Thread: Air Locker O-rings

Originally Posted by RedBear

Does anyone have a supplier for ARB Air Locker O rings for an RD03 (old 10 spline) locker? ARB part number 160206SP. I found one online store in the US but I won't be paying $100 shipping for two O rings!

Otherwise I'll try an ARB retailer on Monday.

O rings are like bearings, they are not made by the equipment manufacturer. If you have it out just take an old one to a local bearing supply shop that should have a big range of O rings. Just ensure that the material is Viton.

They're a square-section o ring, I found that none of the bearing supplies around here stock those in any size at all so I doubt you'll find them off the shelf. An ARB outlet should have them. There are a few things you need to do when reinstalling, such as annealing the copper air tube as it work-hardens making it prone to fracture.

They're a square-section o ring,

Ok, fair enough. Another option is a hydraulic repair shop.

Ordered through ARB, only $12 but have to wait a week or so... Oh well, it isn't that urgent.

Just as an FYI for anyone who stumbles on this thread in the future...

I got the O rings from ARB, and they have a weird profile, sort of like an "X" shape, and they are a funny brown colour so my assumption is that they are Viton.

Not something that your local bearing shop is likely to have on the shelf.

Possibly part of the reason there are so many complaints about leaky air lockers??? The X profile looks like it will act like a lip seal, where a normal O ring would just be pushed out of the way.

I had an air locker leak about 10yrs ago and they had found that the o ring would let oil past but the x shaped seal worked much better. I didnt keep the car long enough to find out if it made a difference. Definitely a custom seal though.

[QUOTE=RedBear;2928893]J

Possibly part of the reason there are so many complaints about leaky air lockers???


No, the reason they leak, at least on the rover 24-spline diff, is because the original bearing retaining nut is replaced with a new, narrower nut that does not engage the locking device, the nut rotates and the seal housing rotates with it until it comes up against it's own retaining clip, that puts pressure on one side of the housing, the housing no longer floats freely on the rotating shaft and the O-rings are skewed to one side. There was probably nothing wrong with your O-rings, it's just a bad design. Mine was in & out 4 times with various attempts to solve this problem before I finally installed it with loctite 620 (intended for permanent assembly) on both the carrier bearing cup and the nut. Next step was going to be a grub screw to positively stop the rotation.

[QUOTE=POD;2928907]

Originally Posted by RedBear

J

Possibly part of the reason there are so many complaints about leaky air lockers???


No, the reason they leak, at least on the rover 24-spline diff, is because the original bearing retaining nut is replaced with a new, narrower nut that does not engage the locking device, the nut rotates and the seal housing rotates with it until it comes up against it's own retaining clip, that puts pressure on one side of the housing, the housing no longer floats freely on the rotating shaft and the O-rings are skewed to one side. There was probably nothing wrong with your O-rings, it's just a bad design. Mine was in & out 4 times with various attempts to solve this problem before I finally installed it with loctite 620 (intended for permanent assembly) on both the carrier bearing cup and the nut. Next step was going to be a grub screw to positively stop the rotation.

Is this the carrier bearing adjusting nut? My rear diff as gained some excess backlash, and a slight air leak, may be something to look at.