I found her, and Friday she will be mine :)

[Cole]

I concur on the lockers, seems like overkill. There are a lot of things working against this rig for serious off-road use - heavy weight, high center of gravity, terrible approach and departure angles, cabinets full of crap that will go flying out, etc. It seems like a 4X4 system that would get you down to and out of the beaches in Baja California would be really nice and you'd have the perfect rig for camping on the beach. But expecting to do the Rubicon Trail with dishes and clothing flying out of the cabinets seems unrealistic...

Kirk

The logic here is flawed! Lockers are not a "serious off road, rock crawling" only tool. They are a traction aid! A heavy, hard to maneuver rig needs them more than a light off road rig......especially on a sandy beach or soft camping spot!!


Here is an easy way to see why. Let's just assume for the moment that this rig fully loaded weighs 10,000lbs. In its current condition as a 2wd with an open diff that means that 1 wheel has to move all 10k lbs. That is a LOT of work for one wheel to do on a soft surface like sand that might not give 10k lbs worth of traction!

Make the rig 4wd with open differentials and you take a huge leap forward by dividing the work that needs to be done by 2. So now each wheel only has to move 5,000lbs of weight each. But...this is still an issue if the beach doesn't offer 5k worth of traction at each wheel.

Now add lockers! Making it a true 4wd! Each wheel now only has to move 2500lbs of weight each! Which is about the amount of work a lightweight Jeep has to do with 4wd and open Diffs.

If anything, the lift is less needed than 4wd and lockers for good camping.

 

[hurstjd]

Those are some good suggestions. I'm going to have to think this over. I could remove the limited slip option and add the ARB rear locker. The cost difference would be about $1000.

 

[ujoint]

Cole is correct, traction to all 4 is what you need, any time you go into 4wd. Wheel travel is also your friend, on & off road. This rig should have a full float D60 in the rear so if you want to go ARB you'll also need some 35 spline axle shafts. Up front I always recommend a good limited slip like a True Trac. That beast will then go where you need it to!

 

[Bristol]

Thanks Cole for correcting me. You make some very good points!

 

[Jb1rd]

SHHHHHHHHH, don't say such things!!! :coffeedrink:

Thanks Cole for correcting me. You make some very good points!

 

[tgreening]

Just a point of order. If your vehicle gross weight is 10K with open diffs, 1 wheel does not have to move 10K. You either have both wheels splitting the load, or you aren't moving at all. Add a limited slip/locker to the rear and now you very well may have 1 wheel having to move the 10K, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Add 4 wheel drive and open diffs and things are certainly better than 2 wheel drive open, but if you dont have decent taction you can still end up going nowhere.

Four wheel drive locked is the best from a pure traction standpoint, but there are drawbacks as well. Full time lockers on the street are not especially user friendly, particularly if you aren't used to them. They can put you in a ditch quick because your vehicle doesn't react to changing traction conditions in a way that is familiar. Also keep in mind that 4 wheel locked off road can be very very hard on the drive train. Wedge a tire with light traction everywhere else and your full vehicle load is being supported by one axle shaft that not only has to move the load but deal with all the torque required to unwedge itself. Contrary to popular belief D-60s are not indestructible, especially with 35-37" tires and a heavy vehicle.

Keep in mind a locked front end is great for traction, but can be downright ugly if you have high traction and need to make a turn. It. Don't. Wanna.

Best of all worlds, and most expensive is front/rear selectable lockers. Turn on when needed, off when not.

If budget is a concern, and given your stated usage, I would put a full time locker in the rear and a limited slip up front. If you have a bit more budget, I'd go full time rear and selectable up front. It is more advantageous by FAR to have the front selectable vs the rear.

As someone stated, unless you intend to be doing Rubicon Trail "black diamond" trails, you dont really need full lockers all the way around. If you've got the disposable budget, by all means, but otherwise your money would probably be better spent elsewhere.

 

[Jb1rd]

The plan is to do ARB's front and rear, probably start with the rear and add the front later if necessary.