Toyota E-locker

[Thardy]

Any Idea how good the e-lockers that come stock in the '96 4-runners are?

 

[hoosier]

it is a clutch style locker but it is a good locker. i have not heard any complaints

 

[SAMI]

It's a decent enough locker, but it's not as strong as a non e-lockered 3rd with ARB locker. With that said, most issues i've ever seen or heard of (in the rare event that there are issues ) are with the ring and pinion and not with the e-locker itself.

 

[Thardy]

How long would it last if used heavy? I am going to build my wifes runner when I get her a new rig. Will it leave me stranded on the trail in Moab?

 

[big cherokee]

these lockers are stronger than you think, many are running them with 42s

i actually run them front and rear with 40s and have not had a problem. they are not a clutch type locker, they use a electric motor with a worm gear that ingages a sleave into the ring gear.

i like mine better than a arb since its a electical not air and air leaks suck, they wont leave you stranded being that if the motor fails, you can pull it from the diff and either fully lock or unlock the diff manually and just put the motor back iin.

 

[SAMI]

"Used heavy" is a relative term.. Is it on a rig with heavy bumpers, winches, spare tires, 20gals of aux fuel, 37" tires, and attempting Pritchett Canyon? Or is it a moderately modified rig (2-3"s lift) on 33"s on less aggressive trails?

Either way I'd do it.

 

[SLC97SR5]

it is a clutch style locker but it is a good locker. i have not heard any complaints

WRONG.
Like said above, they are engaged by the motor sliding a splined sleeve, no cluthes or consumable parts are used.

I have beat on both of mine and plan to install one in the front of my 4runner.

I have broken 3 sets of ring and pinions and never damaged the locker.

The biggest ( perhaps only ) problem is that when sourced from a used Tacoma or 4Runner, they were probably never used and the grease has turned to concrete, not allowing the shift lever to slide. Simply pull the motor and clean it up and re-lube it.

 

[iamsparticus]

If you don't want it i will take it and put it in my front locker, but i would keep it they are just as good as any other E-locker out their

 

[Thardy]

"Used heavy" is a relative term.. Is it on a rig with heavy bumpers, winches, spare tires, 20gals of aux fuel, 37" tires, and attempting Pritchett Canyon? Or is it a moderately modified rig (2-3"s lift) on 33"s on less aggressive trails?

Either way I'd do it.

"Used Heavy" refers more to the first example. Maybe not 20gals of fuel or extremely heavy bumpers, but heavier than stock bumpers and the rest that you said. Maybe throw in the occasional expedition trailer.

So I guess it's safe to assume that if I find a Toyota front axle I can pull the e-locker out of the rear and put it in the front?

 

[dieslcruisrhead]

The only issue is they have to be wired well otherwise you can fry the motor. I took lots of precautions and my route went poorly. Next time I'll use the momentary, not rely on the the activated light to turn it off, and resistors. That or the complete factory wiring setup with computer. Just my $.02...

 

[leorn]

They are great units. After putting in a used unit with over 100,000 miles on it I finally broke a rear spider gear last year. It was expensive and the new part was heat treated to help it last longer. It took me four years and that is the only trouble I have had.

Here is a video of the break
[youtube]FDVz9l2Rt1c[/youtube]

They are pretty close to as strong as any other toyota center section. They are not the strongest, but certainly not a weak option.

Stock housings have to be modified to use them. They are not bolt-in for a normal toyota housing. Google should give you some good reads on what needs to be done.

For more info about the weak link spider gear check this thread out:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=787561

 

[SUPERFLY]

I've ran several of these. I currently run a high pinion elocker in the front of my competition Toyota with no regrets, and I run factory elockers in my daily driver. Ive ran 35/37s on them and I'm extremely hard on them. They do break just like any other toy part but I wouldn't say they are any weaker than a non elocker. The ones I have broken were poorly set up or factory set up. If you have a chance to reset the gears pm me and I'll get you in contact with a guy on this board who's awesome with gears for a fair, inexpensive price(I'll have to call him and make sure he's ok with doing it ) also if you can keep 410s it will be stronger. Also when you set it up, get a solid pinion spacer from marlin crawler thes are about $10 and increase streanth a ton. Modefieing the housing isnt to hard. Pm me and I'll give you some tips. When I've done them, I just get the wiring kit from inchworm, it cost about $100 and is pretty simple. The first one I did, was in a Moab hotel parking lot, took about 20 minutes. Pm me with questions. I've got a bit of experience with them that might help you

 

[leorn]

That's weird my 529s have never had a problem. They were set up by good shops though...The only caution I would give with 410s is that it moves the weak link to the tcase input shaft. I have seen one blow these up with 410s. The guy had 39 sticky krawlers--but it was a light ftoy.

*edit*Also for reference we-rock was won by an 8" toyota center with 529s. This was the tacoma/t100 gearset and it was ran on 37 stickies with water in the tires doing front digs on a low pinion. It also had Bobby Long treat the gears, but that is more abuse than most of us can throw at a toy gearset.

Not trying to be personal, but I think something is causing your gearsets to fail--bent housing, bad batch of gears...

 

[SUPERFLY]

529s have a smaller pinion gear with fewer teeth, if I remember right you can go as low as a 488 and still have 8 teeth on the pinion gear(might be 456). I personally would rather replace the tcase than the ring and pinion, just because getting gears reset in an elocker can get pricey and I can't do it myself. Beardy mcghie and I were able to replace the whole tcase during a comp in about 40 minutes. Entire tcases can be found for under $150 just outputs can be found cheaper then that. Gears, install kit, install labor, possible bearings they can easily add up to 500 bucks, marlins output can be had for under 300

 

[Gravy]

I have a complete elocked rear from a 97 4runner limited for sale... just FYI

 

[Thardy]

realisticly how hard is it to swap a V6 e-locked 3rd member into a front 4cyl housing? What has to be done to modify it to fit? Also what has to be done to modify an open diff 3rd to fit in the house that I pulled the e-locker out of?

I would rather use the e-locker in the front and a lunch box in the rear. It makes it easier to steer when I can shut it off.

Let me know if its worth it. Are there threads that explain the process. I've searched but havent found much.

 

[Thardy]

Thanks for the sites. I will check then out asap.

Sent from my Samsung using Tapatalk