After going to the TTORA takeover I decided that I am going to get a locker I have heard more good things than bad regarding the Aussie locker. My question is should I lock the front or rear first? I was thinking the front only because it seems like it would help when climding rocks or steep hills looking for some input.

TIA

 

Always lock your rear first, it will make a night and day difference in the way you drive off-road. It turns out the rear will help with hills and the like more than the front because your rear has more grab going up hill (more weight).

 

Good thing both front and rear are the same price..Well if enough people say do the rear first then when I buy one I'll do the rear ...

 

yep, do the rear.

 

If you lock the front, you will break something.

 

It isn't a matter of opinion- the fact is a rear locker is the way to go.

 

That's debatable.


From the Aussie Locker FAQ

 

You are going to want to lock the rear because one, the rear doesn't steer so when you are on rocks it steers the same. Two your rear end is much stronger than the IFS front. Lock the front and you are asking for more problems, especially if you lay on the skinny pedal.

 

I would argue that any 4Runner with a rear locker is at least as capable and probably more capable than a 4Runner with a front locker. The fact is that a spinning rear wheel will kill you in many more situations that a spinning front wheel, especially in uphill situations where there is far less traction available to the front wheels. When you're going downhill (situation where front wheel will have more traction), you're using the brakes and a locker doesn't matter ABS does.

It is not a random coincidence that car manufacturers and anyone building a trail rig put a rear locker in first (or limited slip, depending), followed possibly by a front depending on front axle strength. I cannot think of any factory vehicles that come with a front locker but not a rear one, this is not by accident it is by design. As a point of fact, I can't really think of anyone running a front locker but no rear one.

Rear locker first is an excellent idea, then think about what to put in front (my suggestion, Detroit True Track or comparable limited slip).

 

If you have manual hubs, you never notice that your front locker exists until you are wheeling with the hubs locked. With the rear locked, you'll get some lurching and clicking when driving on-road. I locked my front before my rear. I wouldn't say that it is necessarily more helpful to have the rear locked. It depends a lot on the situation where you're taking advantage of the locker. It is a pain to steer the front locker on slickrock. A twin-stick T/C would be handy in some of those circumstances (or a manual locker).

 

I'm also not sure the front locker=breakage issue is 100% debatable... The fact is your CHANCES of breaking something up front are greatly increased with a front locker. Sure there may be examples of people breaking nothing, but there are also many examples to the contrary as well.

 

The only place it ISN'T a pain to steer with a front locker is low traction situations like sand and snow. Even packed dirt will give you significantly increased steering effort, been there seen that.

Also, I have an automatic rear locker, and granted it takes slight adjustments in driving style, but I have no problems with aggravating "clicking or lurching."

Also, the situations where a front locker is wholly more useful than a rear are very few and far between. Now sometimes a COMBINATION of the two can be better than the sum of the two, but as a whole the rear does a lot more for you in a wider variety of situations.

 

Also, this may be true but a selectable rear locker isn't noticable either.

 

Well guess when I do get a locker it will be a rear one first. I know more people lock the rear first I just wnated to get others thoughts...

 

make sure to let us know what you think of it once you've got it.

 

If you don't get a ARB or Mechanical locker be prepared to burn up tires in the rear a little more.

 

So MastaCox: What locker do you have in the front?

CUBuff4Runner: If you step on it taking off from a stop (left or right from stop sign/light) your tires will chirp with an Aussie rear. If you just ease around the corner, there's no tire slipping / wearing; the locker just ratchets.

Another feature of a rear auto-locker is that when you goose it going down the road, i.e. shifting gears, the vehicle will pull to one side or the other due to whichever side is currently driving in a straight line will push first, until both sides are locked in. Never see that with manual hubs & front locker.

 

Oooo man, you got me there, except just because my 4Runner doesn't have a front locker doesn't mean I have never driven one before My buddy has a '71 suburban with a front Detroit, the things such a pain to drive in 4X he bought a twin stick kit and drives in 2lo most of the time (and chunks the crud out of his tires in the process.) I have also driven a front and rear locked '90 4Runner, the thing was a PITA to steer in the rocks, you could just hear the power steering pump begging for mercy. And, by the way, he broke a CV that very same day. I broke nothing, and we went the same way.

This is a rare occurence, and normally is not noticeable. It's obvious you are trying to sensationalize the "downfalls" of a rear auto locker, but the fact is people that have a rear auto locker don't complain about these things, they just accept it for what it is: an off-road tool.

I'm still convinced a front locker is a bad idea, and steering troubles are the number one reason, with CV damage and differential damage coming in second. Enjoy.

 

I'm not trying to sensationalize the problems with a rear locker. I'm just trying to point out that it's not a slam-dunk, cut & dry, put-the-rear-in-first.

You'll note that I was the first one to bring up steering issues with the front locker. You'll note in my sig that I have both, the front came first. I've wheeled Hell's Revenge, Flatiron Mesa, Elephant Hill, Kelly Flats (including the chutes), and almost got over the slab in Carnage Canyon, all with only the front locked. Since I've locked the rear, I've re-visited Carnage & wheeled Blanca Peak & Imogene. The only breakage I've had is the idler arm. My CV's are the same ones that I drove the 4runner off the lot 20 years ago! Boot kits are sitting in my garage waiting to be put on pre-emptively, thanks to the extra height of the BJ spacers.

I don't think that CV damage & diff damage are any more likely with a front locker than with BJ spacers. If you have manual hubs (& unlock them religiously) & you crawl rather than slam & spin tires, probably the only thing that will break is your idler arm &/or tie rods.

As for the torque steer, I see it all of the time. But then it may just be my loose idler arm at the moment.

 

One reason why I was leaning toward a Aussie is they are not known to wear out tires. And lets face it I drive a 91 PU it is rare if it sees more than 4k on the tach only when I take it out on the hwy so turning at high speeds dosen't happen. I drive it like a old man...