are lockers necessary?

[geckoTy]

Hello everyone... I traded my 2012 2dr Jk that I was building for(east coast over landing) in back in June for a 2014 jku sport and I've been building that ever since. However, Saturday I bought my a girlfriend a 2014 Rubicon jku. Here are the east coast we don't have the over landing opportunities like there are over in the west. We go to the local offroad park all the time and while I've never had any issues on the tougher trails I've never thought about having lockers. Since we now have a new Rubicon I'm just wondering if I should build this for overland or continue on my jku sport that I've already spent alot of money on. I really don't want to pull everything off and swap parts but the input on this site would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[geckoTy]

 

[MudderNutter]

Better to have them and not need them in my opinion. It really depends on what you truly believe you will be using your vehicle for. Have you wheeled the Rubicon yet? If not i suggest taking to your local wheeling park so that you can have your own idea on the benefits of lockers.

 

[SSF556]

Lockers are a nice little insurance policy....

 

[geckoTy]

I know the benefits of lockers... As I've been involved w jeeps for about 11years. However, I do a lot of rock climbing at our local off road park and I've never had any issues. I believe majority of the overland trails here in the north east are more or less service roads/fire trails... Which would be equivilant to green trails at the offroad parks.

To answer your question about the Rubicon trail, no I've never wheeled it as I've never been over to the west coast w a jeep before but I do agree on what you said about its better to have it and not need it.

 

[Reboot11133]

The Rubicon is a much better platform. It has selectable lockers and a 4:1 transfer case which is much better when the going get's tough. The Rubicon is the best out of the factory Jeep, if you are not into extreme wheeling then do the Rubicon. If you are going extreme then build the sport that way you won't be upgrading what is a good factory setup.
:smiley_drive:

 

[Finatic Angler]

Lockers are a nice little insurance policy....

My thought exactly!

 

[MudderNutter]

Sorry for the confusion... I was referencing wheeling your JKU Rubicon in general.. not the Rubicon trail specifically

 

[geckoTy]

Sorry for the confusion... I was referencing wheeling your JKU Rubicon in general.. not the Rubicon trail specifically

I have no idea why I thought you were talking about the Rubicon trail Lol... I guess I miss read your comment. Sorry lol

 

[geckoTy]

My intentions are to continue to build the sport for camping/overlanding since there aren't many opportunities here in the north east and build the Rubi up for my weekend wheeling trips at the local offroad park. Rocks mainly since I care less about Mud holes and such.

Vermont and Maine seem like they are the only states that have technical trails for over landing but they are both 7hrs plus away.

 

[geckoTy]

But all that might change

 

[eternus]

I got my JKU with more of an intent to overland than krawl so I went Sport with the LSD and 3.73 gears. I checked lockers and you can add them to the front for $1k if you go ARB or less if you choose something else. The super low transfer case is nice in the Rubicon but IMO you will get plenty out of the Sport and 4lo. If you want to go more extreme later, excepting the Dana44 up front you can add little bits to the Sport for cheaper than scrapping it and buying a new Rubicon. I honestly feel like most people buying Rubicons are just falling prey to "buy the best to start" as an unneeded insurance policy.

 

[goodtimes]

Do you *need* them? No.

Do they come in handy sometimes? Absolutely.

Are they worth the cost? All depends on you.

I've had them, used them, gotten through places that would have been MUCH more difficult without them, enjoyed them, and don't regret - in any fashion - having them. But I don't have any in my current truck, & have absolutely no intention of adding even a single locker to it. For this vehicle & how I use it, they aren't worth the $$$ - for me.

For you, maybe it's worth it, maybe it isn't.

 

[1stDeuce]

I wheeled in an "overlanding" style for years with open diffs. I occasionally had to choose a better line, but can't think of any situations where I was hopelessly stuck wishing I had lockers. Don't overlook the fact that your JK has "BLD", which will work REALLY well with the rear LSD. BLD applies brakes to spinning tires to get you moving again. Works well with gentle throttle, not TV commercial driving.

I have front and rear LSD's in my TJ, and the rear is a locker too. Aside from crazy rock crawling, I hardly ever engage the locker. If it suddenly didn't work, I'd be hard pressed to send money to fix it.

And IMO, 4:1 is actually LESS useful if you're not rock crawling, especially with a manual trans.
Chris

 

[Hilldweller]

My intentions are to continue to build the sport for camping/overlanding since there aren't many opportunities here in the north east and build the Rubi up for my weekend wheeling trips at the local offroad park. Rocks mainly since I care less about Mud holes and such.

Vermont and Maine seem like they are the only states that have technical trails for over landing but they are both 7hrs plus away.

Sounds like a good plan to me.
I've needed a winch overlanding but never really needed a locker.
Crawling is a different animal though.