air or electric locker?

[fiftyfeetup]

Does anyone know if an air locker is better than the electric locker, or vice versa? Is a selectable locker worth the money compared to a powertrax? I know powertrax's wear out but how long does it take?

 

[jrgaylor]

Depends on what you want to do, for me the right choice was ARB in the front and rear I have not had any problems with mine.
If you mainly drive around on the streets and some service/forest road a elctric locker in the rear may be fine. The powertrax type units will wear your tires more and you have to learn how to drive with them, if you have a manual transmission you may not like a autolocker because of the locking and unlocking, which you don't really notice to much with a automatic. The autolockers wear pretty good

 

[RockRanger]

Ask Jefe about his electric locker and see what he thinks. Mostly it is just personal prefrence/opinion. I have always ran full time lockers and never had much of a problem with them. They all have there good sides and bad sides.

 

[fiftyfeetup]

How do you like those 4.88 gears? I'm planning on going to 35's some time and I was thinking they'd be better than 4.56's

 

[RockRanger]

I like them alot. Good power. I am planning on going to 37"s eventually so thats why I went 4.88 instead of 4.56. I could probably even get away pretty easy with 5.13 if you wanted.

 

[TheRookie]

Irun ARB's front and rear. One disadvantage is, ... they are air powered. So you will need an air compressor onboard and air lines. WHen one of these air lines breaks it can be a pain. However the lockers are tough as nails and I definately love the selectable aspect of air and electric. The ARB's are definatly cool but the air part can be annoying. If you break a wire on a trail you can just twist it together and tape it. DOesnt work that way with 100psi air line.

 

[410Fortune]

so bring extra air line and use common sense when routing, protect area's that might rub or come near sharp edges and you should be fine.

Also you dont have to use the stock plastic air line.

ARB is proven
Electric lockers in the aftermarket have had their share of problems, I know several shops have stopped installing them completely around here.

 

[TheRookie]

I do all of the above. I was just pointing out my personal experience and opinions. I am considdering going with a braided stainless set of hoses. But thats even more money on the most expensive lockers you can get.

 

[410Fortune]

I have never had a problem with the plastic line, but do agree 90% of the problems I have seen with them off road have been wiring/plumbing issues

 

[fiftyfeetup]

What kind of problems do people have with electric lockers?

 

[410Fortune]

getting them to work reliably, installation issues with the locker and cover mounted actuator.

Lookup Jefe and his Electrac on this forum, what he experienced is a pretty common thing. Now that does not mean they are all this way, I am sure there are many happy customers, you just dont read about their experiences nearly as much.

 

[ohe_boy]

bringing up an old thread.....


my electrac had been "unprovingly" out-of-commision for some time and today I was able to prove it.

The electrac switch lights up and the sound of it "actuating" can be heard but thats about it. It doesn't lock!!! I don't even know if the LS is even working. The tire in the air was spinning and the one on the ground wasn't!!!


I don't know what to say about this...I've spent the last 4 hours researching the faults of the electrac by other peoples experiences. Doesn't seem good!! Alot of people have complained about its failure to engage. And not much support by tractech because its been bought out by eaton and they do not manufacture this locker anymore; therefore not much one can do once it fails...

I suggest that you consider another selectable other than this if you're shopping around for one.

 

[dkchrist]

there is an upside to having plastic airline, should it get hung up on something it will not tear up as many other things as would the stainless lines. But i would vote on the ARB i just installed one in my ranger and if i would have know how well they work i would have done that long before any of the other mods to my truck.

Oh, on the upside of the air operated part i gives you the excuse to have onboard air as well as a locker

 

[ProjectAviator]

I know people who swear by the ARB and swear at the electric lockers. I am planning an ARB in my D30 SAS. with a repacked factory limited slip.

Tim