Upgrading Rubicon axles: is this a crazy thought?
- Thread starter d-cannon
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I can't imagine not being able to lock either independently. That's some nanny state stuff right there.
'Course, even the standard wiring setup on the ARB switches won't let you lock the front without locking the rear. So, it's not just Jeep I guess...
Understeer is a bitch on pavement.I can't imagine not being able to lock either independently. That's some nanny state stuff right there .
'Course, even the standard wiring setup on the ARB switches won't let you lock the front without locking the rear. So, it's not just Jeep I guess...
Yeah, both my jeep and my truck (both with factory lockers front and rear) require locking the rear before the front...also slow speeds (25 mph or less, IIRC) and T-case in 4-low.I can't imagine not being able to lock either independently. That's some nanny state stuff right there .
'Course, even the standard wiring setup on the ARB switches won't let you lock the front without locking the rear. So, it's not just Jeep I guess...
They are a bummer. I bought one for my "locker enable" switch. It sucks. It works, but its not the same as the factory. I wish the hardrop switch set (with wiper and defrost) were not so complicated. I'd replace the whole lot with Carling rockers.
I figured out double switches a couple years ago. I like it. Just don't ask me how I did it. Pure trial and error. Sri wrote it all down and also made the dash lights work.
I always thought limited slip was more of a street thing. In my 4 yrs of TJR ownership I've only spun the rear tires once on the street and that was just last week. OOPS! Now that I know I could have some pieces of a little gear instead of what I would have thought was some worn clutch-like stuff, I'm going to have to check and make sure I have nothing floating around in there. So far when off road I've only locked the rear axle when I was driving toward something that looked like it needed some "pedal to the metal" action. 90% of my off roading has been in 4lo so I could quickly lock it while moving even though 4lo is too low for a lot of my off roading. Now the first thing I'll be doing after checking the differential is adding my own switches to control both lockers separately no matter what I have my transfer case doing.
I can see it now: Some punk pulls up beside me at the red light and wants to race, I stay in 2wd but lock the rear end, the light turns green and I floor it. I can also see him getting pulled over way out in front of me. At least my tires didn't spin and draw attention to my 4.0 powered Jeep.
There are no friction clutches in the stock Rubi air locker. It is a gear driven limited slip like the Auburn and uses locking clutch dogs to tie both axles together when you lock it.
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Does keeping the rear locked the whole time offroad protect me with non-stock gearing ?
I ask because I got a Rubicon Dana 44 rear with RGA gears and shafts, Eaton E-locker.
When the LSD begins to break apart you will first notice little pops and hesitations while turning. They get progressively worse until it acts like a locker with a mind of it's own. You'll be making a turn when the LSD binds up and pushes the Jeep straight for a moment. Then the bind breaks apart with tremendously loud firework cracks and pops before opening up again. I drove mine like that for a couple weeks waiting for the ARB to arrive.
The aftermarket switches look decent but no where close to feel of the factory one. Not sure if either switch comes apart without too much trouble, but I wonder if we can get spare factory rocker switches and move the plastic internals over?
Figuring out the dash lights took me a very long time and I need to find my notes to recall why I did what I did. I was trying to help @mvigo with this last year, and we looked at the wiring diagrams together and it made sense at the time but I've forgotten the details.
@Mike_H , here is a diagram of what I did. The idea is to insert a relay to interrupt the momentary ground that the pcm needs to enable both the lockers and the dash light circuits. If you wanted to enable lockers on all tcase positions, you have to do the wandering trail mod on top of this.
@mrblaine is your implementation anything similar to below?
@ElectricWizard went one step further and found a way to make even the switches Illuminated. I decided I don't do anything that needs lockers at night time so did not do it, but if you are bored ...
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/electricwizards-2000-tj-sport-build.14165/post-336835
Thanks for that. I've only driven about 50 some miles since I spun the tires on the road but I haven't had any noticeable issues. I'll still be checking to see what my fluid looks like because it's been a year or so since I changed it.
Perfect. I remember we had a discussion about it, but don't remember where (through PM or in the open forum). I am going to try getting a couple factory switches and move the "covers" over from some aftermarket ones. See if I can get the feel of factory with the new pictures.
It's all lost in the forum old PM purge that seems to have happened
I lost other conversations as well. If you need anything let me know, I'll go dig up my old notes.
What I did, and what I have recommended many times, is to bypass the Rubicon's locker wiring and switch and install your own. If you can wire a light bulb so it turns on & off with an on-off switch, you can do the same with the Rubicon lockers that are no harder to control than a light bulb is.
All that is needed is wire, two simple on-off (SPST) switches, and a 5 amp fuse for each of the two locker compressors.
This is where I mounted my locker switches. I totally do NOT miss that effed-up factory locker switch and its engagement order.
All that is needed is wire, two simple on-off (SPST) switches, and a 5 amp fuse for each of the two locker compressors.
This is where I mounted my locker switches. I totally do NOT miss that effed-up factory locker switch and its engagement order.
The factory setup, though complicated, is elegant.
Your setup will not light the gauge cluster locker indicator switches like the factory switch does. Not everyone wants two bright red switches in the dash switch pod.
Looks like the bypass switch setup is much more than a convenience. I do some trail rides and snow and often run in Hi Range and would be without a way to lock the diffs in the LJ. Fortunately, I haven't run the LJ under those conditions yet.
Had the XJ out in deep snow yesterday and after having to lock all 4 in Low Range to bust out of a ditch I just left the rear locked and in High range for the remainder of the drive (ARBs). It just instinctively made sense to me. I wanna be able to do that in the new rig.. and run 2wd locked if I want.