ARB air locker, front vs. rear?

[seanpistol]

My truck description is in my signature. I drive a lot when there is enough snow that you can't see the pavement and I have been pleased with the open front and rear diffs for driving on those snowpacked roads. However, I do end up driving in places without plows or pavement in excessive snow.

Last week I was up at my buddies cabin at 9500' during a snowstorm and was the only vehicle (the rest didn't have enough ground clearance) to make it all the way out on the 24" of snow that had fallen within the past few days. I spent the night and woke up to another foot of snow. While trying to turn around in a tight spot, I got stuck. My rear drivers side wheel was buried and spinning while my rear passenger side wheel was up on a hard-packed area and doing absolutely nothing. In the front, my drivers side wheel was up on hardpack and doing nothing while my passenger side wheel was buried and spinning. This was frustrating, but I understand that the power will go to the wheel with the least resistance with open diffs. It took an hour of shoveling and airing my tires down to get out. I am going to purchase a hi-lift jack and carry the proper chains and straps to use it as a winch in the future.

I do not want a locker for everyday driving or for driving on those snowpacked roads, but I know that a locker would have helped me get out of this stuck in the snow situation with less shoveling. My truck will never be rock crawling, but I would like to play in some mud, take it down trails in Moab, and play in deep snow and make 4 wheeling a little easier on myself. I am under the impression that a selectable air locker would be the best way to go, but it will take me a minute to save up the funds. I am wondering if it is preferred to put it in either the front or the rear for situations like mine, and for what reasons? It seems like the majority installs the air-locker in the rear. I have also read a bit into obtaining the rear limited slip for my Tundra, but it sounds like it would cost just a couple hundred bucks short of the ARB air locker. There was one being sold used on Pirate4x4, and I was imaging the rear LSD in my truck and a front selectable air-locker. But, that sounds like a little more money than I'd ideally like to spend.

Is there any reason that a locker in the front would cause more wear and tear on the front CV axles than it would on the rear solid axle? Is a front locker more difficult to install?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[Scott Brady]

If given the choice, a traction device should always be installed in the rear first. Primarily, this is because of the weight transfer when climbing and secondarily because a rear axle is almost always stronger than a front axle. Less of an issue with a selectable locker, but oversteer is almost always more desirable than understeer on the trail.

 

[FishPOET]

Lock both ends and be done with it. If you drive around with an empty bed more often than not I would suggest locking the front if you only lock one end.

 

[I Leak Oil]

On your vehicle I'm pretty sure the rear is a WHOLE lot easier to install.

 

[ExploringNH]

Absolutely lock the rear.

From an installation standpoint, both are pretty equal. The rear install is a little bit faster than the front but both should cost about the same all said and done.

I won't get into a strength issue. The front end in your truck is likely strong enough for what you would use it for and a locker could reduce wheelspin and take some stress off of things. It could also cause you to go a little harder at obstacles and cause some damage. Really, the increase or decrease in risk of breakage after a locker is entirely up to the driver's attitude and on-trail habits.

For performance, a rear locker will be far better than front only. When descending, you have gravity to help carry you down the trail. When ascending, you need to fight gravity. Think of how many times you have been going downhill and thought to yourself that you could use a locker. Probably not too many. When going uphill, the weight transfers to the rear, as Scott mentioned. With the weight in the back, a front locker won't help much. A locked front also makes steering a little more challenging. When locked up front, both tires want to continue in a straight line increasing your turning radius by a large factor.

My 4Runner was locked front and rear with select-able ARBs. I don't think, beyond testing, that I ever ran just the front locker. I did, however, run the rear locker by itself more times than I can count. I typically just used the front for snow wheeling where every little bit is helpful.

 

[seanpistol]

Would anyone consider installing a truetrac limited slip?

 

[hawaii]

IMHO, your best option would be a front selectable, and a rear LSD. A front locker will pull you over obstacles, instead of using your rear end to push you over. The LSD will give you better traction in snow ALL the time, is less harsh than a lunchbox locker, and should be much cheaper than a full selectable locker.

 

[BigSwede]

Do not get a full-time locker for the front, that would make 4WD snow driving suicidal. For your purposes, if you lock the front, selectable is the only way to go.

 

[Eaglefreek]

A Tundra TRD doesn't come with LSD from the factory? That's seems odd. I would go with the LSD in the rear and at a later date install an air locker up front if you find the need. I have factory LSD front and rear in my big Eagle and have yet to get stuck.

 

[bluejeep]

I did the front first................BUT............. should have done the rear axle first. Wouldn't have held up the rest of the crew on the trail waiting for the strap.

Not much of an issue on rough ground that is fairly level or slightly sloped, and like someone said - downhill is no issue - it's the uphill stuff where the diff comes in (did I just make a pun? I think I did. Ha). There wasn't enough weight on the locked up front axle to pull me uphill, and even with all the weight transferred to the rear axle, 1 side spun and the other did nothing. So I basically was trying to climb with only the front axle. Didn't work.

 

[1911]

On your vehicle I'm pretty sure the rear is a WHOLE lot easier to install.

If the Tundra uses the same (or similar) clam shell front diff as other Toyota IFS trucks, it's pretty to get to but you do have to disconnect both half-shafts.

You will use a rear locker probably 50 times for every one time you use a front locker, but for that one time in 50 that it is needed, it is sure nice to have!

As has been said, the IFS front half-shafts and CV joints are weaker than the rear axle. It is pretty easy to blow up a front cv by pushing the skinny pedal with the diff locked and the wheels turned; you have to be aware and use the front locker judiciously.

 

[trump]

Just tossing this out there to think about...

I've never heard of a vehicle that was factory equipped with just a front locker. A lot of trucks on the market come with a selectable rear and a handful of vehicles have both. The vehicles that have both usually only allow the front to be engaged after the rear, not independently.

 

[seanpistol]

A Tundra TRD doesn't come with LSD from the factory? That's seems odd. I would go with the LSD in the rear and at a later date install an air locker up front if you find the need. I have factory LSD front and rear in my big Eagle and have yet to get stuck.

Tundras came with a factory LSD from 02 and on. I'm just a year short of that.

 

[ExploringNH]

I would advise against spending money for an LSD in place of a locker. An LSD is good on the street and it does provide you with a little more traction when you do still have both tires in spots that they can get a little grip. As soon as one tire is off the ground or in a real slippery spot though, that LSD is just as useless as an open diff.

 

[seanpistol]

I'm pretty set on keeping the front diff open and putting the selectable ARB in the rear. Like I said before, I am pleased with the way the truck handles on snow packed roads. I just get into that situation in deep snow where one wheel is buried and one has traction, but the power goes to the wheel without traction. A selectable locker would make it a lot easier. Now I just to decide if I want to spend money on a winch first... which will probably be what happens.