Rubicon locker position switch problems
 

Hello all,

I have a 2016 Rubicon with 4.88 gears sitting on 38" tires. After my regear, I noticed that my lockers would never engage, the light would continue to flash regardless of what I did until I would disengage them. I took my jeep to the service department at the Jeep dealership I work at and the tech found the problem, the locker position switch was on the wrong side of the plate that it needed to be on. I don't know the technical terms, but he said that when the lockers engage, a plate slides over and pulls a plunger along with it that is connected to the position switch, which then relays to the computer that the lockers are locked. Because the plunger was on the wrong side of the plate, the vehicle never knew the locker was engaged and would disengage automatically so nothing got messed up. I contacted the shop that did my regear and they said that this is a common problem with Rubicons on tires over 35", that for some reason the plunger will "jump" over the plate, and it will continue to happen. They agreed to reinstall the position switch (both front and rear), but assured me that it will continue to happen due to the size of my tires. When I got my Jeep back, the front worked but once again the rear locker would not lock. Fed up with all of this, I had my service department replace the rear sensor and make sure that it was positioned right, so far so good. Has anyone else ever heard of this problem? Is this going to continue to happen with the stock lockers and 38s. I know I can make the switch to ARBs to eliminate the problem but that negates the purpose of paying more for a Rubicon. I already have onboard air for airing up and down, but I like being able to lock with the stock Rubicon locker button on the dash. I know functionality should always beat out aesthetics, but I like how clean the factory setup is. Thanks guys.

I've never heard of this but I'm no expert with lockers or gears. I know many people that run 37's with factory axles/lockers and have never had an issue like this

Your shop is clueless, the little magnet down inside the axle doesn't care how tall or small the tires are. It's an excuse.

Damn this is what I wanted to hear. The guy that did the work said that this is a common problem that he has been seeing with Rubicons and he can't explain why it is happening. Sounds like the reason it is happening is because he is doing something wrong.

I don't see how tire size can have any effect on the locker position plunger.

The very common occurrence is the plunger is not installed correctly when the differential is reinstalled.

That is what the tech in my service department said, the guy most likely installed the switch wrong. When he pulled the rear one the plunger would not move at all, and he said that it should have been able to move freely. So hard to find good help these days...

I've never heard of that before.....sounds like an excuse to me.
I'm running 37's with my factory lockers and haven't had any issues with them

What a load of CRAP. You're lucky they didn't destroy the locker by installing it wrong. This diagram, expertly drawn in MS-Paint in the 5 minutes previous to this post :), roughly shows how the locker and sensor work together.

Attachment 665033

When the magnet engages on the locker, it pushes a plate (shown in BLUE) toward the locker (green arrow).

The sensor (show in red) has a plunger in it with a lip on the end of the plunger. The plate PULLS the plunger in the same direction. When the locker was re-installed, if they didn't know how to properly set this sensor (an $85 part from Jeep), then it will be on the wrong side of the plate.

Here's a youtube video that shows a way to install the locker with the sensor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkehjgy4eC8 P.S. - I have 35" tires and never once has my sensor jumped. What a joke.

Shutterbug, that is exactly what was happening, the plunger was on the right (directionally) side of the plate and when the plate slid left it couldn't bring the plunger with it. The guy that did the work swears up and down that it is an issue with the stock lockers and large tires and that the plungers will jump to the other side of the plate on their own. He says that he has tried to figure out why it is doing it because he has regeared 40+ rubicons and almost all of them are having that issue. Someone needs to show this guy how to install the sensor correctly before he severely damages someone's Jeep. Thanks everyone for the input. Now that the work was redone by one of the techs in my service department, I will let you know if I keep having the issue.

Lol he is probably doing his own gears and ****ing those up too! What an idiot! Tires size would not cause this issue. That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet!

Although large tire size does cause low blinker fluid! I know that from experiance!!!

Northridge 4x4