El Zorro

Any opinions/experiences on how to "properly" use your locking differentials? I've got a 2010 Unlimited Rubicon with lockers front and rear. I was on an 8 hour trail ride this past weekend covering a variety of terrain from steep, wet incline/declines, to traversing rock gardens, to crossing rivers, to long stretches of muddy trail. Before I would encounter a tough piece of terrain I would engage my rear lockers in most cases and my front and rear if the path I was traveling was a straight line. After clearing the terrain, I would disengage the lockers. I probably engaged/disengaged the lockers 25-30 times that day. Is that too much? Will I wear out the equipment by turning them on and off so much? I know it is not a good idea to run with the front engaged while making turns but can I leave the rear lockers engaged for longer periods of time depending on the softness/firmness of the terrain? Thanks for your advice!

Coley

Most of the Rubi's I've wheeled with have pretty well not touched their lockers unless they got to a point that they needed them. Granted - this was mostly rocks and water... muddy situations might be a bit different.

CA-JK

The biggest advice I can give is try not to turn while you are locked on solid surfaces like streets or rock slabs. It puts a lot of stress on your axles and U-joints.

cppower

When the terrain on one side no longer provides equal footing with the other and it prevents forward progress, that is when you need your lockers.

El Zorro

Thanks guys, this is helpful ... just wanted to be sure that I wasn't doing more harm than good. I may have been overusing them I think.

JEEP THRILLS

25-30 times in 8 hours sounds a little much. sounds like you are using them at the sight of anything other than flat trails.

you will be suprised as to what it will do in 2wd let alone 4 or 4 low.

CA-JK

That's a great point, I actually spend most of my time on the trails in 2WD and only put it in 4L when I really need the extra traction. This also helps you learn to drive off road better by letting you know when your tires will slip an each type of terrain.

opdsgt

Well, I have a mechanical front locker so it's "on" all the time in 4WD.

And I leave my rear e-locker engaged from the time I get on the trail to the time I air down (not talking about an easy 2-3 rated road, but a moderate to difficult trail).

I prefer to leave it locked rather than go on/off/on/off/on/off 20x in an eight hour day because the e-locker has shown itself to be finicky with engagement from time to time.

A trail is a trail, not dry pavement. You're not going to hurt the locker or u-joints when turning on dirt, gravel, sand, mud, or rock.

Josephus

Here is what I do when wheeling.
Air down to 18-20psi
4WD Low range for JK Automatics is a must!
OD set to "Off"
Shift into "Park" with 4WD engaged.
Press and hold ESP and set it to "ESP-Off" which really only reduces the "Throttle Kill" from the CPU.


Then steady crawl with the ESP acting as a Limited Slip until you really begin to slip.
Back-up and try a different line.
Then only engage the back locker.
Then try another line.
Air down to 15psi.
Try stacking rocks aka: "Road Building" (optional - some people might object) be sure to remove the rocks after you finish.
Then right before I reach for the winch controller, I'll try the front locker. A little right-to-left sawing of the steering wheel might find a little extra traction, or more likely a less-resistant line.

I really don't want to blow out the front end.

GoodysGotaCuda

This is all my opinion. I've wheeled my Rubicon pretty extensively, found and pushed it's limits plenty of times. I've been locked and un-locked more times than I care to count. For whatever that is worth...

I use my lockers before they are necessary, every time. I can't think of a time where someone said "are you locked" and I was NOT locked in. It's like carrying an unloaded gun if you ask me. Why carry it if you have to go through trouble before using it? Doesn't make sense to me...The more I can spread the load on the drivetrain and tires, the better.

A) I do not like wheel spin unless I'm locked, and it's limited then. Wheel spin as an open differential breaks stuff, and is hard(er) on tires. If I can lock it and walk it, I rather do that then to spin and shutter through something open. I have selectable lockers for a reason, plus it helps make you look like you know what you are doing lol.

B)Use them, then turn them off. I do an obstacle, or whatever, then as soon as it's settled they are off.

If someone is scared to use the lockers in fear of braking something, they are extremely limiting themselves. I've used mine countless times on my daily driver and, knock on wood, have had zero issues. It's made to do that. I've yet to be winched out of any situation. Get comfortable with your rig and have at it. But be ready to back out if you bite off more than you can chew, or face the consequences. Glory or broke stuff, one or the other. I usually chose to keep riding so I'll back off after some decent attempts (never really hard throttle while crawling).

Do not fear of using them too much, depending on the conditions that hesitation can get you stuck, or break something. (In my opinion, wheel spin promotes breakage much more than being locked/controlled).