How durable are the factory TJ Rubicon lockers?

Chris

Chris

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Anyone have any idea how durable the factory TJ Rubicon lockers are?

If mine ever go on me I'll replace them with Eaton e-Lockers, but in the meantime I'm curious what I can expect from my factory lockers? Are they notoriously weak as shit, or do they actually have some strength and durability to them?

Just curious if anyone knows from experience / research.
 
RedRubicon said:
I think that the biggest problem is that people wait until too late to engage them and try to engage them while under power and spinning their wheels.
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My understanding of lockers (not sure if this is all lockers or just the factory lockers) is that I should come to a complete stop, engage them and then proceed.

I wouldn't think it would be a good idea to engage any locker when under power or spinning the wheels. Seems like that would be similar to trying to start your car once it's already started (broken teeth on your starter / flywheel).
 
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Chris said:
My understanding of lockers (not sure if this is all lockers or just the factory lockers) is that I should come to a complete stop, engage them and then proceed.

I wouldn't think it would be a good idea to engage any locker when under power or spinning the wheels. Seems like that would be similar to trying to start your car once it's already started (broken teeth on your starter / flywheel).
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That is why some of the early Eaton ELockers would blow up. They unlocked and relocked when you shifted from foreword to reverse. Doing that with more than a little pressure on the skinny pedal would eat the locking pins up in short order. Eaton changed the design almost immediately on that issue. Except for the ELocker for the Ford 8", for some reason. They may have fixed that one by now too.
 
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The general consensus is that the Rubicon's front locker is stronger/more reliable than the rear locker is with its integral limited slip differential. I have had two minor Rubicon locker issues (but no breakages) but both were relatively minor and not difficult to fix. One was simply a bad compressor which I fixed with a used compressor, the second was a leaky air bladder inside the locker which was fixed with a used air bladder. Not a difficult job either. Both of those used parts came from @David Kishpaugh who apparently, thankfully, hordes used Rubicon locker parts.

If I had the $$$, I'd buy a used front Rubicon locker (no integral LSD) to use as a spare for both the front and rear lockers.
 
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I have a Buddy with a LJR, I know he's blown 3 rear rubi lockers up on 36s.
 
The usual upper tire size recommendation made by experienced builders for TJ axles is 35". My front and rear axles are beefed up with front 30 spline Superior Axle and Revolution Gear and Axle rear axle shafts, CTM and 1330 u-joints but I still limit the tire size to 35's. No breakages.

Not to mention that anything can be broken with enough go-pedal and/or beer goggles.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
The general consensus is that the Rubicon's front locker is stronger/more reliable than the rear locker is with its integral limited slip differential. I have had two minor Rubicon locker issues (but no breakages) but both were relatively minor and not difficult to fix. One was simply a bad compressor which I fixed with a used compressor, the second was a leaky air bladder inside the locker which was fixed with a used air bladder. Not a difficult job either. Both of those used parts came from Mudb8 who apparently, thankfully, hordes used Rubicon locker parts.

If I had the $$$, I'd buy a used front Rubicon locker (no integral LSD) to use as a spare for both the front and rear lockers.
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Not a bad idea Jerry. I think that if I can get by with the stock lockers it makes more sense than dropping $2000 on aftermarket lockers.

So the rear locker is weaker due to the fact that it has interested limited slip? Interesting... Is the front locker interchangeable with the rear without any modification?
 
I sent @David Kishpaugh a text message about this and here was his response:

"The front TJ Rubicon locker is not stronger, lots of guys just think it is. Ive got several with busted spiders i can show you. The rears are basically the same as an eaton tru-trac. Fronts dont get the abuse a rear diff does so you dont see many brocken ones aside from when they've been swapped. Being a 2 pinion, instead of four like an arb or ox, they are weak anyway.

It is a direct swap tho to answer you question. I have good front and rear take out rubi lockers here also."​
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
That's good insight from Dave. I trust him and what he says over what I had heard and read the last several years.
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Yes, we're speaking right now about his 3' x 6' cabinet full of nothing but Rubi lockers... Haha! He's telling me how he beat the piss out of them with 35" tires and proved they're a bit more durable than most would believe them to be.
 
Chris said:
Not a bad idea Jerry. I think that if I can get by with the stock lockers it makes more sense than dropping $2000 on aftermarket lockers.

So the rear locker is weaker due to the fact that it has interested limited slip? Interesting... Is the front locker interchangeable with the rear without any modification?
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The rear locker is not weaker. The fact that it is a gear driven limited slip is the problem. When you work them hard like hotrodding around corners on the street or larger tires offroad, it tends to destroy the small drive gears and the pieces take out the locker. The best way to protect them is to turn them on and engage them when you get on the trail and turn them off when you get off the trail.
 
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Chris said:
I sent David (MUDB8) a text message about this and here was his response:

"The front TJ Rubicon locker is not stronger, lots of guys just think it is. Ive got several with busted spiders i can show you. The rears are basically the same as an eaton tru-trac. Fronts dont get the abuse a rear diff does so you dont see many brocken ones aside from when they've been swapped. Being a 2 pinion, instead of four like an arb or ox, they are weak anyway.

It is a direct swap tho to answer you question. I have good front and rear take out rubi lockers here also."​
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I should learn the read the whole thread before I reply.
 
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Speaking with @David Kishpaugh, he was telling me how he purposely was as rough as he could be on the Rubicon lockers just to see how well they would hold up. From what he told me, they actually hold up pretty darn well to 35" tires and abuse.

That's saying a lot though, because I'm not crazy with the throttle or a maniac like some.
 
Chris said:
Speaking with David, he was telling me how he purposely was as rough as he could be on the Rubicon lockers just to see how well they would hold up. From what he told me, they actually hold up pretty darn well to 35" tires and abuse.

That's saying a lot though, because I'm not crazy with the throttle or a maniac like some.
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I can tell you from seeing it several times that the rear will not take any shock loading at all. Dave wheels in a fairly low traction environment and he doesn't see as many high shock load spikes as pure rock crawling generates. Bump one a bit too hard and you're fixing it.
 
mrblaine said:
I can tell you from seeing it several times that the rear will not take any shock loading at all. Dave wheels in a fairly low traction environment and he doesn't see as many high shock load spikes as pure rock crawling generates. Bump one a bit too hard and you're fixing it.
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Can I assume the reason the rear won't take any shock loading has to do with the integrated limited slip in the rear locker?
 
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