jeepmojo

nice jeep
http://www.youtube.com/user/Plukethe2?feature=mhee

genesbro

Your best bet for soft sand is to air down those tires. With your tires aired down you can drive around like you are on a regular dirt road. And put it into 4lo and you won't be going oh this thing is so underpowered. In 4lo you won't be straining the clutch or the tranny if it is an auto.

Lockers really come into play when you are working with terrain that will cause your axles to be flexing a lot because that is when you will loose traction.

Pluke the 2

thanks bud!

GJeep

I agree with every word.
The very purpose of lockers is to allow going through without getting stuck.

Also, in reply to the OP questions --

Yes, if you anticipate the need to lock, then lock.
At your disposal, there are the correct speed and gear, momentum or braking, 4x4, High or Low, sway bar disconnect, type of tires, tire pressure, lockers.
Those "aids" are made to be used, and when properly used they reduce stresses, and not increase them.

Lockers are made primarily for slippery surfaces, such as mud, deep soft sand, soft snow or even hail covered asphalt.
(A few winters ago, I had to drive, the road [in a city] was paved with hale pebbles. 4x4 and low revs "saved the day", locking helped.)

It may be hard even getting to the lock button when on the move, while you want to keep momentum and very busy controlling the Jeep, so I'd lock when I enter the soft stuff -- as long as the sand allows slipping.
(BTW, 2x4 rear-drive Buggies manage very nicely on sand dunes. True, they're lighter...)
Notice that slipping is not the same as wheel spinning. On soft sand, the front wheels steer somewhat like a boat rudder – there's always some side sliding – but they don't necessarily spin.

Full right or left steering might cause stresses if the wheels dig in, but you don't turn the steering wheel all the way anyway on sand dunes.
This - the sand - will cause more wear than using the lockers, so don't worry and have fun...

LeftHandRubi

I agree with the "lock when you think you will need it" concept. I also like the"lock as little as possible". The line is: no spinning of tires. Spinning breaks stuff. Instead, lock and crawl. When locking, lock rear first if on roads. If rock crawling then lock F/R when climbing. Unlock going down.

Unlock when you need to make turns in a trail. The front doesn't turn so well when locked.

On rock crawling trails frequently I will drive unlocked, or only rear locked. To save wear and tear in the jeep when doing an obstacle, I will lock-up. If I am using my front tires to climb, then lock front. If I am rolling over an obstacle, then rear.

In any case minimize spinning of hard surfaces.

When in sand and mud I do 4WD Hi with rear locked and ABS turned off. In mud and sand I spin.

Snow bashing (breaking trail), I lock front and rear. If following anther rig, then rear.

Jersey_Devil

What about in the Rubi where you can only lock in low? U guys were saying lock rear in hi when in mud....

jeepmojo

another thing if your locked in deep mud and cant go forward and stall out, how do you unlock to be pulled out? dosent it have to be in gear and moving in direction to lock and unlock? I find it kinda difficult locking and unlocking on dry surface . cant imagine being in muck and trying to lock and unlock .( one min lights blinkin next its not locking with the fronts you know the deal . finay there locked and your like geeeze

or do you leave it locked and just put it in reverse, start it and drive backward as your being pulled out !

: I try not to think about things like this but stuff happens

LeftHandRubi

Leave it locked and back out. All that lockers do is make both wheels turn at the same time.

To get fully unlocked, some lockers need the wheels to roll a bit. Forward or back, no matter.

LeftHandRubi

Yeah. Some rigs don't use the electronic locker set-up that stock rubi's have. They can lock in 4hi. Stock rubi's can't.

When wheeling in sand in a stocker rubi, I do 4 hi with traction control turned off. If you don't turn the traction control off going up a dune, the jeep computer will "help" you stay under what it thinks control should be by limiting your RPMS.

I sometimes do 4 low, and run the RPMS really high, but I don't like doing that.

Jersey_Devil

Yea I don't like running the rpms high in 4 low either... And I always turn off traction control