Well, as long as you have your tires regularly rotated, I wouldn't worry about tire wear, especially if you buy tires with a mileage warrantee (Discount Tire). Tires will only last based on how you drive them, and going easy on the throttle on the street will assure you don't have tire screeching problems. Overall, I have had BFG A/T's last plenty long for me.

 

The severity of the torque steer that I was seeing does appear to be related to sloppy steering components. Last night I:
Refreshed the idler with bushings, wiper, grease & torque spec
Added a Downey Idler Arm Brace
Replaced the passenger side tie rod assembly

Today, the torque steer is barely perceptible.
HTH

 

Im new here and don't have a Toyota yet (looking to buy a 4Runner, that's why I'm here). But I do have a totalled '94 Mazda Navajo (same as a '91-'94 2 door ford Explorer) with front and rear No Slips.

Before I had the No Slips, I had a Lock Right in the rear, and briefly had an EZ Locker in the front.

Yes, after a turn, when you get on the gas, a Lock Right will often jerk to one side or the other as the coupler halves on the side that just unlocked lock again. It kind of makes the rear of the vehicle wiggle.

So what the 86Original said can happen.

And with the Lock Right, it was quite common. That's not sensationalism, that's fact.

Along with the short wheelbase my Navajo had, the Lock Right was tricky to handle at times, especially on the curvy roads in Kentucky in the area near where I did much of my rockcrawling. And trailer towing was tricky sometimes too.

There were time I hated the Lock Right.

The No Slip is much smoother (about 80% smoother), but even on rare occasions it will do the same. The reasons why the No Slip is smoother is that the coupler halves seperate instead of ratcheting, and there's springs that help dampen the extra backlash (play) that a locker has.

Because it ratchets, the Lock Right (EZ Locker, and Aussie Locker too) will wear faster than a No Slip. My Lock Right wore out at about 37,000 miles before it would ratchet under heavy load while going straight. The No Slip now has over twice that many miles. Just before I totalled the Navajo, I had the rear No Slip out and noticed no unusual wear.

I had to replace the front EZ Locker with a No Slip with no more than 20 minutes of off road testing after the install. The teeth on one side chipped, causing it to ratchet on one side while going straight, and that was with only 31" tires and mostly uphill in sand. Again, the No Slip has performed flawlessly.

I recommend the No Slip over the Aussie Locker, Lock Right, and EZ Locker, despite the higher price. This is especially true if the vehicle is a daily driver, and if you tow.

By the way, my Navajo had a rear locker first, then the front later. I noticed no trouble steering. However, while steering on rock I would do a 3 or 5 point turn instead of a single turn, to reduce binding and potential breakage. Lockers DO increase transfer case bind while in 4wd.

 

I have front/rear ARB's. I TOTALLY agree with the Aussie statement above - that a front locker will make more of a difference than a rear because the wheels are more likely to be off the ground due to the limited travel.

I had problems with an air leak on my rear locker when i first put it in, so the first trip after install I only used the front. Wow - what a difference! Since then, I've got the rear fixed (it was an install issue) an run with the rear only locked, and while it helps some, it's when you get the front locked that it REALLY shines.

There ARE steering issues with the front - but when mine is locked, it is totally spooled - there is NO differentiation between the wheels (and to lock the front, the rear has to be locked, so there is no differentiation between the axles either) so you go STRAIGHT. Period LOL.

As for the breakage...If you get happy with the skinny with the wheels turned and fully drooped, you will break CV's. With the locker, however, MUCH less throttle is usually required, so there are a lot of instances where being locked will help prevent damage. For example, muddy trails where you are in and out of the ruts bouncing around. Without lockers, you have to spin the hell out of the wheels to keep moving, and everytime the wheel comes off the ground, it revs like crazy then comes slamming down.

A locker is a great purchase for anyone that takes their truck off road. No other "mod" will increase the off road capabilty as much. The front will provide greater benefit, but more potential problems too. Since I imagine you rarely have to deal with snow/ice, a "lunchbox" locker is a great choice.

 

ลลลล, my rear is "lincoln locked" and i only notice it on the road when goosin' it to back up, i actually have to, but i also havent taken it off road yet. plus my rig is a SA so its not as likely to break anything. Im USUALLY easy on the pedal.