ARB air locker, front vs. rear?

[1911]

On your vehicle I'm pretty sure the rear is a WHOLE lot easier to install.

If the Tundra uses the same (or similar) clam shell front diff as other Toyota IFS trucks, it's pretty to get to but you do have to disconnect both half-shafts.

You will use a rear locker probably 50 times for every one time you use a front locker, but for that one time in 50 that it is needed, it is sure nice to have!

As has been said, the IFS front half-shafts and CV joints are weaker than the rear axle. It is pretty easy to blow up a front cv by pushing the skinny pedal with the diff locked and the wheels turned; you have to be aware and use the front locker judiciously.

[trump]

Just tossing this out there to think about...

I've never heard of a vehicle that was factory equipped with just a front locker. A lot of trucks on the market come with a selectable rear and a handful of vehicles have both. The vehicles that have both usually only allow the front to be engaged after the rear, not independently.

[seanpistol]

A Tundra TRD doesn't come with LSD from the factory? That's seems odd. I would go with the LSD in the rear and at a later date install an air locker up front if you find the need. I have factory LSD front and rear in my big Eagle and have yet to get stuck.

Tundras came with a factory LSD from 02 and on. I'm just a year short of that.

[ExploringNH]

I would advise against spending money for an LSD in place of a locker. An LSD is good on the street and it does provide you with a little more traction when you do still have both tires in spots that they can get a little grip. As soon as one tire is off the ground or in a real slippery spot though, that LSD is just as useless as an open diff.

[seanpistol]

I'm pretty set on keeping the front diff open and putting the selectable ARB in the rear. Like I said before, I am pleased with the way the truck handles on snow packed roads. I just get into that situation in deep snow where one wheel is buried and one has traction, but the power goes to the wheel without traction. A selectable locker would make it a lot easier. Now I just to decide if I want to spend money on a winch first... which will probably be what happens.

[ExploringNH]

I'm pretty set on keeping the front diff open and putting the selectable ARB in the rear. Like I said before, I am pleased with the way the truck handles on snow packed roads. I just get into that situation in deep snow where one wheel is buried and one has traction, but the power goes to the wheel without traction. A selectable locker would make it a lot easier. Now I just to decide if I want to spend money on a winch first... which will probably be what happens.

A locker gets you further into the deep stuff. A winch can get you out.

[jim65wagon]

A Tundra TRD doesn't come with LSD from the factory? That's seems odd.

Tundras came with a factory LSD from 02 and on. I'm just a year short of that.

....and the LSD was still a stand alone option, not a standard part of the TRD Off Road package. Get a winch (or at least the Hi-Lift, but using it as a winch one time will convince you to splurge on an electric winch) then lock the rear....

[Buliwyf]

ARB rear and open front will be fine with the Tundra. Allways lock the rear first. The Tundras front axle can't do all the work by itsself without exploding into confetti.

As for recovery. A Hilift, wheel grabbber, and a hitch on the back of the truck (to jack and flop the rear), mud rated tire chains, and some maxtrax would have got you out. A winch might be too hardcore, and add a ton of weight and wear to your front end.

[seanpistol]

ARB rear and open front will be fine with the Tundra. Allways lock the rear first. The Tundras front axle can't do all the work by itsself without exploding into confetti.

As for recovery. A Hilift, wheel grabbber, and a hitch on the back of the truck (to jack and flop the rear), mud rated tire chains, and some maxtrax would have got you out. A winch might be too hardcore, and add a ton of weight and wear to your front end.

This is all exactly what I'm thinking. Thanks for the info boys!

[NothingClever]

For me the best way to answer the question about the rear locker was identifying the intended use of it....to probe further into difficult terrain or to get past / out of difficult terrain? For me and the big, honkin' camper I bought, the ARB locker in the rear will be about making it past a really muddy section, through a particularly high snow drift or getting out of a place it's no longer prudent to go. It won't be about a man, his machine and their terrain-conquering capabilities. I'm holding out on buying a winch in favor of finding a nice camping spot and then simply taking a walk where it looks like a winch would be required.