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Eaton Elocker4 vs. old style eaton e locker

anyone have any comments on the copper line routing? I mentioned it above. Most go over the R&P...why? I thought there’s less chance of issues if it stays on the same side as the seal housing
Leave as much line as you can. Don’t make it short. Gives it room to move and flex. Too short and you run the risk of it breaking.
 
By all accounts the MacNamara diff lock is a superior design to the ARB - it has a much larger locking ring, but it's made in small numbers, basically to order. Jack is also getting on a bit and his customer service approach is "novel" so while they might be a masterpiece, potential lack of future parts and support make them less appealing even if the product isn't as good.

As an aside, aftermarket selectable lockers for recreational 4X4's were basically born down here in Melbourne , Australia. - Bill Larman developed a Land Rover locker in the 1970's, and went on to work on the McNamara locker, while Tony Roberts developed the Robert's Diff Lock in the early 1980's for japanese 4WD's, and that was bought by ARB in 1988 and productionised as the Air Locker. Because the local market never embraced North American vehicles for a number of reasons, we developed products for predominantly Toyota and Land Rover, which let our aftermarket grow in a bubble.

Oh ya, well we got them God damn Detroit lockers, born and raised in DETROIT, no faggoty air lines or switches, just traction! And pops, bangs, and maybe some shrapnel when you break a shaft :flipoff2:
 
Oh ya, well we got them God damn Detroit lockers, born and raised in DETROIT, no faggoty air lines or switches, just traction! And pops, bangs, and maybe some shrapnel when you break a shaft :flipoff2:
I can say first hand that I have seen multiple Detroit’s and grizzlys break when a shaft goes....think I mentioned it above...but who cares I’ll repeat myself.

My buddy broke a shaft on the trail. I saw it happen. Told him to check the locker when he got home. He swore it was fine....next trip. Detroit wouldn’t lock up.

Same thing to another buddy. Told him the story above. He swore it wasn’t broken as well. I told him I’d help him tear it apart. We did and sure enough it was broken.

The ONLY Detroit I have seen not break when a shaft goes is my HO72 Detroit from the 1950s. :usa: It does pop and make noises though:flipoff2::smokin:
 
Got the ARB installed, I bought one of the ARB leakdown testers too. No leaks! I have 2 questions/concerns. What pressure does the ARB fully engage? I noticed the pressure switch is on at 70 off at 100 psi for the ARB CKMA12 air compressor, I figure they would make it to work with their air lockers but read that 70 is the minimum PSI you want for full engagement. I would have thought ARB would make it to have some wiggle room, like on at 80-90 psi. Lastly my other concern is the location with the bulkhead. I don’t have a ton of room between it and the frame rail. The pics are at full bump, I tried it with drooping out one side and full stuff on the other side and made sure it all clears. It does. It all clears but it’s CLOSE. So, my question is how much give do I have. While it all clears let’s say under load the Track bar heims deflect 1/16th of an inch it will probably touch. That’s no bueno

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If it’s close enough to be a concern you could move it to the other side of the ring gear. How much did you cut off the copper tube?
For mine I just run a stock pressure switch which is 70/100 or something like that. I don’t think they take a ton of pressure to actuate and would probably work with less. I’m not sure what the minimum is they recommend though.
 
I will move it over. To be honest I had too concerns. #1 being close to the ring gear, #2 being in this small pocket between clearing the frame and running into the motor.

I am so obsessed with the ring gear, I know, my fear is over the top but I have seen too many instances of poor installs and ruining the copper tube that I stayed clear of it as much as possible so I drilled as far away from the ring gear as possible without hitting the frame. I didn’t hit the frame but I’m too close for comfort. I have some room to scoot it over. I can redrill it an inch or so over. That will give me plenty of room. I can use a 1/4 NPT Plug for the existing hole. Just not sure if I created a weak point by having 2 holes next to each other.

I’ll add that I’m an idiot with more fear of the copper line to ring gear interference then spiders or heights or traditional fears lol I’ll blame it on this video....at just 15 mph it’s flinging heavy diff fluid and that copper line moves so easily by hand. Granted it’s worked for many people for many years but just makes me cringe.

 
Did you end up moving it? Like I said in a previous post, make sure you have plenty of copper line to allow for movement.
 
Yep. I moved it over and now there are no concerns about it hitting the frame or anything else. I had enough excess to move it.

As for excess copper line in the housing, I had enough to move it to a new spot and I tried to keep some excess but not too much. I can’t imagine it trying to move much once the seal housing is locked down on that bracket ARB provided and is locked into the bulkhead fitting but I may be wrong
 
I’m just here to see if the ARB makes it through KOH week.
Your coming out for a day trip or an extended time?

When you show up to camp and see me drinking all alone while crying by the fire assume my ARB has failed (probably due to user install error) and call the nearest psych ward.
 
Since I’m probably getting out there late in the week, I’m expecting a text or call to bring parts for all the broken stuff.

I’m thinking the ARB will hold up just fine. Especially with the stellar install job.
 
Since I’m probably getting out there late in the week, I’m expecting a text or :grinpimp:call to bring parts for all the broken stuff.

I’m thinking the ARB will hold up just fine. Especially with the stellar install job.
I hope your call will be for a Toyota 3rd member and not my junk.:flipoff2:

I’m bringing an open 4.10 and down carrier that I can weld the spiders for on the D70. I figure since I have side adjusters I can possibly side adjust it over 3/16 of an inch to make up for the carrier break and weld the diff when my ARB fails. :grinpimp:

I’ll bring my Eaton E locker too.

I’ll bring a spare HO72 3rd.

Have spare driveshafts f/r.

Spare axle shafts f/r.

I probably should get spare PS hoses and all the little crap. I’m trying to have everything I need on hand but you know how that goes.
 
I hope your call will be for a Toyota 3rd member and not my junk.:flipoff2:

I’m bringing an open 4.10 and down carrier that I can weld the spiders for on the D70. I figure since I have side adjusters I can possibly side adjust it over 3/16 of an inch to make up for the carrier break and weld the diff when my ARB fails. :grinpimp:

I’ll bring my Eaton E locker too.

I’ll bring a spare HO72 3rd.

Have spare driveshafts f/r.

Spare axle shafts f/r.

I probably should get spare PS hoses and all the little crap. I’m trying to have everything I need on hand but you know how that goes.
Don't forget a spare leaf
 
So to somewhat get back on the original topic, is the "harrop" elocker the new Eaton elocker?

I've been hearing people swing on the harrops nuts lately and I thought it was some Australian unit that had been over there forever and just came over. I looked them up for my 4runner and said fuck that when I saw it was by Eaton.
 
That’s a good question. I’m not sure but it sounds like it very well could be.

No leaking yet :lmao:
 
Got my first leak!!!!

And it wasn’t from my install and it wasn’t from any part of the locker. It’s from the fucking POS ARB compressor. CKMA12.

I went for a test drive and it went well. New suspension feels nice and tight, I figure let me engage the locker. I do, I turn on the compressor, shuts off, turn on the ARB locker, it locks. About 15 seconds later the compressor turns on and won’t shut off. Turn off the locker to see if it’s the locker....nope. Compressor still won’t turn off. Weird....get back home and it’s leaking from the “safety valve” after looking it up on a diagram.

The safety valve port was not touched during the install. The only ports that were touched was the pressure switch port and the port for the solenoid.

I’ll call up ECGS tomorrow. Any thoughts why this would happen?

I then retested the locker with my power tank and fancy ARB tester valve to confirm no leaks from the locker itself and sure enough, no leaks.
 
it’s coming from 8,9,10. I assume 8 because that’s the seal?
 

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Gonna call up ARB USA soon. Sometimes sleep makes you think differently about a given problem. I do wonder if the safety valve is doing its job. Maybe the pressure switch is bad and it’s putting over 100 psi in the tank and the safety valve is doing it’s job. Either way, it’s brand new and I won’t overthink it. ARB will have to get it taken care of quickly. I leave for KOH in a week.
 
Wow, customer service was amazing.

When I needed replacement parts for my e locker I literally fought tooth and nail to get them. Customer service said no replacement parts are available and I was SOL, they were dicks. I ended up finding a Sema video talking about e lockers with one of the engineers. I then had to look him up on linked in and got to email him through there. He took replacement parts from a show piece to get them. It was cool of him but the company as a whole sucked.

Called up ARB USA. Told them the locker isn’t leaking and verified that through the test tool they sell. Told him I found the leak at the safety valve. He said ok, I’ll 2 day air you parts #8-9. I asked if he needed my proof of purchase, he said no.

So I emailed him my address and we will see when I get tracking. I told him I need it this week because I’m leaving for KOH and said they will get it out ASAP.

I realized I never registered my air locker and compressor on their site so I did that after I got off the phone with him.

Customer service was so great that I want to support them in the future. Let’s just hope the customer service is followed through and I have new parts at my door step in the next 2-3 days.
 
update: I was told I would get tracking that day. Never did. I waited a day. Never got it.

Called back, said they have no record of my conversation or emails. They said they would send it out that day. They didn’t send it out until Thursday. Got the parts today. They sent 2 of the 3 parts needed for the compressor safety valve....fucking idiots!

With that said, I took the advice mentioned on here and cleaned up the rubber seal and spring this weekend and it stopped the leak. Hopefully that’s the end of my issues. It was also a good lesson on learning the follow up I need to have on hounding these people to get parts out.

Tested the ARB this weekend. Locks and unlocks nicely. Leaving for KOH in 2 days.

I also ordered a 150 psi safety valve that would you find on a compressor for back up in case this thing leaks again. Figured it would help in a pinch.
 
Ok, I’ll stop updating this thread after this post and just report back if I break it or once a year or so to say it’s still working :flipoff2:

It survived KOH. No leaks. No issues. It worked well! So the Eaton made it 4.25 years. Now we will see how the ARB does. I am confident in the install now and will just try to beat on it.

Lastly, I’ll mention I don’t like the push lock fittings, they just feel cheap. I had one leak on my ARB tester tool and I had some buddies tell me they have push lock fitting leaks on their air bag setups for their tow rigs. I can’t say I have personal hatred for them or reason to not like them but they do worry me a tad. I may just get some crown performance arb replacement lines. I have run the same pair of crown brake lines for 10 years with no issue and may want to get some for the locker to have the piece of mind.
 
Ok, I’ll stop updating this thread after this post and just report back if I break it or once a year or so to say it’s still working :flipoff2:

It survived KOH. No leaks. No issues. It worked well! So the Eaton made it 4.25 years. Now we will see how the ARB does. I am confident in the install now and will just try to beat on it.

Lastly, I’ll mention I don’t like the push lock fittings, they just feel cheap. I had one leak on my ARB tester tool and I had some buddies tell me they have push lock fitting leaks on their air bag setups for their tow rigs. I can’t say I have personal hatred for them or reason to not like them but they do worry me a tad. I may just get some crown performance arb replacement lines. I have run the same pair of crown brake lines for 10 years with no issue and may want to get some for the locker to have the piece of mind.

I've always thought the push lock fittings were not very secure. But that's what semis run all over the place.

I'm not the type that likes fuses persay, but I think the plastic line is one of those places that it may be good. With a braided line, I might be worried if something does sneak in there and rip the line, it might cause other damage to fittings or whatever. The plastic lines are so easy to fix or repair but either cutting 1" off and pushing it back in or a union.

Also, a small external leak isn't that big of a deal, more of an annoyance.


I find it funny, looking at the thread title. Apparently the answer to new vs old Eaton elocker is arb :laughing: :flipoff2:
 
Can we discuss pneumatics in here?

I work with pneumatics for automation everyday at work.

I get worked up every time I read that ARB use the unicorn fittings and air line sizes. 3mm OD copper tubing and 5mm OD air line. Fawk that shit.

Not much can be done about the 3mm copper tubing as it’s part of the ARB, but the 5mm tubing & fittings should be trashed and go with the much more common, cheaper and readily available 4mm(or 5/32”, they freely interchanges) tubing and fittings.
 
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