WE NEED 75 95+ OWNERS WHO ARE SERIOUS ABOUT WANTING A FRONT LOCKER!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=34102

That thread says it all. If 75 of us will belly up to the bar we WILL have a front locker for our vehicles!!!

Com'n people, you've been whining for years. This is our chance and it is time for us to put up now. Who's in?

1. 
   [*]Ray Lobato
   [*]GJarrett
   [*]Jefe
   [*]rumney510
   [*]Explorer Mickey
   [*]Soupbone
   [*]C5 Pewter Coupe
   [*]krisp12yukon
   [*]JASONESQUIVEL
   [*]mav
   [*]97 Eddie Bauer v8
   [*]94cobra
   [*]Monkey Boy
   [*]jasonb
   [*]DesertSpive
   [*]Xplodor
   [*]Mark Hasenyager
   [/list=1]
   Who's next?

Yes this includes the 95's. You have what has been variously described as a Dana135 or Sterling Van-Dyke front differential that no one makes a limited slip or locker for. This is our chance to get one made for us.

I'm next...

Rex

2 questions...
1. whats a front locker and what the purpose of it?
2. how much would it cost?

Originally posted by mikeresin
2 questions...
1. whats a front locker and what the purpose of it?
2. how much would it cost?

Click to expand...

LOCKER A full time locker or the ARB air-locker. Full time lockers are put into the rear housing and are activated all the time. The air-locker placed in the rear housing is activated from the cab of the vehicle via a swith(off/on), allowing for an open differential for normal driving. These type of products keep both tires spinning with equal torque no matter what the conditions. whether both tires are even and level or if one is completely in the air.

LSD- (limited slip differential) during normal driving the LSD will act like an open differential but, during off-road adventures the LSD will give more power to the tire with the most traction. keeping on a flat and even surface will ensure that both tires have equal power, but if one of the tires loses traction the other tire will gain more in order to push you past the obstacle.


http://www.arbusa.com/arb_air locker.htm

Price usually is $650 for the rear locker and $180 for the compressor. Install varies on the shop. Call around $120 to $300 around here i think.

There is one for our rear Ford 8.8 inch but not yet for the front D135 or whatever it is. So thats why we need more folks to get in on this so it can be developed.



Hope that sheds light on it...

OUCH burn my fingers!

I'm sending this info to 'da man to see what he thinks but $650, thats way more that my tax relief check, LOL
Ban

Yes they are expensive, but what a differance they make when you're wheeling!

I admit to not doing a lot of research before buying a used '00 Explorer 4X4, but I am stunned to find out it really has only one driving wheel in front and one in back. It should be advertised as two-wheel drive.
I can tell by the axle code that it has the 4.10 (or 4.11,I can't remember) open diff in the rear, but I just assumed that the front diff had limited slip or was just locked, based on the severe warnings in the manual about using 4-Wheel drive on pavement. I guess this is why people buy Jeeps...

The ARB locker sounds great, but at around $1K installed, it's a little steep for the occasional mud hole I run into. Is there really no limited slip available for retrofit for the front? I'm assuming it would be much less than the ARB locker.

Also, why not just weld up the spider gears so that the front diff is always locked? As long as you don't use 4WD on pavement, why not do that?

I've been told that you hafta have manual hubs to have it spooled or welded. Plus, the late models have "Control-Trac" that kicks in the front diffy sometimes even though you're not in 4x4. I imagine that it would really suck to suddenly fell your front end lock when it kicked in like that.

Hello,

There is no limited slip. There isnt a locker yet. Welding the front together on my 00 isnt an option since i have "auto 4wd." No permanent 2wd at all. Only auto, 4hi and 4lo.

Originally posted by davjamison
I admit to not doing a lot of research before buying a used '00 Explorer 4X4, but I am stunned to find out it really has only one driving wheel in front and one in back. It should be advertised as two-wheel drive.
I can tell by the axle code that it has the 4.10 (or 4.11,I can't remember) open diff in the rear, but I just assumed that the front diff had limited slip or was just locked, based on the severe warnings in the manual about using 4-Wheel drive on pavement. I guess this is why people buy Jeeps...

The ARB locker sounds great, but at around $1K installed, it's a little steep for the occasional mud hole I run into. Is there really no limited slip available for retrofit for the front? I'm assuming it would be much less than the ARB locker.

Also, why not just weld up the spider gears so that the front diff is always locked? As long as you don't use 4WD on pavement, why not do that?

Click to expand...

Because if they advertised it as a two-wheel drive, they would have to advertise 90% of the cars on the road as one-wheel drive. You do still have a four-wheel drive whe the traction is equal to both sides. Your Explorer also has the capability of sending power to any of the four wheels which makes it a four wheel drive. No one ever claimed that a four wheel drive sends power to all four wheels at the same time. It is no different with Jeep, Chevy, Dodge or anyone else. Yes, Jeep does have the option of an aftermarket limited slip or locker whereas your Explorer doesn't. That is because Jeep is much more popular with the off-road crowd, your Explorer is not. Aftermarket manufacturers know that.

The reason you can't weld your spider gears is for the same reason you can't drive in 4x4 High or Low on the pavement. Your front tires have to be able to turn at different speeds when going around corners. Your inside tire will have to turn slower than your outside tire. If they are welded together they can't. Your front-end would bind up going around corners. Best case would be that you would chew up your tires. Worst case would be that something mechanical would break. You can get away with doing it on a vehicle with manual hubs since you can unloc the front wheels from the differential. Your Explorer doesn't have that ability either.

Regardless of what you have now, it will do better in the mud than a two-wheel drive equivalent since the two-wheel drive would only have one rear tire pushing (two if it has a limite slip in the rear). Having one rear and one front tire pulling will take you more places easier than having just two rear tires. In a straight line it won't matter much, it is when you are turning that the front tire really helps out. I used to have a two wheel drive Ranger with a limited slip and it didn't compare to my four-wheel drive Explorer. In the snow, my Ranger would fishtail way to easily. A four-wheel drive doesn't fishtail nearly as easily since what makes a vehicle fishtail is the rear wheels turning faster than the front. When you are in locked in four-wheel drive (high or low) that can't happen. It does tend to plow forward though when using too much throttle on a sharp, slippery turn.

Oops! I forgot that with Control-Trac I don't have a 2WD only position on the selector. That WOULD be really scary to have it switch in a locked front diff in 4W Auto mode while driving down the road...

I guess for now the most cost-effective thing to do is add LS to my rear diff. I'm pretty sure that I can find an exisiting thread in one of the forums that can shed some light on costs and if it is a decent DIY job.

Yes I would be interested... Would we get a discount since we are doing a group purchase?

Mav,
This is not a group buy. We are trying to find 75 people who are willing to buy a front ARB, so they(ARB) will make it. If we can't come up with enough people who will shell out the money, then most likley it won't get made, or at least it will take years before it does.

Let me make this perfectly clear. We are not just looking for names, but people who are willing to spend this kind of money, to get this thing accomplished.
If you don't have the money, don't put your name here.

Just to stir up some commitment via Explorer pride, the new Petersen's 4Wheel lists the soon to be released ARBs, and one of them is for '98+ Isuzu Troopers!?! Come on, how many of THOSE have you ever seen on a trail? The point though, is there is enough of a demand (probably 75) to warrant production by ARB. How many more late model Exs are there? Millions? They are making us look bad.


Another thought I had, although a longshot I'm sure, is if someone on this board is flush enough, they could put up all the money needed. $600 X 75 = $45,000. Sure, it's alot, but talk about philanthropy!! You could resell them after the fact. How bout two guys at $22,500 apiece? Not beyond the realm of someone with good credit.

I just want my buddies Gerald and Ray L. and the rest of you to have a choice of not having an open front diff.
$45,000 is not an insurmountable obstacle.



How about a carwash/ bake sale?

mmmmm.... bake sale....

soupbone chants.... A ...R ....B
A....R...........B
A ....R...........B


Oh and SWLathrop welcome to the board.



how many more do we need to sign up? maybe ARB can make a winch bull bar also

Originally posted by BislamJoe
I think there is a guy on the board who successfully added a limited slip to the front of his second-generation X, but it was a compilation of parts for a couple of vehicles, and probably a lot of work. I'll edit and add a link if I find the thread.

Edit: AHA! http://208.38.138.31/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34313 I found it. Guy's username is spiritwolf68 (i hope he doesn't mind me mentioning his name). He said that the guys at the shop started with an Eaton-style unit and worked it over from there. The ARB may be a better solution though, especially if we can get them to start production. I don't have a second-generation X right now, but some day the War Wagon will hafta be retired, and I think I'll want another Explorer.

Click to expand...

You might want to go check my latest post on that thread. I have called and personally spoken with that shop and informed them that I have cash in hand and the time to go out there so they could do the install on mine. He informed me that he had only spoken about the theory with some young guy (assumedly spiritwolf68) and it might work but he had not actually installed any front locker or limited slip on any late model Explorer and that it would be an experimental procedure that may or may not work.

He won't touch the project for fear of liability and other issues and isn't all that sure it will work in the first place (he has learned that an Eaton will NOT work, but maybe using a LockRite as a base part might, sortof; also, it would require much shimming and shoring up and would probably break easily, especially under side stress; also, after consulting with Randy's Ring and Pinion, no one knows which LockRite or TracLoc to start with as a base unit, etc etc etc).

Perhaps Jack-It in SLC and I are wrong and I am missing something here? Perhaps spiritwolf68 could help clear up some confusion and provide us with the name of who did his work at the SLC Jack-It and his phone number, so that we can join in and get a front limited slip too?