Thread: Front Locker?

Originally Posted by Mudsloth

I have front and rear lockers and get alot of use out of both. If you're in a situation that requires steering and you are moving fast enough to notice the increased difficulty front locks cause on steering then you don't really need the front locker on. The front locker will get you out of more trouble than a rear locker, provided of course your wheels are on the ground. I have noticed on many 4wds that even when 4wd is engaged the front wheels don't spin nearly as hard as the rear. Putting a locker in the front first will give you 3 wheels that turn enough to actually do somthing where one in the rear is like having 2 wheels turning all the time and one most of the time. Alot of guys I go bush with get stuck with jut a rear locker. my rear locker died one trip away and after blocking the air line the front locker pulled me through everything, leaving the rear locker guys for dead. I'm sure there will be plenty who disagree with me but after 2 years of using lockers I believe that in the majority of situations front is the most usable. Do yourself a favour though, get front and back.

I agree to a point, as you have said there is a differance between the front and rear wheel spin and as the rear end in most if not all 4x4's has more wheel travel it is fesiable to say it is more benificial for the front locker first, but when you get into terrain that where you have one front wheel in the air and the rear is at max travel and you are going up a hill it is best to have the locker in the rear, there would be limited traction over the front as opposed to the rear.

I have gone front first my theory is that 90% of the time I have been stuck, even going up hill is because one or both front wheels have been up against something, be it a rock, root or washout. My other idea is I have a winch which when travelling up a hill and loose traction I get the trusty PTO winch out and pull myself up but coming down the hill and I loose traction by the time I stop to get out and use the winch I have traction again, and this has happend to me a couple of times. They generally get the heart rate going and a few bad words, luckly my experience and most good luck I haven't hurt my truck. This is less likely to happen with a front locker. Mine is a truetrac which is not a full locker but when traction is poor it turns better when the diff locks up.
I have a mate with ARB lockers front and rear. We mucked around with it one weekend in a gravel quarry and found the steeing to be more positive with the front locked and the rear open! My county is a V8 so it doesn't have the extra weight, actually my father put Isuzu front spring in the front of his 1990 V8 county after fitting a winch and bull bar and now sits slighty higher than standard height.

Originally Posted by lambrover

I agree to a point, as you have said there is a differance between the front and rear wheel spin and as the rear end in most if not all 4x4's has more wheel travel it is fesiable to say it is more benificial for the front locker first, but when you get into terrain that where you have one front wheel in the air and the rear is at max travel and you are going up a hill it is best to have the locker in the rear, there would be limited traction over the front as opposed to the rear.

That's the theory, not always the case

I find the front helps in the trickier situations alot more than the rear, i.e, getting the nose of the car up over a log or bank where the rear helps very little

The rear is a nice general aid, but the front shines when playing in difficult stuff as "most" hill climbs will see the rears on the ground due to the weight, but lifting a front, having the front locker, means keeping the front wheel that is on terra firma, doing some work, where both rears are on the ground and will be working regardless

Best option is both and funny thing is, the longer I;ve had front and rear lockers, about 7 years now, the less I use them, as you learn when they are and aren;t required