Hey everyone!

My truck is currently down due to a blown head gasket, but once I get it back up and running I want to start turning it into a nice trail rig!

My truck will probably see 95 percent on road pavement time and 5 percent trail time.

With that being said, is my only option ARB because I know I can keep it open diff 95 percent of the time and when I want to hit the trail I know I can hit that switch and lock my diff up for the wheelin! Also are there any other manual lockers besides ARB? I've searched countless times and it seems ARB is the only one that makes manual lockers.

I thought about doing a lunchbox locker which I believe is something like a Detroit or spartan but I feel like they may break down because of all the ratcheting its going to be doing and not that much off road time.

Any help would be greatful!

 

ARB and the toyota e locker comes to mind. Plenty of info on both of those.
Some people drive lunchbox locked trucks everyday, just have to get used to it, it's all personal preference

 

Would there be any serious repercussions with daily driving a lunchbox locker on pavement everyday.

I read that all the shackling it does while turning is okay but I feel like where I live It may do a lot more shackling then driving in a straight line which in turn will break it prematurely, probably before I even hit a trail lol.

I wouldn't mind using a lunchbox I just don't want to be changing out my locker every 3 months because it just sees to much on road use/turns

Oh and I am only locking my rear diff not my front just incase someone thinks i'm trying to lock my front lol

Thanks for the reply Jason!

 

Tacoma E-locker, I love mine.
My buddy has a detroit in his pickup and I couldnt deal with it everyday just from the times I've ridden in it. I know he doesnt like it all that much around town and he hates it on the freeway. It will ratchet sometimes in a sweeping turn while he isnt expecting it and will make his truck jump all over but he does like it in the dirt.
You wont have to worry about changing out the locker every 3 months, they will last a while but rear tires will get eaten up a lot faster then an open diff though.

 

Chefyota4x4 and Redeth005 are a couple of guys that come to mind, whos 4runners see alot of pavement. I think they are both running Spartan lockers. Living in the down town suburbs of Cali, I'm sure their rigs see more city traffic than most. I haven't heard of them having any issues, other than the noise. I want to go with an e-locker personally.

 

selectable is best for on-road (ARB and elocker) and perhaps a limited slip. lunchbox locker isn't horrible once you know how it behaves in different types of turns. i have a lockright and i don't notice it unless i'm taking 90* turns - in which case I simply coast them by taking it out of gear or via clutch. i wouldn't put one on an auto trans because of this. in regards to what would break in the lunchbox locker - it's likely the pins would shear first and make it stay locked...in which case you simply swap in new pins and springs.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone I greatly appreciate it! I haven't looked into a toyota e locker before. Hows the performance off road? Can it be compare able to an arb? I am also not aware on how it works?

I am new to the truck scene so sorry about the noob questions.

 

pretty much the same as ARB, being that it is selectable (on=locked, off=open diff) - it just uses electricity to actuate (although you can rig it to use a cable when there's no power) and they are abundant since they were factory option in the Tacoma/4runner platform. ARB is good because you have to get on board air and it is stronger if you want to run huge rubber. Con for both is price. Consider re-gearing your diffs "while you're in there", if you are planning to run larger tires.

 

I'm running my Spartan locker in a 95 4Runner that is a daily driver with an autotrans. It occasionally will not ratchet in parking lots but most of the time you don't know it is there. I will never go back to open diffs especially for how cheap it is to install one. I would like an ARB but with a compressor and paying for installation you are approaching $1,500-2,000 for something you will use 5% of the time. E-lockers are great but you have to pull your entire axle out and weld on it and grind it and drill new holes and tap them for studs and if you can't do it yourself it will cost you just as much as the ARB again for something being used 5% of the time.

 

Yukon makes the zip locker, suppose to be improved design over ARB and improved materials for a lower price. Still need air source.

 

Thanks for the replies! I have never heard of yukon before I'm going to start looking into it!

I think i'll have to pass on the elocker and probably end up going with an arb or maybe even a lunchbox, it all depends on how much I spend on my Head Gasket. I am a very big diy person and love learning how to work on my car, so from what I have seen I think installing an arb shouldn't be that difficult.

I also don't plan on running that big of a tire so I don't think i'll need to regear. My truck comes stock with 31x10.5 and I was planning to switch it up to 32x11.5 and nothing more. From the research I have done I believe I can run that size and not kill my gas that much as well as not rub on my pinch weld. My truck came with 4.56 gears from factory which is why I believe the gas shouldn't be that bad I hope lol.

Thanks a lot yotatech I'm glad I found this place, its taught me so much about my truck!

 

Yukon Grizzly, it is a complete carrier so you should probably get new bearings which puts the cost at about or slightly less than half the cost of an ARB for comparison. Drives the inside wheel in a corner all the time and allows the outside wheel to free spool and rotate while on the pavement unless your torching off the inside wheel then it is a spool again. Is a spool in the dirt. No air to mess with no switching and guaranteed. A slight amount of added backlash but nothing like a Spartan! Does torque steer a bit because there is no differential. So as the inside wheel gets the torque it tends to straighten the vehicle when you first accelerate in a corner. But after a week you get used to it and are searching for the chirping from the inside wheel breaking loose.