload the locker so you can steer.


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I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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When, you're on a hill, the weight of the rig is squatted rearward. A rear locker will give you more traction. A front wheel drive car on flat snow doesn't really compare in my opinion. Sure it's great on the road due to the engine weight on the tires and while steering, where as a RWD vehicle, the rear axle will want to direct the vehicle when you give it to much traction.
 
Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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Leave the front open for maneuvering, the back to do the pushing. When going up an obstacle, most weight is on the back tires, they're less likely to come off the ground, and will give you better pushing force then the front pulling.

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Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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The problem you have again is lack of steering. Now if you are on a straight obstacle and you do not have to turn then it won't matter, but if you have turn quickly that won't be happening. The nice thing about ox lockers wheen I had then in my cj7 was I had two control levers and could lock or unlock each one individually. Not sure if arb can be set up that way or not, but I don't see why they couldn't. The other reason for locking the rear first is that it is the stronger axle so it is less likely to break.

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Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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Click to expand...

In your searching, what type of terrain are these people wheeling on that prefer to have the front locked first?
 
Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first.
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Not sure where you've been searching or where you've been finding this information but it clearly wasn't on here.
 
Randy Tadevich said:
I did some searching on this subject out of curiosity and there seems to be more people than I would have thought that prefer to lock the front first. In thinking about it myself, my simple mind thinks of it like this.... it would be easier to pull a weighted object up from below than trying to push it up. My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow, to keep it simple stupid. Plus if the rear is locked first, wouldn't that essentially be shoving the rig into an obstacle? What arguments for the rear locked first?

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Click to expand...

I say you go out and try and you will come up with a better conclusion :)


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Randy Tadevich said:
My second thought is that most cars have gone to a front wheel drive system and front wheel drive cars are better in the snow
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:cheesy: Go find a front wheel drive car with a LOCKED diff & try to go around a corner in the snow & see what happens......
 
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