What the hey, as long as you're upgrading put in some Evolution axles as well. That should take care of the 35" issue. For my two cent's worth, I'd never put a non-selectable locker in the front. But that 's just me. This may be smoke out my backside, but don't folks think axle upgrade even with a D44 and 35's?

 

Yeah - its old school that you lock the rear first, and many are used to that....its traditional....mostly because the fronts broke more easily, andd there's no good way to TURN with the front locked UNLESS the outside tire can go faster.

So - the point is that the front is more likely to slip than the rear....and, the ONLY time a locker gives more traction, is when you would have lost traction if a wheel slipped, and made the OTHER wheel stop too.

So - the bottom line is that the front locker ends up getting you through more stuff than a rear locker.


This was born out in two sets of tests...both of which were done decades apart, by different parties....IIRC, CJ's...and then TJ's.

The essence of the test was to compare open diffed jeeps, and front only locked jeeps to rear only locked jeeps, with the other diff being open,...to double locked jeeps.

What both studies found, was that a front only locked jeep could get through more off road situations than a rear only locked jeep...and, both studies concluded that after watching the jeeps trying to navigate through various terrain, that it was because most obstacles are approached first with the front tires....and, typically, involving climbing over something if a slip was to be involved.

A down hill slip didn't require a locker....trying to climb a steep hill, ledge, rock face, rubble or boulder field, or a mud hole, mostly unweighted the front end....lessening traction, and making a tire either hang, or slip.

As a locker's ONLY function is to avoid the other tire stopping to laugh at the stopped/hung tire....it can ONLY help you IF a tire would have slipped.


So - of course, the rears slipped lots of times...and, the rear locker did its job, and made the other tire push the jeep anyway.

But, the front tires slipped MORE, as when you climb, the weight goes to the rear...which INCREASES the traction in the rear, and makes the rear LESS likely to slip than the front.

So, what was happening, was that the fronts were able to PULL the jeep up a steeper hill, just like if you had to walk up a really steep hill, you would lean forward, and grab with your hands to help get you up and over...and that extra oomph was enough to allow the tires of the open diffed rear to keep tuning at the same speed...and not slip.

The weight transfer to the rear is a double edged sword....it increases the ground pressure, and traction to the rear tires...but, with an open front diff...the rears have to do ALL the pushing, as on a steep hill, the front tires have only a small percentageof the rig's weight on them. So...on a loose dirt hill climb for example...if the locked rear had a tire dig for a moment, the front tires would spin, as speed was lost, but they were still being rotated...and on loose uneven terrain...that means one will slip.

So, IF the jeep had enough traction and torque with ONE rear tire to send it to the top...then it made it...but, ofttimes...on loose materials in our example...one rear tire just is not enough.

If there's so much weight transferred to the rear that a locked jeep breaks traction...thena rear locker is not enough.

The study showed that an open diffed rear tended to keep going if the front was locked, as it meant the front could finally make a real contribution to the climb instead of slipping....which gave the open rear the ability to keep pushing, etc.

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So - No surprise - the double locked jeep got through more than the single lockered jeeps.....so its best to lock the front AND rear obviously for a performance perspective.

The surprise was the effectiveness of the front alone being almost as effective as a double locker.....

The rear only locked jeep was very, very capable, but, IIRC, ~ 30% LESS capable than a front only locked jeep.


So the front only jeeps got through ALMOST (not the same, less, but ALMOST) as many obstacles as the DOUBLE locked jeeps.

And - while most of us (me 2) are mostly experienced with rear only locked rigs as far as choices went..and the Rubi's are set up to lock the rear first, and THEN the front...for liability/steering issues, etc....the bottom line is that we were raised that way....but not the best way for NOW.

Now - we have a new set of options, like ARB/OX/ECTED lockers (Selectables), that allow us to try out some new techniques.

So -Yeah - alot of us grew up with the "Lock the rear first" mantra in our heads...but we are not sheep, we are jeep...or something like that.




The AUSSIE, is yet another alternative....its not SELECTABLE, but it IS DIFFERENTIATABLE....which, being able to differentiate....negates most of the old front locker concerns.

Like I said, for $250 delivered from Northridge...and a couple of driveway hours, you have a front locker that allows you to turn....plus, in 2wd....its not locked anyway.

 

I use my 4wd in the snow. Would this be safe with an aussie on snow and ice? I would think it would start locking in 4wd and want to keep me in a straight line. I have no experience with them though.

What type/brand of lockers do the Rubis run?

 

The Rubi when locked, is a conventional locker...both tires turn at the same speed, so in snow or ice...it can crab walk, etc. if you want to turn when locked.

ALL lockers will warn you, for liability purposes, because, well, most people do not know how to drive very well/understand the dynamics of vehical control, etc.....to not use them on snow or ice....except form maybe getting unstuck, and then turning them off again, etc.

The people who HAVE the Aussie locker say it too has that warning....but that they didn't see a problem with it....as it does allow turns like an open diff would...except the inside tire keeps pulling you too....

If you have an LSD rear, and you gun it on ice, the rear end will crab out on you for the same reason....so, just as with any vehical...you need to get the feel for it...just like you had to get the feel of your first one wheel drive car, etc.



On snow and ice...you want to go slowly anyway...and NOT gun it, except for entertainment purposes, etc.



With the traction control, etc....the jeep will just nibble its way across a sheet of ice if you lay off the gas....most people get stuck in the first place from over application of go go juice.

A freind of mine blew his front diff at Rousch creek about 2 years ago...(In a super charged Xterra yet...) and, figured, what the hell, I have the diff open anyway...and installed an ARB front locker...he had a LSD Rear.

He was initially wondering what alot of people here were...what about breakage, control in bad weather, etc...

Man, is he HAPPPY with that front locker....he can do SO much more than he used to be able to he's THRILLED (He's kind of new to off roading...maybe 6 yrs now or so...).

He says they should come with a front locker fom the factory.

He called the factory...they said no way....people who haven't a clue how to drive can't have lockers, period...too tricky.

Hell, they make the front ends understeer rather than have neutral handling/faster turn-in too...as the average Jane/Joe Doe will spin out and sue them if the car over steered like a rear engined Porche, etc.

So - if you are a poor driver skill wise...sure-you'll run into trouble with a taller truck, as it flips over more easily, a truck that steers better, as you'll over react and cut the wheel too far in a panic swerve, etc...and the factory has to protect themselves from you.

But - If you're able to steer into a skid, control a jeep on an off camber hillside, compression brake down a steep decent, etc...you'd be Ok with some extra traction...and - if you know people who are not able to, maybe you should warn those people not be off road where those situations might arise.

The one thing keeping me from making myy mind up once and for all on the Aussie Locker right now, is my wife drives the JK, and she's just starting to off road (She went once, and liked it, andplans to continue...)....and it might be expecting too much for her to learn to off road with a locker from the get go, it will prevent her from learning to plant her tires properly, etc...by making it too easy to get away with doing it wrong.

I'm a tough teacher that way.

 

I have an aussie locker in the front. The main concern around snow and ice is the lack of tracking. since both wheels are turning, you will slide to one side or another. In my experience, when driving in ice... keep it out of 4WD. Only put in in 4WD when you get stuck. If there is snow on the road, your locked front should do just fine. Just go easy on the gas.

 

i have open diffs front and rear and i was going places this past weekend wear fully locked tjs and jk 2drs could. is it cause of the extra weight i have or the longer wheel base? there were a few open tjs who couldn t do half the stuff i did.

anyway, what about putting the aussie lockers in front and rear? i d like to do this, and then when i go to 5.13 i can just put them back in right? it seems like a good option for lockers as i don t offroad enough to spend $2000 plus for selectables and then another $1500 for gears!

 

alot of what you say makes alot of sense, so that means your either a great bullshiter or i just don't know what the feck your talking about but i always love to read your posts, it seems you have alot to say, and i'm also gussing your a much better typist than myself, which is not hard to acomplishpeace chicken grease and all that jazz

 

For what it's worth, when the folks on the Xtreme 4x4 show did their JK build up (Stage 1) they recommended not going bigger than 33s with the Dana 30. They said 35s would lead to a lot of broken axles. Now they were referring to stock axles I believe. Aftermarket ones may be stronger.

http://www.powerblocktv.com/sites/xt...06&ep_sea=0701

When they did stage 2 they replaced the D30 with a D44 from a Rubicon