Air Locker Front or Back?

Post by **RAY185** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:53 pm

I am having an ARB Air Locker installed into my 40 next week. I can only afford one at the moment so I'm tossing up whether to put it in front or rear. I had my mind set on front but when I booked it the fella at ARB said that if I was only going for one locker for now its more beneficial in the rear.

Whats your thoughts? I intend on getting the other locker sometime next year so now I am unsure of which end to lock first. Got any reasons for locking front or rear first? If so post it up so u can help me decide.

Post by **high n mighty** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:06 pm

I guess ya LSD is completely shagged by now(if it has one).

I would go for the back for a few reasons.

Front messes with your steering(you could switch it when turning sharp though).
In the rear you could use it for some situations where you couldn't be bothered locking your hubs(like some mega BI-LOW speed humps)
In the rear you could easily flick it on to show off to your mates

Probably be better in the front for driving steep hills where there is less weight on the front.

Def better on the front for climbing steep rocks etc because it would be pulling the front up, not trying to push it from the rear.

Theres my quick rant from a bloke who doesn't oen lockers

Post by **ozy1** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:06 pm

do you have a rear LSD at the moment, if not, id say go the rear, but if you do, id say in the front,

also, if you can get an LSD cheap, put it in the rear and lock the front,

Post by **RAY185** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:11 pm

ozy1 wrote:do you have a rear LSD at the moment, if not, id say go the rear, but if you do, id say in the front,

also, if you can get an LSD cheap, put it in the rear and lock the front,

Nope, I'm open both ends.

Post by **ozy1** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:23 pm

as said above, its a personal choice, when it comes to steering and climbing, id say go the rear, but thats just me,

Post by **Screwy** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:29 pm

personally from my experiance with lockers, and driving in other peeps rigs with lockers....

i would lock the front with an air locker first. it hits the rocks first and gets the chance to grab traction first.

also u can easily get LSD rears, and also weld the rear up with little consequence

Post by **customhilux** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:29 pm

i'd go front even if ya didn't have an lsd

Post by **Doggy** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:24 pm

I'd went front for my first air locker, got a limo in the back of my gq shorty which is still tops so the front seemed the way to go. Plus as said before the front hits first in most places so it helps pull you up and when I get to a point where I need all my steering I just turn it off...simple

Post by **Slunnie** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:24 pm

I have no doubt that rear is the go. When you climb, the weight is on the rear which will drive you. No weight on the front is no traction anyway. With power steering the front locker doesn't seem to bother the steering wheel at all, but when the fronts lose traction (with an unlocked rear) and start to spin, it will spin the front of the truck around or smack you into a wall so fast its not funny. Rears for sure. Rears are also easier on your CV's.

Post by **Josh n Kat** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:02 pm

Nah i'm gonna say go the front. although i have an lsd in the rear of my gq, which i gotta say works bloody well, the front air locker quite often gets me outa trouble when i need it.

But heres another 2 scenarios for ya! i got a mate whose got a patrol with the factory locker in the rear which is very benificial and despite him being one hell of a driver, it just wont get him thru some sticky situation cause he gets one wheel spinning on the rear. Then theres my other mate with open centre in the rear and just recently fitted locker in the front. Although he also is highly skilled at the art of 4 wheelin, as soon as he locks that front diff most of the time (not all the time) it will pull him outa the shit!

so lock the front and get the rear lsd shimmed up to tighten it up...

Post by **Josh n Kat** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:03 pm

Nah i'm gonna say go the front. although i have an lsd in the rear of my gq, which i gotta say works bloody well, the front air locker quite often gets me outa trouble when i need it.

But heres another 2 scenarios for ya! i got a mate whose got a patrol with the factory locker in the rear which is very benificial and despite him being one hell of a driver, it just wont get him thru some sticky situation cause he gets one wheel spinning on the rear. Then theres my other mate with open centre in the rear and just recently fitted locker in the front. Although he also is highly skilled at the art of 4 wheelin, as soon as he locks that front diff most of the time (not all the time) it will pull him outa the shit!

so lock the front and get the rear lsd shimmed up to tighten it up...

Post by **frp88** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:18 pm

ive got f/r lockers and i use my front only when my rear isnt enough if you are going for two anyway then i would go rear .but if you arent certain then go front and weld up the back.

Post by **crankycruiser** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:34 pm

Well I put a front one in my bus... and it made a huge difference.....

But saying that once I got the rear one I now hardly use the front one....

I reckon that the rear made more difference than the front..

Post by **luxinator** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:43 pm

You know how you guys said it stuffs around with your steering what are you talking about breaking CVS or what ?im thinkin bout puttin one in the front of my lux

Post by **frp88** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:53 pm

the best thing to is drive a front locked truck it is HUGE diff to the rear locked

but they help you out

Post by **RB zook** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:01 pm

ok ive been front locked rear locked and duel locked

IF you have the strength go the front locker

with only the front it gopt me shit loads further then just the rear its amazing how much better the front locker is.

Post by **crankycruiser** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:15 pm

luxinator wrote:You know how you guys said it stuffs around with your steering what are you talking about breaking CVS or what ?im thinkin bout puttin one in the front of my lux

It makes the steering heavy as buggery when the locker is turned on....

Post by **bogged** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:18 pm

I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

Post by **V8 Middy** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:25 pm

bogged wrote:I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

I had both lockers installed by ARB and mines the same... I assume thats their standard setup

Post by **RB zook** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:26 pm

bogged wrote:I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

yess i believe so

thou you can wire it to use either one at differetn times

Post by **crankycruiser** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:31 pm

bogged wrote:I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

Its is normal..

I changed mine so I could use which ever one I want..

Easy to do

Post by **frp88** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:32 pm

bogged wrote:I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

my factory ones are the same why i just cut the tab out so i can use them front or rear

Post by **revin** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:39 pm

bogged wrote:I have front and rear, and the way the dude set it up is that you cant use the front without the rear...

Is this normal?

Pretty sure when i first joined this site this was a topic,there is a yellow wire that needs to be bypast (or something like that) im pretty sure a search will find more details

Post by **Screwy** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 10:59 pm

yeh wat they have done is got the power for the front locker from the wire that powers the rear.

all u have to do is change the power on wire to the front locker from the rear soleniod to being straight ignition power.

therefore u will be able to power either or.

screwy

Post by **Loco** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:33 pm

RAY185 wrote: I had my mind set on front but when I booked it the fella at ARB said that if I was only going for one locker for now its more beneficial in the rear.

Just though this might be of interest , don't know myself yet, but was interesting test in conflict with what ARB told me also

EDIT... Sorry link didn't work, website removed link , I have the file but it's quite large PDF and can't post it here

Page 22 onwards of the current magazine when the link is posted again
http://www.takeforum.com/forum/index.ph ... wheelingsa

AHHH got the link,finally ...here
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/4wheelingSA/ ... er2005.pdf

Post by **De-lux** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 3:22 am

what about a lockright in the rear and an airlocker in teh front? a cheaper alternative? would that be as good?

Post by **RAY185** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:21 am

I cant afford another locker if I am putting in an air locker so the loc right in the rear is a good but unatainable option.

Thanks for all the replies and I see there are as many who say front as there are saying back. Can anyone give me a scenario on a track where the front will get u through more than a rear? I guess then I can relate to whether I get, or have gotten into these positions to work out whether it will benefit ME or not. Someone said when you are climbing up a hill or rock its good to have the front locked to pull u up. ARB's argument was that all the weight is on the rear, so thats where the best traction is to be had, so the rear locker would push you over the obstacle rather than use the front to pull you over with very little comparative traction.

Post by **Kruza** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:09 am

Why is it that people are saying put it in the front first, but those that

have the two are saying that they dont use the front one very much. To

me this sounds like the back would be the better option.

Just my 2cents worth.

Im just jealous cus i cant afford one yet

Post by **dumbdunce** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:59 am

I say rear, but hey, it's a 40, both the diffs are the same, it's only a couple of hours work to swap them, so stick it in the front, go attack your favourite rock hill, go home, swap them over, attack the same track with it in the back, make an objectove comparison, then decide if the front or rear is better.

Post by **RAY185** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 11:29 am

dumbdunce wrote:I say rear, but hey, it's a 40, both the diffs are the same, it's only a couple of hours work to swap them, so stick it in the front, go attack your favourite rock hill, go home, swap them over, attack the same track with it in the back, make an objectove comparison, then decide if the front or rear is better.

Ultimately that is what I see myself doing. I was just very interested in hearing when and why it is better in either end. So far I am convinced that it is more beneficial in the rear, but I am waiting for someone to paint me a picture of when a front is more effective than a rear.

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