I was wondering what the best way to check if it is engaging without going to the trails. I was thinking about jacking up the rear and spinning the tires. in theory when the locker is off the other tire should spin in the opposite direction right? open diff? It's a dana 44 rear with duchman 30 spline axles.

 

Get on some gravel and gun it.If it leaves 2 tire marks then it's locked ,if it doesn't then it's not.

 

lol, yea either way will work. the 2nd way is more fun

 

if both tires have the same resistance i.e. gravel won't they both spin if the diff is open too? I was thinking one on gravel or dirt mud anything slippery and one tire on pavemnet and if you gun it there if its locked the tire on the gravel wont spin and you should pull away smoothly right????

 

im confused wiht what your saying, but turn your locker on, brake all the way, give it alotta gas, wait till you smell burning rubber, then release break and gas go foward a little, get out, look at ground, 2 tire marks its working, 1, you got problems

 

simple. jack one tire up, leave the other on the ground.

you can spin the one tire with an open diff
you can not spin the one tire when it is locked.


so do with arb disengaged first, then engaged.

takes five minutes to do and most of that is getting the jack out and putting it back in

 

What you do is jack up the rear so both wheels are off the ground. Grab a wheel and spin it a couple rotations clockwise...slow - you are just engaging the locker, thats all. No need to whip it around. Have a helper hold one wheel while you turn the other counterclockwise. The locker should break free and the wheel you're turning should turn with mild resistance. Repeat this but with your helper holding the other wheel. Then repeat both steps but starting out spinning the wheel counterclockwise, holding, and turning one wheel clockwise. This will tell you if the locker is locking and unlocking properly. Burnouts on gravel dont work - even an open diff can do that. But a locker will cause both wheels to rotate together but break free and operate independently when turning. And you need to know that it works turning going forwards and backwards. These instructions are from my Detroit Locker manual. I'm sure ARB's work the same way.

 

ARB's are a manual on/off locker, detroit s are automatic ... He needs to do the one wheel on the ground one wheel off trick

 

Ahhsoo. Makes sense. Should it "crab" going around corners also?

 

crab???

 

Crabbing is what I call it when the inside wheel is turning slower than the outside and it winds up and spits gravel out in 4wd mode as it tries to catch up. The car will kind of claw its way around in a circle when the steering wheel is turned to the lock.

 

"Crab" is a description of what the vehicle does when the differentials are locked and you try to turn on pavement. When you turn the outside wheel will want to spin faster than the inside wheel. If you have a locker engaged then when you turn both tires will be forced to turn at the same speed causing one of your tires will skip and chirp around the corner. The skipping motion causes the vehicle to wiggle a little bit back and forth if you turn sharply and is a bit like a crab walk. My rear end is welded so mine does this every time I turn (but it is much less noticable at street tire pressure).

 

got cha. Well.. with an ARB it should not crab since when disengaged it is a fully open diff, when locked it is a fully locked doff like a lunch box locker.

 

This is somewhat incorrect. A lunchbox locker is an automatic locker meaning that when you turn it automatically disengages allowing the tires to spin at different speeds and eliminating the crab walk. An ARB is a selectable locker meaning that you choose when it engages and disengages so if you engage it and turn a corner it should act like a spooled diff and "crab", but if you disengage it and turn it will act like an open differential.

 

This is what I was thinking. But it begs a question...why in the world would such a thing be called a "lunchbox locker"? I don't get it...