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Are Front Lockers worth it?

LaSmurf_4x4 said:
It doesn’t have rear lockers. It has the LSD only
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Ok, figured.

So your original post said "front lockers as well" not sure if you meant front and rear, or front only but if you're only buying one, then lock the rear. The chances of you breaking something on the rear diff are slimmer than the front CVs. As far as locking both front and rear, I think you'd have to evaluate the types of trails you plan on doing. A rear locker will get you further than you might think, because when it comes to Locking the front, experience goes a long way. I've seen people grenade their CV axles when locked and Ive seen others that haven't had issues. Ive also seen people in open diffs get through trails where others in more capable rigs have failed.

Not really trying to push you more towards one over the other, but definitely understand the limitations of CV axles.. lockers are pricey so definitely make sure that its something you'll need.
 
I think this question plays into the idea of a "fuse".
We do a lot of rock crawling and would totally love to run a front locker, however it would change our fuse. Right now, our fuse, or first thing to break, is traction. Simple enough, we don't have the bite. For the wheeling we do, that's ok, as there is generally more than enough traction with just a rear locker. (not always, a front would totally be awesome). Add a locker up front, and our fuse moves. When the first thing to break was traction, and now we fixed that, the fuse moves to the next weakest link. That may be a CV, the stock steering rack, maybe even just the TRE's. Is it super simple to swap steering components and carry spares on the trail? Sure, done far worse a thousand times. However, as we generally wheel alone, or with one other rig, keeping the rig intact, vs fighting repairs, is the name of the game.
If youre keeping a smaller tire (we are on 37's), aren't heavy in the throttle, and just want that extra aid, I say go for it. But if you plan to run bigger, or harder, realize that changing to a front locker means something else will give first. HTH
 
WarFabArmor said:
I think this question plays into the idea of a "fuse".
We do a lot of rock crawling and would totally love to run a front locker, however it would change our fuse. Right now, our fuse, or first thing to break, is traction. Simple enough, we don't have the bite. For the wheeling we do, that's ok, as there is generally more than enough traction with just a rear locker. (not always, a front would totally be awesome). Add a locker up front, and our fuse moves. When the first thing to break was traction, and now we fixed that, the fuse moves to the next weakest link. That may be a CV, the stock steering rack, maybe even just the TRE's. Is it super simple to swap steering components and carry spares on the trail? Sure, done far worse a thousand times. However, as we generally wheel alone, or with one other rig, keeping the rig intact, vs fighting repairs, is the name of the game.
If youre keeping a smaller tire (we are on 37's), aren't heavy in the throttle, and just want that extra aid, I say go for it. But if you plan to run bigger, or harder, realize that changing to a front locker means something else will give first. HTH
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The fuse analogy has to be the best I’ve ever heard when it comes to locking an IFS front. Lol.
 
Ericz34 said:
The fuse analogy has to be the best I’ve ever heard when it comes to locking an IFS front. Lol.
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It's applicable to a lot, but hopefully makes sense for folks in this scenario.
Alloy axles mean gears break instead, beef those up it's the driveline that gets tossed,. Beef that and the case is taking the abuse and likely to puke it's guts. Etc etc. It's all a out finding what you are willing to fix or replace. And what you need for your wheeling application.
 
if you need to ask you are not ready for lockers yet.
wheel the piss out of your truck as is until you figure out what you need. lockers are $$$
 
I would say get one. It’s nice to have as a backup. I damaged my ABS wiring harness, which for some reason wouldn’t allow me to switch my rear e-locker on, I was deep into a trail which required a locker in some places. The front air locker was a nice backup to have.
 
Love my front locker. When you need it you need it. Definitely adds more stress to the front diff and CV shafts when locked though. I have RCVs to deal with the CV issue, but that is a pricey upgrade as well.

The one thing I still need to deal with is wiring the front ARB so it can't get locked accidentally with the front axle disconnect opened. That causes some banging. :ROFLMAO:
 
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