Eaton E-Locker Pros vs Cons??

[captjanes]

is there anyone running Eaton E-Locker in a front D30??? if so what are some pros and cons of this set up? how well does it work? i want this becasue i can only engage it when i get stuck which is not very often because i dont wheel hard. how much will it cost for this set it up?

 

[Jester32]

The e locker is nice as long as your wiring stays intact. Have one in my mud truck. You don't feel it on the street unless of course you forget it locked. The install is usually 4 hrs labour in a shop.

 

[Jester32]

Keeping the electrical intact sometimes is tricky. Especially if you see lots of mud. And the hole that's drilled in the housing has to be sealed real well it's a good point of entry for water. But the e locker is strong. It holds up to my big block in my mud truck. My jeep I just run Aussies front and rear cuz there cheap.

 

[captjanes]

yeah i heard about aussies but i want to be able to unlock it for drivign around town.. i dont wheel hard just gravel road some trees sometimes and little bit of mud.. mostly just playing around in sand snow and trying to climb stuff nothing to tear it up.. at least with the e-locker i can unlock it and never know it is there.

 

[Jester32]

Ya. My jeep is alway off road so I don't mind the anoyying clicking lol. The e locker works great. If my jeep was a driver I would have one in it

 

[Jeepergeo]

I have Eaton E-Lockers in my TJ, both front and rear. I really, really like them. Previously, my TJ was open in front and limited slip in the rear. The TJ did good off road then, but now the selectable lockers, the TJ is amazing off road.

The electric lockers engage and disengage easily, and having them front and back is great. I'm surprised how often I'll lock one but not the other. For example, on tight turns, it helps to unlock the front and leave the rear locked. When going up rock falls, locking the front really helps crawl up the ledges.

I thought long and hard before buying, and went electric as opposed to air because the electric seemed simpler and eliminated the potential problems with the compressor.

I was careful running the wires, and would have been similarly careful running air hoses, so as far as wiring or airline problems, I feel they are about the same.

As far as durability goes, I can't say. I don't run my Jeep that hard and only have 31's, so the lockers have had it pretty easy so far. I don't want to even think about how hard my kid runs it while Jeeping without me.

 

[captjanes]

where did u get ur e-locker to and how much? will i need a gear set up or do i simply bolt my ring gear to it and insall back in??

 

[TerryMason]

I'm interested in this as well. I've been doing this Jeep thing for years, but have yet to buy any lockers. The more I read makes me think that an electric locker is the way to go (for my daily driver)

 

[Utah_jeepster]

Captjanes, first if your installing the locker your self and not changing ring and pinion (full gears) then you can do it your self, it takes about three hours the first time. you do have to re-shim the carrier to get the correct backlash, and check the gear pattern with wet dykem and there is a .01-.02 preload side to side. Think but don't quote me but re-torquing the bearing caps is like 75 ft-lbs.

 

[Utah_jeepster]

Terry, any of the selectable lockers is the way to go on your DD. With having the option of having an "open" diff for road trips and the "locked" diff for off road makes them one of your best investments to improve your off-road experience.

I am a firm believer of making your daily driver take you there and back. Trailering your favorite toy is fun but being able to drive to and from in the jeep has its own rewards.

 

[jfrabat]

Terry, any of the selectable lockers is the way to go on your DD. With having the option of having an "open" diff for road trips and the "locked" diff for off road makes them one of your best investments to improve your off-road experience.

I am a firm believer of making your daily driver take you there and back. Trailering your favorite toy is fun but being able to drive to and from in the jeep has its own rewards.

I agree with Utah; I drive my Jeep 600 miles between Panama City, Panama, and San José, Costa Rica 4 times a year, and still tackle all the fun stuff. I drove another '94 wrangler on 35's the other day, and that one was HORRIBLE to drive. It was simply not built for road. In my opinion, finding a balance between on and off road is the key (you have to sacrifice some off road ability if you want to maintain on road stability, but a good compromise is always available).

As for the locker, just be sure you find something strong enough to survive off road; the cheaper lockers tend to be cheaper for a reason. I love my ARB lockers, but others find them too complicated (if the lines break or the compressor fails, you are out of lockers). In my opinion, air lines are easy to fix (I always carry quick couplers with me), where as if you break the wires, it's a bit more complicated to fix on the trail; I did kill a compressor (ingested water) and had to run all the trail without lockers, but I now have connected the intake of the air compressor to the stock airbox (I have a snorkel), so hopefully, that is fixed. Automatic lockers tend not to be great onroad, but they do give you one less thing to worry about off road. In other words, you need to find what works for you and for your type of offroading and onroading...

 

[uden1993jeep]

I agree with Utah; I drive my Jeep 600 miles between Panama City, Panama, and San José, Costa Rica 4 times a year, and still tackle all the fun stuff. I drove another '94 wrangler on 35's the other day, and that one was HORRIBLE to drive. It was simply not built for road. In my opinion, finding a balance between on and off road is the key (you have to sacrifice some off road ability if you want to maintain on road stability, but a good compromise is always available).

As for the locker, just be sure you find something strong enough to survive off road; the cheaper lockers tend to be cheaper for a reason. I love my ARB lockers, but others find them too complicated (if the lines break or the compressor fails, you are out of lockers). In my opinion, air lines are easy to fix (I always carry quick couplers with me), where as if you break the wires, it's a bit more complicated to fix on the trail; I did kill a compressor (ingested water) and had to run all the trail without lockers, but I now have connected the intake of the air compressor to the stock airbox (I have a snorkel), so hopefully, that is fixed. Automatic lockers tend not to be great onroad, but they do give you one less thing to worry about off road. In other words, you need to find what works for you and for your type of offroading and onroading...

I have a 1993 jeep Cherokee wanted to do lockers in the front and rear what lockers should I go with I want it so I can drive it on black top too so ya let me know

 

[jfrabat]

I have a 1993 jeep Cherokee wanted to do lockers in the front and rear what lockers should I go with I want it so I can drive it on black top too so ya let me know

The Cherokee is less sensitive in this department because of the longer wheelbase, but even so, I recommend ARB because they are 100% trasparent on the road. They are also the most expensive, so if you want to go with something a little less expensive (READ: STILL not cheap), OX is the second best option IMHO.

Now, there are a lot of auto lockers that can work well, but I always prefer selectable lockers (personal preference). Basically, any selectable locker should not be felt in the street.

Felipe

 

[Pawjob]

I love my eton e locker. With a lot hours useing them in moab, and the rubicon I have not had any hic ups. I'm running 30 spline Dana 30 front and Dana 44 rear. I chose them over arb and ox. Arb too much can go wrong, air lines, compressor. Ox the cable is not cheap 120$ each. When I start building my xj ill put Eton e lock in it too.