No it doesn't and never has. Folks are very confused about what causes hard steering on the trails and even more confused as to how lockers work and why they don't unlock when you hit the off switch or move the shift lever to the unlock position.
Opinions on OX locker with Super 35 kit
- Thread starter papasjeep
- Start date
ErikOffroad
TJ Enthusiast
I don't have a problem with his research and his straight forward approach to finding a "problem". What I do take issue with is just how much that really has affected any of the gear sets in Jeeps and why now everyone is on the "aftermarket covers suck" bandwagon. I'd buy all of it in an instant if he wasn't selling covers and folks were reporting lots of gear set failures.
And perhaps it’s something yet to be seen. We have no scheduled forecast. Then again, perhaps it’s irrelevant due to the life of the vehicle.
Kool, Spokane is a neat area to live and there is fun stuff to do. Why do you need to get the locker installed before you get up here? I know of a shop in the area if you want to wait until you get up here and see what things are like.
I'm one of those confused by that statement, there's a noticeable difference in turning when my front lockers are engaged? More often than not I'll turn mine on for hill climbs that have a lot of rocks, ruts & other features that keep one or sometimes two tires off the ground enough that I'd get stopped in my tracks if open. I'll always turn the front locker off when I'm near the top particularly if there's a T intersecting trail that i have to turn onto, when I forget to turn it off or turn it off without enough runway left for the locker to disengage & I try to make the turn it's the approximately equivalent of turning a car without power steering (who all remembers those days?). If it's not the lockers directly or indirectly causing the hard steering what is it?
It is coming from the rear axle being locked and pushing the right straight or trying to. Folks who compete understand it a lot better and a lot of them run cutting brakes on the rear axle and leave it unlocked with a selectable to turn better. The front isn't the problem. I believe John Currie has a video on it as well.
Even though, if you're locked up front, the front tires are trying to turn at the same speed around different radii?
Great video with John Currie saying the same thing Blaine has been telling me for years. Those two turns he makes in the video, one with the rear locker locked and the second with it unlocked, illustrate well that sharper turns are possible with the rear locker unlocked, not the front.
The video clearly shows the rear will "push" the front far more than the front will "pull" you off line. Makes complete sense when you think about it and see it in action.
At 2:30 he shows the wider turn with both engaged, then the tighter turn with the rear disengaged.
Better watch it again. The first time around that corner both lockers are locked. In the second tighter radius turn, the only change made was to unlock the rear locker.
I can add some first hand experience. I am in Moab right now. My rear locker is not functioning. I have been wondering around with the front locked nearly the whole time I am off pavement. Turning is noticably stiffer with an open rear and locked front, but I cannot say that my manueverability has been impacted in a meaningful way.
There is a rear locker in that video, the front is a Detroit.
I guess he does refer to the Detroit as a "locker" but, of course, it can't be manually controlled or unlocked, it's "automatic," releasing the outer wheel to turn independantly
Correct. The front can't unlock under torque but the rear can be locked and unlocked. We run that way because it doesn't matter if the front is locked, only the rear since the front isn't the problem, the back is. If you reversed the locker arrangement, his turning would never change since the back would never unlock and always try to push him straight. (barring a front dig)
Yes, which can't be unlocked manually. What he unlocked to make the turn tighter was the selectable rear E-Locker.
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