Ok, this has been a back and forth thing for me and I was looking for some input from the people who have them.
I've been looking at ARB and Ox, they both have there pro's and con's and price wise they are about the same. ARB I have to get a compressor and OX I would have to buy the Cable. Keep in mind I plan on doing OBA someday so I'm not looking at the big compressor from ARB.
I think TJ is the only one that I know of that has Ox Lockers, and I know lots of people on here have ARB. Help me make my decision.
Personal preference only here, but ARB.
They;re both good, and proven.
I personally have neither, but if it were me, I'd go with the OX.
I've driven rigs with both, and even though I had to adjust the OX, I really liked it.
However, if the ARB were more than $100 cheaper and my OBA was fully functional, it would be a tough call.
If I had the money, I'd throw a D60 and OX in the K-5 before I leave, but yeah, that's probably not gonna happen.
I know Rob ran a front Ox, and he didnt like it because the cable was a pain to adjust. He seemed to have trouble shifting the front axle all the time.
I know TJ had Ox troubles as well but I dont remember the full problem with them.
naturalbornmudder Wrote:I know Rob ran a front Ox, and he didnt like it because the cable was a pain to adjust. He seemed to have trouble shifting the front axle all the time.
I know TJ had Ox troubles as well but I dont remember the full problem with them.
If I recall correctly, TJ's problems were that the ring bolts backed out and trashed his gears, not something associated with the actual locker.
If you go with the ARB here, I would look into the heavy duty air lines which hold up better in the cold. ARB makes a version in HD rubber, and RE makes one with a stainless braid like similar to a brake line, both seem to work good.
Another thought is to run a line from your compressor to a tank which will hold more air than you will ever need if you want to fill tires. Then run your lines from the tank to your lockers and your done.
Personally, I like the ARB because the benefit that the compressor supplies me air for my tires once the ride is over. It may not be as fast, but I'm not usually in that big of a hurry (it still dosent take more than 10 minutes).
ARB. I was in the same boat as you Tom. I didn't want the big compressor as I have OBA in the future plans. I got the newer small compressor and it was fairly inexpensive in my mind. the only bad things I see with the OX is as others have said is the cable adjustments. Also it works somewhat like my disconnect axle. Just how strong is that shift fork. Think about it, if your really having to pull on the lever for whatever reason is it good enough to hold up? I don't know but I don't want to find out either.
I am living proof of ZERO problems with the standard blue ARB line over 3 winters.
Your call.
sevenslats Wrote:I am living proof of ZERO problems with the standard blue ARB line over 3 winters.
Your call.
I recalled the problem Erik had the past few winters when I made the choice for the HD line. Figured it gave me piece of mind it nothing else.
I'll echo what Ron and Slats said: get the heavy duty air line.
Everyone I know who hasn't has had problems up here in the cold with air lines.
I don't know of anyone who has the heavy duty lines havingt he same issues.
However, there are also seals in the axles that can go bad - Eric ended up having his pumpkins preassurized and spewing gear oil out of his vent :eek:
I'm not sold on the ARB's due to the air line problems, but the heavy duty lines have an absolute advantage.
I'm not sold on the oX with the cable / fork questions either.
And submersing an elecric solenoid in gear oil for the "electirc" lockers doesn't sound great to me either
:oops:
so...
have I added to the confusion?
Working in my job we have the thin blue/yellow air lines on our trucks and we even have problems with them in the summer time getting brittle and breaking. I like the fact of being able to select from unlocked to locked. I don't want to do the conversion either, that would be the reason I would want a selectable locker. I like ARB and by now they should have that cool lookin diff cover for the D30, but I also like Ox.
Like Kevin said, ARB air lines, Ox has the cable / Fork questions and an electric soaked in gear oil? I'm trying to figure out what one is the lesser of the evils.
ChevyKev Wrote:I'll echo what Ron and Slats said: get the heavy duty air line.
Everyone I know who hasn't has had problems up here in the cold with air lines.
I don't know of anyone who has the heavy duty lines havingt he same issues.
...
I wasn't being facetious. I ran the blue line. Never had airline problems. Seriously. :expert:
About the only coplaint I had on the weather was the fact that the compressor cycled a tiny bit more often in the winter. NBD.
Now, it was a pain in the butt to get the axle housing bulkhead fittings in the correct order. I did go through two of those kits before I had a good tight fit.
One thing I did do for the blue line was sleeve it in clear plastic tube. I had it leftover from some other project I dont' remember, but it worked great.
The good thing that I can say about both is that I dont personally know of anyone who has trashed a locker. If you decide later down the road that you want a rear ARB though, you already have the compressor, so that will lessen the load on your pocket, you will still have to buy the cable with the OX. I dont think you can go wrong with either though.
IF your going to run air in the winter up here you need to use synflex lines they sell the line and fittings at ak rubber, talk with Ole about it. We both use to work for a trucking company that runs up north and that is the stuff to use, but Ole has more experence with it. He also has it on his truck.
I busted an ARB carrier. Done it in good.
Never a blue line, though.