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Chinese vs ARB Locker video

General Tech Talk

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Post by thehanko »

azzad wrote:Id be keen to see what the actual price of these copies are.

I dont have any lockers at the moment but it would depend on price as to which way I went.

Dazza
last time i looked on ebay they were going for about $500 give or take. plus compressor fitting etc.
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Post by azzad »

At that price I would give it a go I reckon.

I can fit it myself and I already have air comp etc.

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Post by Sixty's Guy »

I'd like to see a comparison between the Chinese Locker and the Lock Right.
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Post by HTH »

ive looked for them on ebay before but never seen??
would love if someone could post me a link 2 one??
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Post by scuba steve 22 »

HTH wrote:Ive looked for them on eBay before but never seen??
would love if someone could post me a link 2 one??
i haven't seen any 4 a while now
seem to have disappeared
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Post by HTH »

thanks anyway.. if anyone finds them around PM. cheers
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Post by Dingo »

Sixty's Guy wrote:I'd like to see a comparison between the Chinese Locker and the Lock Right.
Lockrite will slip before it breaks on that sort of jig
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Post by bowtie landie »

HTH wrote:thanks anyway.. if anyone finds them around PM. cheers
china4x4offroad.com

they sent me an email a few days ago - still advertising the ARB copies.

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Post by flexytj »

i would not install this rubbish in my diffs after seeing the rest of the try hard 4wd accessories that come from china i am happy to pay for good quality gear for my car .

if it fails it will fail when you need it most
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Post by beinthemud »

electrical lockers coming to a store near you soon
with a massive bonus no arb
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Post by KiwiBacon »

flexytj wrote:i would not install this rubbish in my diffs after seeing the rest of the try hard 4wd accessories that come from china i am happy to pay for good quality gear for my car .

if it fails it will fail when you need it most
Did you watch the video?
The chinese locker outlasted the axle they used to test it. The axle permanently twisted before the locker broke.
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Post by flexytj »

KiwiBacon wrote:
flexytj wrote:i would not install this rubbish in my diffs after seeing the rest of the try hard 4wd accessories that come from china i am happy to pay for good quality gear for my car .

if it fails it will fail when you need it most
Did you watch the video?
The chinese locker outlasted the axle they used to test it. The axle permanently twisted before the locker broke.
again i would not put junk on my car the finish was crap , i bet if you shockload the driveline it would be catastrophic to that chinese locker .

but if people want to use them that is up to them .
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Post by Strange Rover »

KiwiBacon wrote:
flexytj wrote:i would not install this rubbish in my diffs after seeing the rest of the try hard 4wd accessories that come from china i am happy to pay for good quality gear for my car .

if it fails it will fail when you need it most
Did you watch the video?
The chinese locker outlasted the axle they used to test it. The axle permanently twisted before the locker broke.
This was a brand new locker that failed in a one time test.

Now its obvious the quality isnt the same as the ARB.

How about we put that chinese locker in the back of a road driven 4wd for 100 000 Ks and then see how strong it is...

I could imagine it wouldnt last 50 000 ks with some moderate wheeling thrown in...the thing would probably just grind itself into a pile of rubble.

I have seen a single ARB break many, many axles...time after time and still not have issues.

And this chinese locker couldnt even break one??

So what about the rest of the equation...service? parts? warrantee?

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Post by PJ.zook »

There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.
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Post by ferrit »

CNC machinery aint cheap- you gotta pay for it somehow!

Ever priced a CNC Billet engine block? its nothing but ONE piece of machined metal, but wait till you see how much they want for it!
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Post by flexytj »

PJ.zook wrote:There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.

i think people forget the r&d , logistics , cost of facilities , machinery , equipment , employee and other costs when they are purchasing things
yes you buy some machined steel but you companies have to keep there
doors open some how .


profit is not a dirty word .
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Post by scuba steve 22 »

flexytj wrote:
PJ.zook wrote:There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.

i think people forget the r&d , logistics , cost of facilities , machinery , equipment , employee and other costs when they are purchasing things
yes you buy some machined steel but you companies have to keep there
doors open some how .


profit is not a dirty word .
so y can i get them cheaper from the USA ???
this is what pisses most people off
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Post by flexytj »

scuba steve 22 wrote:
flexytj wrote:
PJ.zook wrote:There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.

i think people forget the r&d , logistics , cost of facilities , machinery , equipment , employee and other costs when they are purchasing things
yes you buy some machined steel but you companies have to keep there
doors open some how .


profit is not a dirty word .
so y can i get them cheaper from the USA ???
this is what pisses most people off

everything is cheaper in the usa tyres,cars,engines,food you name it it will be cheaper in the usa . there market size is much larger than ours say a 4wd shop over here may keep a few lockers in stock or most just order them as required but in the usa places like quadratec and 4wd hardware would buy them in pallet quantity as a minimum which = a better buy price .

i have also heard that arb manufactures alot of there products for foriegn markets in thailand ( or somewhere near there ) i dont know how much truth there is to that though
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Post by TheOtherLeft »

flexytj wrote:
scuba steve 22 wrote:
flexytj wrote:
PJ.zook wrote:There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.

i think people forget the r&d , logistics , cost of facilities , machinery , equipment , employee and other costs when they are purchasing things
yes you buy some machined steel but you companies have to keep there
doors open some how .


profit is not a dirty word .
so y can i get them cheaper from the USA ???
this is what pisses most people off

everything is cheaper in the usa tyres,cars,engines,food you name it it will be cheaper in the usa . there market size is much larger than ours say a 4wd shop over here may keep a few lockers in stock or most just order them as required but in the usa places like quadratec and 4wd hardware would buy them in pallet quantity as a minimum which = a better buy price .

i have also heard that arb manufactures alot of there products for foriegn markets in thailand ( or somewhere near there ) i dont know how much truth there is to that though
The ARB lockers are made in their factory in Melbourne. They make them here so transport costs should be minimal, plus since the US market is the biggest, making a few more for us locals shouldn't be a hard ask. Since they are local the economies of scale argument I think is mute.
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Post by chimpboy »

TheOtherLeft wrote:The ARB lockers are made in their factory in Melbourne. They make them here so transport costs should be minimal, plus since the US market is the biggest, making a few more for us locals shouldn't be a hard ask. Since they are local the economies of scale argument I think is mute.
They cost more in Australia because that is the price the market will bear, and there is very little in the way of competition.

This represents a market opportunity and sooner or later alternatives are going to be nearly as good, and significantly cheaper, and the prices will come down. But it doesn't seem like that day is quite here yet.
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Post by Strange Rover »

scuba steve 22 wrote:so y can i get them cheaper from the USA ???
this is what pisses most people off
So where can you get them cheaper in the USA???

I would love to know!!!

Quick search of one of the leading USA aftermarket accessory store...and it looks like they are cheaper here.

So I guess you must know sombody who can get you a much better deal in the US.

Check the prices...

http://www.4wheelparts.com/jeep-parts-l ... x?plID=357

US$895.99 works out to be AUS$1255.25 on x-rates.com


Price seems about right IMO.

Now you can get a container to the US for way less than $10000...an airlocker box is about 1ftx1ftx1ft say so in a 40ftx8ftx10ft container you can get about 3200 air lockers in there so freight is about $3.20 each.....

Freight means nothing when you start talking quantity...imagine the price you could get if you bought a container load of air lockers..

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Post by joeblow »

PJ.zook wrote:There is no doubting that ARB is good quality, its just a pity they have to charge so much for what is really a few pieces of machined steel. Granted you have all the time and effort that went into designing and perfecting them, but still, i suppose if you dont like paying that much, then dont.
yes........drivetrain components are so easy to manufacture and its as simple as getting a few bits of steel and machining them up.......not. ring your local toyota, nissan or suzuki dealer and see what price they want for an open diff, one would think they would be cheap considering the millions they make, not the case. then compare thiere price to the replacement cost with an airlocker. its like having a prang and finding out your plastic bumper is worth more than an aftermarket bar!

also its a lovely thing when you go to the chinese website and they have pics of thier airlockers in a lovely rusty state.........ahh.....good pr.......... :shock:
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Post by azzad »

Out of interest I emailed china4x4offroad asking for a pic of the internals; I didnt get anything of the internals only the whole package.

Asking price was $450us including wiring, switches and compressor.

I have asked again for a picture as I want to see the quality of the internal gears; will see what they come up with and let you all know.

I am not in a position to purchase at the moment; I am just doing this out of curosity.

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Post by mike_nofx »

So a biased test shows they are shit... today.

Give them time, they will learn and they will be just as good. There was a time when you wouldn't buy a chinese electrical appliance, now try find one that isn't.

Just like Korea. Compare the first Hyundai's to todays line-up.

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Post by PJ.zook »

mike_nofx wrote:So a biased test shows they are shit... today.

Give them time, they will learn and they will be just as good. There was a time when you wouldn't buy a chinese electrical appliance, now try find one that isn't.

Just like Korea. Compare the first Hyundai's to todays line-up.

Mike

Very true, unfortunately the Hundai's are an extremely good buy for the money, unfortunately that is for the aussie manufactured brands.
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Post by coxy321 »

There is an outerlimits member that purchased one a while back when they first came out. Pretty sure it was for either an 80 series or GQ, however i can't remember the guys username. He would have racked up 10,000km on it by now if he's still running it.
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Post by bowtie landie »

I believe one of the guys was running one in the front of a Nissan in round 1 of 4WD Action Tough Tracks Challenge this year. He gave it a hard time and it stood up OK.

We need guys like this to be test bunnies - to try these products out and let us know hoe they go.
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Post by Dozoor »

KiwiBacon wrote:
jessie928 wrote:far out

going by that video, i reakon i would be more than happy with a chinese locker for half the price of an arb.

most trucks will not give anywhere near as much punishment to the diffs ( enough to snap an axle or shear a gear at those pressures).

Imagine a 3b diesel in a 42? or a 2.8 patrol, they would have to swallow a truckload of nitroglyicerine to have enough power, or even come close to haveing that much torque on ONE axle..

Jes
That's what I'm thinking.

Both lockers took more than was necessary to permanently twist the axle used.
I'd like to see a test with stronger axles to show the failure point of the arb. Because for all we know it could be 1% more load than the axle snapped at, which would make the arb 8% stronger than the chinese copy.
A bigger sample would be good to.

Still, unless the chinese bring out a landrover compatible one it won't change my buying options.
Actual torque getting to a single wheel can be easily twice that depending on your setups .

For instance even a 1.3 suzuki with series 3 gearing ,
Around 70 ft lb x 3.652 first x 6.1 low range x 3.9 final = 6423 ft lb

jump up to say my Grand chero ,

4.7 v8 300ftlb x 3.1 first x1.5 auto converter X 2.72 low range x around 3.9 final = 14,796 ft lb.

BANG !!!
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Post by g35me »

Strange Rover wrote:
scuba steve 22 wrote:so y can i get them cheaper from the USA ???
this is what pisses most people off
So where can you get them cheaper in the USA???

I would love to know!!!

Quick search of one of the leading USA aftermarket accessory store...and it looks like they are cheaper here.

So I guess you must know sombody who can get you a much better deal in the US.

Check the prices...

http://www.4wheelparts.com/jeep-parts-l ... x?plID=357

US$895.99 works out to be AUS$1255.25 on x-rates.com


Price seems about right IMO.

Now you can get a container to the US for way less than $10000...an airlocker box is about 1ftx1ftx1ft say so in a 40ftx8ftx10ft container you can get about 3200 air lockers in there so freight is about $3.20 each.....

Freight means nothing when you start talking quantity...imagine the price you could get if you bought a container load of air lockers..

Sam
Not a fair comparison, 6 - 9 months ago when the au$ was 98us cents lockers were alot cheaper to import from the USA. I have front and rear ARB lockers and the rear is a constant leaker if I had my time again I wouldnt have bought them.
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Post by simkell »

I have front and rear ARB lockers and the rear is a constant leaker if I had my time again I wouldnt have bought them.[/quote]

From my experience, the only time the air locker leaks air, is either from improper installation or that the sealing surface has a worn groove from the 'O' rings due to age. Not sure thou if the sealing surface can be sleeved to repair, someone else may be able to help out here.
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