Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi, Anyone have these lockers fitted to there cars?
i heard there cheap, i wanna know if there tuff or people breaking them easy.
where have people found the best place to buy them.
( yes i know ARB airlockers are better cause BLA, Bla. )
i want comments from people who have these , OR have given these a hard time , EG 300 kw with 38's or 40's. 8)

There is nothing wrong with auto lockers, air lockers are usually a better choice in most applications but they also have a list of things that can go wrong with them.
The auto lockers only real failure point is the small pins they use, there are many different brands these days and they all work on the same principals.

Big horsepower and big tires does not mean they wont work for you, this is dependent on your driving style.

If you flog your truck then maybe dont go auto lockers.

An air locker is stronger as the small pins are the failure point when a lot of horse power is used with auto lockers.

On the positive side if you do break a auto locker all that usually happens is the locker stays locked, if an air locker fails usually it does not activate due to the sealing issues.
My opinion is, there is nothing wrong with auto lockers, my first choice is air lockers but i have used and abused both air and auto lockers and i have been happy with both.

I have constantly seen two cars with these running V8s one is a high Hp motor and it did eventually break the locker, but they replaced it no questions asked. We suspect it was a bent axle housing that caused the failure anyway, not the power.

They seem to work real well and neither car has steering issues or anything that is hard to cope with.

I do notice however that the drivers tend to stay in 2WD more often than I do, particularly on dirt roads as opposed to tracks.

SuperiorEngineering wrote:There is nothing wrong with auto lockers, air lockers are usually a better choice in most applications but they also have a list of things that can go wrong with them.
The auto lockers only real failure point is the small pins they use, there are many different brands these days and they all work on the same principals.

Big horsepower and big tires does not mean they wont work for you, this is dependent on your driving style.

If you flog your truck then maybe dont go auto lockers.

An air locker is stronger as the small pins are the failure point when a lot of horse power is used with auto lockers.

On the positive side if you do break a auto locker all that usually happens is the locker stays locked, if an air locker fails usually it does not activate due to the sealing issues.
My opinion is, there is nothing wrong with auto lockers, my first choice is air lockers but i have used and abused both air and auto lockers and i have been happy with both.

Tanks for your detailed response. another Question is which are the cheapest auto lockers? and where to buy them?

gqpete wrote:Tanks for your detailed response. another Question is which are the cheapest auto lockers? and where to buy them?

Lokka's fit 2 pinion centres and lockrights fit 4 pinion right?

I reckon they're great, I have LockRights F&R

We have auto lockers fitted to a couple of our 4WDs, no problems, and both the 4WDs stay in 2WD more often due to the fact the auto lockers are very effective.

Power doesn't seem to affect them.

1979 Jeep Wagon with a 460ci with over 1500nm of torque
1982 MQ SWB with a 351 with 440HP

Both run 33 mud tyres.

yep had Lokka lockers in the rear of my mq wagon with a worked 351 clevo, 5 speed, 35's. never had a problem in the years i had it. sold the diffs to a bloke who put them under a bombed 350 chev in an old cruiser ute he built. both of us flogged the trucks the whole time and as far as i know the diffs are still going strong.

The only problem i had with my old locrite was when i popped a tyre on the road doing 100km.

zookimal wrote:

gqpete wrote:Tanks for your detailed response. another Question is which are the cheapest auto lockers? and where to buy them?

Lokka's fit 2 pinion centres and lockrights fit 4 pinion right?

i have a lockright in my 2 pinion front diff.

Suzuki or toyota are cheap from lowrange.

I dont know about anyone else. But I had a lockright in the rear of my cruiser. Kept chewing up the springs and dowls ALL THE TIME!!! Which left me stranded. Had it in and out about 4 times until I gave it away just to get rid of it. And yes it was put in and set up by a 4x4 shop.

I have used lokka lockrite's in both front/ rear for about 3 years and ended up selling it still in great cond

Never had a problem with springs and pins, they do need to be setup properly with correct clearances but.

Every type of locker has it pros/ cons, if the budget is tight I definitely recommend well worth the money.

Very simple design and not much goes wrong with them.

Brad

cheap?
ebay.com
from america to my door $320 aus. Aus$ kickin ass at the moment..
havent installed yet, goes in on friday.
rang around.. $350 for install.. some quotes came back at 550-600 pfft

from what i hear ur more likely to snap an axle or cv etc than the locker.

also lokka= aus made
lockright= american made
look exactly the same to me

Got mine fitted today, but haven't tried it out yet.

from what i have heard could be wrong i have never run them is that if you break an axel they can damage the locker and cause it to stay locked all the time

Running ARB in the rear and a Lockright in the front of my Wrangler, love it. Sure if I had the coin I'd have put ARBs front and rear, but the Lockright has never let me down. Definitely recommend it.

I've only recently fitted lockrights front and rear to my FZJ75 Cruiser ute - awesome out bush, steering i think is heavier, but i never had my ute out with out them (had diferent diff ratios for ages). Def got to drive it accordingly on tar, or she'll tend to buck and hop.
Took it up to stockton aussie day weekend - perfect on sand.
Sheared my axle studs on the drivers side on the way home (i think the studs were a little worn) pulled the axle out, taped the bottom of a 2L coke bottle over the end of the hub and drove the last 70-odd kms home no worries.

Performance so far i think they are great, although more so for on-road comfort i'll go an air locker in the rear one day.

is there any preferance on fitting to the front or rear?

i put it in front only because i didnt like the idea of having a locked diff on the road so i went air rear but the set up works good offroad

just wondering what brand people prefer im looking at chucking an auto locker in the rear of my lux but am undecided on brand.

Go the Detroit soft locker, I have just fitted one to my Disco and you cannot tell when it is unlocking, very smooth.
My brother had a Lockright in the rear of his shorty cruiser and it clicked and banged (never broke anything). 10 years later he pulled it out and the axels splines had warn almost half off!!! this is because the couplings slide on the axel splines. He is looking at getting another one from the US and adding a friction oil to rediuce noise and wear.