watching some video on moab utah, saw something i hadn't seen before. on some of my jeeps have the on/off switch on the front axle to encage four wheel, or allow it two wheel.
i saw a unit at moab that had them on front and back. kind of surprised me, thought someone could explain.

Its called lockers
Lock em up !

Billy

More drive options. Would also let you limp home with front drive if you break a rear shaft, axle or ujoint

A friend of mine put a front locker on a posi-traction F150 and there was no stopping it in a straight line. Going around slippery corners however, picture a pea on a platter. The truck had a mind of it's own. I'd imagine that tire wear was an issue as well. When I broke the rear axle on my truck, just the regular open axle front 4wd got me limped in to to the repair shop which thankfully wasn't too far away.

I drove for 2 weeks without a rear drive shaft on a '76 Chevy 4WD. Had to get to the next paycheck before I could get new u-joints. Didn't hurt a thing. I didn't drive over 55-60 mph, though.

Locking axel ends front and rear to make it easier for flat towing.
That’s where I saw it most.

Lots of Jeeps on deer leases have Redneck rear ends. My 76 had that. It would go great in the rocky hills!

There was a kit being sold a while ago that used locking hubs in the back.


The kit was designed to turn your semi float rear end into a full floater.


You could use locking hubs or they made machined ends too that were locked in all the time.

Lockers are for traction when more is needed. They lock the axles, to gears on both sides of the spool.

I put ARB air lockers front and rear in my Toyota and that thing will flat scare you climbing motorcycle trails around here. I know if I keep it up I'm gunna roll it falling into a 6' deep motorcycle rut.


.

I have i think five flatfenders in the collection, a fj40, and some other stuff. but i have never driven moab.
two series in youtube just excellent is matt's off road recovery, he is based in alliance.
boggling what some of the idiots get into. you see the calif license plate, and street tires on the vehicle driving into snow mud.
makes him a living.
the other is search word/phrase stan fuller, or grampa's jeep.
he takes that 48cj2a i places i was messing my pants.
excellent stuff for watching how to drive in really God forsaken country.
interesting enough on that old flat fender he was using the old military mud/snow tires, didn't seem to slow him down at all.
I had mudders on my diesel truck for years just because of that leche mud you find up there.

Hardcore 4x4 guys. I'd like some comments good or bad, on "lunchbox lockers". One fellow who seemed very savvy on the subject, just flat said, regardless of brand they are all a mickey mouse pos. Then I went over to his house, and he didn't own a single 4x4 that had a stock hp engine. They were all repowered to the max. I don't need bulletproof with a 4 cyl cj-7.

Lock it and rock it!

Two different things being discussed here. The OP was talking about manual locking hubs, on the front and rear axles of a Jeep. As someone noted, that aids in flat towing, and also allows driving with the front axle only in case of a problem with the rear axle or driveshaft (this would have been handy when the pinion gear broke recently in the rear differential of my Jeep.) Locking differentials are a different thing entirely, but definitely do provide a big increase in traction. As Windfall noted, locking diffs can be a handful on snowy roads. I wouldn't want to drive a Jeep on a snowy highway with the front axle locked. This is why selectable locking differentials are generally best. Lock them when needed, and leave them unlocked when they're not.

Yep.

Most people that think they own a 4x4 aren't even aware that they don't.

4x4 isn't really unless you lock the differentials. If they don't lock you might have power to only one wheel in the front and one up front. Locking means both wheels turn at the same rate and whether they have traction or not. Locking differentials greatly enhance traction by allowing you to put power to all four wheels at once.

Last truck I bought I got 2wd but with locking rear differential. Its almost as good as real 4x4.

Lol .......not many read what the OP said.

He’s talking axel ends. Not differentials.

It’s the Fire. Just enjoying the derail........

Now the responses have confused things. Was the original post about engaging from 2wd to 4wd or was it about locking differentials?

It was about locking the front hubs and seeing some jeeps with locking hubs on the back.

My spine is fugged. I thrashed open diff cj5s for too long.
And yeah i could go in and out of rough places.

But high centered and it was done, dig or winch time.

Id like to put my 5.2 98 zj on 33's but think ill just buy a nicer newer stock rig. Dont need beat up w a DD.

Thought about gutting the old one to make a buggy

New Gladiator parked next to me today.
Rubicon too.
Was nice but too nice for me.
And way too expensive.

Im the 5k truck guy. Drive en five yrs, throw away and get another. Old Jeep yards.....gone. No scrounging for parta around here.

600 for a used D30? Hell no. Paid 150 for my last one

ZJs 249 VC went. Wanted me to pull and shop rebuild 300 plus parts.

Uh, 215 and I swapped in a 242 and had driveshaft shortened. Was several yrs ago but dayam.......bashing jeeps today is just crazy money.

My back trashed. Wrenching sucks.

Anyone who 1st gets on an ATV or UTV with 2 locking axles is astounded by what they'll climb or wallow through. My 1st atv was a 2x4 but with a locking rear axle. Even that was amazing with what it could do.

I mentioned that they were full floating kits.

Yeah, look like you and 257x understood the question, pretty good for the 'fire.

Yes.

True dat!

Yep, as others have noted manual locking hubs on the rear axles provide the option to flat tow your off-road vehicle to the trailhead, and also provide the option to drive with just the front axle in the event the rear gears or bearing failures.

Locking differentials are another thing altogether. I have air locking differentials in the front and rear of my Ford Super Duty and they will get you out of a lot of trouble if needed. They can also get you into a world of trouble on a packed snow or ice condition. I use mine very seldom.

I put one in the back of a cj5 that had the 4l 6 cyl in it still. I held up fine long after I sold it. I was great for traction but would push into corners. It was my first Jeep with a locker and it didn't take me long to learn how to drive it. There's no substitute for lockers when it comes to traction. My 1ton has an Eaton ECTD in the front axle and a high bias limited slip in back. Towing is fine and when I get in a jam I can full lock the front end. It operates as a limited slip when not locked. I've used ARB's as well and think highly of them. Depending on what you want to do, and in what environment, I also really like Detroit lockers. (Grizzly now)

Keep in mind that when full locked in rocks the skinny pedal will break stuff.

Don't much care for electronic lock systems unless extremely well shielded. Brush pulled the wire on an at work Chevy, and I had to do some cutting of non critical wire and some splicing to get things in gear. Not handy mid-mud hole.

I agree with shielding the wires. Same goes for air operated. I welded a shield to my diff cover. I don't drive it through brush as a habit but with that shield I've never pulled a wire and it's been about 12-15 years probably.

I didn't read the thread but I read sometimes guys will put manual locking hubs on the rear to tow a rig freewheel

I have a locking rear diff on my 4runner which is engaged w/ the push of a button. I have only used it a few times to get out of snow and weird Montana mud. I assumed it was electronic. 2 questions: 1] At what speeds and conditions should it be used and/or avoided? 2] Should I shield some wiring or did Toyota figure that out?


mike r

You are using your locker correctly by only using it to get out of snow or mud. You most likely never want to lock the rear differential on packed snow and/or ice while driving on the highway, unless you like to fishtail around a lot. I would expect your 4runner has a safety control that will not allow it to lock unless you are in low range 4WD or below a certain speed, say 20 mph or so. They are wonderful devices but are dangerous in slick highway conditions.

If it's factory 5 mph is as fast as they say to go in my Tacoma with it locked

Thanks guys for the responses, very helpful.


mike r