Mojave owners - do you ever wish you had a front locker?

[whiteglad]

sorry, I meant to write rear locker.

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[Zachanadandy]

+1 to “helpful with rock crawling.” I did the Rubicon in my Rubicon this August, and without the front locker I’d have needed to winch 6-7 times climbing Cadillac Hill. Get stuck, line up steering, engage front locker, pull thru, disengage. Drive 20 feet, get stuck again, repeat. Sure glad I had it. I’ve only needed it in serious rock climbing though (and literally only when climbing up steep things). If that doesn’t sound like you, then maybe you don’t need it.

(and yes, plenty of people have done the Rubicon and any other trail you can name without front locker. I could have winched all those times I used it. Sure glad I didn’t have to though…)

Was the rear locker on when you got "stuck"? I agree that in some steep climbs the front locker is sometimes better than using the rear, but I find it very rare that we need to use both lockers in the wife's JLUR. Even on the Rubicon we used the lockers only once and went straight to both. Did we need both? Would the rear only have worked? Could I have bumped it up with no lockers? These rigs aren't just open diffs, the BLD is very effective but needs to sense wheel slip in order to work. If you lift off the throttle before it can engage it's entirely ineffective. Let the tires spin a bit and let the traction control work it's magic. In my mojave it's mostly high speed desert but even in the rocky technical trails I've never been stuck or needed a front locker. Good tires and low pressure make the need for lockers very rare. Others mentioned mud and snow, momentum is far more effective than lockers there.

 

[gatorboy]

To answer your question for me personally -- No. What I want is to LOCK the REAR in 2 Hi. and completely disable the traction control or ESC system .

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[ExpoGuy]

Well I have learned from reading all of your posts. Thanks for that.

From what I've read here I'm thinking the Mojave X would be best for me.
I don't intend on doing any rock crawling or driving through thick mud.
I think more like overlanding instead of extreme off-roading.

One more question please...
The Rubicon's frame isn't as strong as the Mojave, and it uses aluminium steering knuckles.
How common is it for a Rubicon to damage its frame or break a steering knuckle?
Are these considered weak components of the Rubicon?

Thanks!

 

[Zachanadandy]

The solo adventure is part of why I went with Rubicon in 2024. If there is sufficient mud or slick snow to require both axles locked or winching, which would I rather do, by myself? Neither is likely to be needed, but IF...

In deep mud or snow you'll quickly realize there's rarely if ever a situation where 1 extra locker, especially in a modern vehicle with traction control abs/bld, makes a difference at all. Conversely I've found many a time where both axles locked isn't even close to enough. Those scenarios where it's too deep and there's no traction, a good winch will get a 2wd out and 2 lockers won't do jack.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Well I have learned from reading all of your posts. Thanks for that.

From what I've read here I'm thinking the Mojave X would be best for me.
I don't intend on doing any rock crawling or driving through thick mud.
I think more like overlanding instead of extreme off-roading.

One more question please...
The Rubicon's frame isn't as strong as the Mojave, and it uses aluminium steering knuckles.
How common is it for a Rubicon to damage its frame or break a steering knuckle?
Are these considered weak components of the Rubicon?

Thanks!

Not at all. I've seen maybe 2 aluminum knuckle failures between this and the JL forum in the last 8 years and I'm pretty active. As far as frames I haven't seen a single failures where the mojave is reinforced vs the rubicon. I've seen a few fail at the rear frame trail shock mount location but all of those have been either huge camper in the bed or custom people carrier putting a lot of leverage on the back of the frame behind the suspension/ coil mounts.

 

[Stan H]

Was the rear locker on when you got "stuck"? I agree that in some steep climbs the front locker is sometimes better than using the rear, but I find it very rare that we need to use both lockers in the wife's JLUR. Even on the Rubicon we used the lockers only once and went straight to both. Did we need both? Would the rear only have worked? Could I have bumped it up with no lockers? These rigs aren't just open diffs, the BLD is very effective but needs to sense wheel slip in order to work. If you lift off the throttle before it can engage it's entirely ineffective. Let the tires spin a bit and let the traction control work it's magic. In my mojave it's mostly high speed desert but even in the rocky technical trails I've never been stuck or needed a front locker. Good tires and low pressure make the need for lockers very rare. Others mentioned mud and snow, momentum is far more effective than lockers there.

I deal with Mud months and months in thd year I am talking 5" to a foot and I can promise you the front and rear lockers are highly effective. I literally have just crawled up a so called access spinning zall 4 wheels but not ripping on it to make it many times. Up steep grades.

 

[Zachanadandy]

I deal with Mud months and months in thd year I am talking 5" to a foot and I can promise you the front and rear lockers are highly effective. I literally have just crawled up a so called access spinning zall 4 wheels but not ripping on it to make it many times. Up steep grades.

Confirmation bias? If you use both lockers you might think you NEEDED both lockers. Maybe you did, maybe the rear alone would have worked just the same, maybe the BLD all by itself would have worked? I could use the locker on my concrete driveway and then rave about it's effectiveness.

 

[Jteakus]

You don't need a locker until you NEED a locker.

 

[Zachanadandy]

You don't need a locker until you NEED a locker.

And you didn't NEED a locker just because you used 2...

 

[fourfa]

Was the rear locker on when you got "stuck"?

yeah - climb open until the rear spins and progress ceases, activate rear locker, progress until both rears and one front are spinning, activate front locker and pull thru.

When I'm getting stuck like this - or perhaps "halted" if people are gonna be pedantic about "stuck" - it's usually from bearing weight on my low belly, reducing traction on tires. Mine is a heavy rig with a lot of that weight high, so more lift would help wheeling but hurt other things. It's a balancing act, especially when you're driving to and from the trail. These are supposedly 3.5" lift springs (more like 2.5-3" in the rear, 5" in front with my load) but obviously every rig is different. A minimal wheeling rig with nothing but a spare tire and a bag of gummi bears for supplies would react a little different I'm sure. Could I spend time exploring different lines that don't get stuck, sure I do a lot of that too and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's all about saving time.

 

[Jteakus]

And you didn't NEED a locker just because you used 2...

If I turned it on, I needed it.

 

[Zachanadandy]

yeah - climb open until the rear spins and progress ceases, activate rear locker, progress until both rears and one front are spinning, activate front locker and pull thru.

When I'm getting stuck like this - or perhaps "halted" if people are gonna be pedantic about "stuck" - it's usually from bearing weight on my low belly, reducing traction on tires. Mine is a heavy rig with a lot of that weight high, so more lift would help wheeling but hurt other things. It's a balancing act, especially when you're driving to and from the trail. These are supposedly 3.5" lift springs (more like 2.5-3" in the rear, 5" in front with my load) but obviously every rig is different. A minimal wheeling rig with nothing but a spare tire and a bag of gummi bears for supplies would react a little different I'm sure. Could I spend time exploring different lines that don't get stuck, sure I do a lot of that too and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's all about saving time.

I'm not saying there aren't times where 2 lockers aren't beneficial. My point is they are far more rare than a lot of people think. I've watched countless YouTube videos where they are in 4lo the second tires touch dirt and turning on both lockers the second they see a rock. In reality the slots where the 2nd locker make a difference are incredibly rare. If you don't ever plan on wheeling at any kind of suited and rock crawling is your main use, the Rubicon with 2 lockers is the way to go. Conversely, any Rubicon without at least $2500 in shock upgrades, isn't keeping up in the desert and especially not beyond the 2-5 miles it takes before the stock shocks on the Rubicon are so hot they are no longer damping at all.

 

[Zachanadandy]

If I turned it on, I needed it.

I turned mine on on my concrete driveway... must have needed it (ignore my kids civic si backing out of the same driveway, I NEED 4 LO AND BOTH LOCKERS!).

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I could have used any trim level........... but I wanted the X package for the bumpers, SelecTrac transfer case and power seats and a couple of other things.
Mojave - for the ride and it can't hurt to have a bit more frame for my snow plow (but does it really help when the plow worked on an Overland!?)
It's 300 pounds sticking well out ahead of the front bumper. It's a lot of weight and leverage and I HOPEFULLY will be keeping this one a long time. I think it's finally to the point it's equipped just about right - FOR ME.
I might do some mods - but the basic truck is fine and the options were what I wanted with the X package. Yeah, the payload SUCKS, but it is what it is.

Would a Rubicon have worked as well? Yeah, I'm sure it would have - but the feel of the Mojave on the road and there's no big rocks to tangle with here - trails are hills and mud and holes and rivers and creeks and - well, there really aren't any unless you go to some private land. So it doesn't matter.
I have to leave the state to really do any off-roading and I'd have to drive for at least a day or more to get into rocky trails.

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