I recently upgraded my axles to a set of Rubicon Axles to gain the additional strength of the D44s and the lockers that come standard in those axles. (I was upgrading a sport)

After further inspection I come to discover that my "slightly used" set of axles weren't with out thier flaws. Most of which were easy to fix or overlook. One however has me puzzled. The rear locker has a broken indicator plunger. For those who are un aware the electric locker has two electric conections coming off the diff. One is for activating the locker the other for sending a signal to the Rubicon computer and ultimately the dash telling the driver the locker is engaged or not engaged. The rear axle has a broken indicator plunger. I have looked this part up online and it runs about $75-$80. To my knowledge it doesn't offer any other benefit or purpose in my application other than to tell me the locker is in fact engaged (assuming I hooked a light to it) So after all my rambling my question is this. Should I replace this component or just let it be. The locker works fine and since I don't have a Rubicon and I am not using the rubicon factory harness for activating the locker or seeing the indicator should I replace this? It seems like a good chunk of change for a dash light. Anyone with an ARB will tell you they don't have a light to tell them its locked up or not, they can tell by how it feels.

One more kicker.. I am upgrading the axles this week and in the process would have the best oppourtunity to replace the plunger (since you need to slide the carrier forward to get the plunger into place. When I remove the old axle shafts the carrier would be prime for removal during)

People weight in, what would you do??

Huck




Its the orange plug in the diagram.

 

You don't need it and from what I'm told the only way to actually repace it is to take apart your diff so don;t bother. I had my connection wire severed somehow and called my dealer about installing a new one and was told the install is like 5 hours. I ended cutting the connector ends off and splicing the line directly. It;s worked falwlessly since I had it done. But in your case, since all it does is activate a dash light which you don;t even have, I'd just skip it.

 

I'm doing the same type of thing. Only going with mechanical lockers. I read all too often the wire gets broken, or with air the tube develops a problem when needed most.

Seems a delicate/costly situation you could have.

 

Speaking for myself, i cut those plungers off my rubi axles. So when the locker is engaged it flashes on the dash. I always look at the tires to see what the locker is doing.

 

So you have an oppertunity to fix it. But are you going to use it?