Eaton E-Locker, Another option finally here for non JTR E-Lockers.

[antwon412]

I have a Powertrax no slip lunchbox in my TJ I have been happy with.

I might go that route in the future on my Mojave when I get it.

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[Wheelin98TJ]

I have a Powertrax no slip lunchbox in my TJ I have been happy with.

I might go that route in the future on my Mojave when I get it.

Hopefully Powertrax is making lockers for JT axles by that time.

 

[antwon412]

Hopefully Powertrax is making lockers for JT axles by that time.

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[jtforrester]

Another locker option is Ox. Similar to ARB, Ox does not require rotation of the wheel to engage, and if you choose the manual or electronic engagement options you avoid potential air leaks that may be of concern with ARB.

This video covers the different types of lockers, including ARB air lockers and e-lockers. The Ox portion starts at 17:50.

[Edit: I forgot the OP already mentioned Ox in the first post. Sorry for duplicating info.]

 

[Digger 5]

My main issue with the Eaton unit is the engagement speed.
Eaton will void your warranty if you engage at over 5 mph. They rely on a magnet instead of air. 6 lb magnet pressure vs 800 lb clamp force.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

My main issue with the Eaton unit is the engagement speed.
Eaton will void your warranty if you engage at over 5 mph. They rely on a magnet instead of air. 6 lb magnet pressure vs 800 lb clamp force.

Why the need to lock going faster than 5mph?

I had an Eaton and just locked it when stopped.

 

[LostWoods]

Another locker option is Ox. Similar to ARB, Ox does not require rotation of the wheel to engage, and if you choose the manual or electronic engagement options you avoid potential air leaks that may be of concern with ARB.

This video covers the different types of lockers, including ARB air lockers and e-lockers. The Ox portion starts at 17:50.

[Edit: I forgot the OP already mentioned Ox in the first post. Sorry for duplicating info.]

OX is an excellent choice too, but you have to use their diff covers for the actuator and it's a friggin pain to route the cables sometimes. What I do love about them compared to ARB is that the air acutator system is 100% external so while it's somewhat vulnerable, you do not have to deal with internal leaks that require a 100% teardown and in the case you damage or lose an actuator, you can still buy a lock pin that will just turn your diff effectively into a spool.

My main issue with the Eaton unit is the engagement speed.
Eaton will void your warranty if you engage at over 5 mph. They rely on a magnet instead of air. 6 lb magnet pressure vs 800 lb clamp force.

A bit disingenuous there... the Eaton doesn't rely on the magnet for clamping force, it's just to engage the pins that bear the load and it's on a perpendicular axis to the forces exerted by the driveline.

 

[Digger 5]

A bit disingenuous there... the Eaton doesn't rely on the magnet for clamping force, it's just to engage the pins that bear the load and it's on a perpendicular axis to the forces exerted by the driveline.

The magnet drags a plate that pushes the pin/plate to engage the lock on the side gear. So yes, the magnet supplies the clamping force. Once it is engaged it's not an issue but it's the action of engagement that is the concern. Even if you take the clamping force out of the equation you still have to deal with requirement of a very low speed engagement. A high speed engagement WILL tear it up. Ask anyone that has tried to get an ELocker covered by their warranty.

 

[LostWoods]

The magnet drags a plate that pushes the pin/plate to engage the lock on the side gear. So yes, the magnet supplies the clamping force. Once it is engaged it's not an issue but it's the action of engagement that is the concern. Even if you take the clamping force out of the equation you still have to deal with requirement of a very low speed engagement. A high speed engagement WILL tear it up. Ask anyone that has tried to get an ELocker covered by their warranty.

No, the cam plates provide the engagement force which is orders of magnitude higher than 6lbs. The magnet only needs enough force to engage the cam plates whereas an ARB requires enough pressure to engage the locking ring directly.

If you need high speed engagement that's fine but I'm willing to bet the majority of this board does not. For me that's a moot point.

 

[taintedsaint]

I have an OX Locker in the Dana 60 rear in my CJ. Love it. Ran it electrically for two years before I had on board air then just changed the external actuator. yes, the actuating cable is stiff but it takes a ton of abuse as well.

 

[Rockabillyroy]

I once accidentally engaged my eaton elocker going 55mph down the hightway by hitting the wrong button on my spod switch at night.. I made a thumbscrew manual lockout after that. hahaha

that being said, it all turned out fine. Dif didn't grenade and lockers still worked when I wanted them.

 

[Digger 5]

No, the cam plates provide the engagement force which is orders of magnitude higher than 6lbs. The magnet only needs enough force to engage the cam plates whereas an ARB requires enough pressure to engage the locking ring directly.

If you need high speed engagement that's fine but I'm willing to bet the majority of this board does not. For me that's a moot point.

Sorry but I disagree.
The cam plate cannot provide pressure on it's own. It requires something to drive it. In this case it is driven via the magnet causing the ramp plate to engage the gear to lock up the side gear.
All selectable lockers require some type of pressure to lock whether it's supplied by air, cable, hydraulics or electromagnet.

 

[LostWoods]

Sorry but I disagree.
The cam plate cannot provide pressure on it's own. It requires something to drive it. In this case it is driven via the magnet causing the ramp plate to engage the gear to lock up the side gear.
All selectable lockers require some type of pressure to lock whether it's supplied by air, cable, hydraulics or electromagnet.

They're driven by the axle turning.

 

[Spartan21]

I avoided the Rubicon bc I did not want Eaton lockers bc of how they engage. And now they have the issue of sometimes getting fried electrically. To the point Jeep just replaces your axle because they dont want to open differentials.

The issue for me is how they engage. Even when you hit the button to turn them on, it requires certain amount of tire spin to engage it. The reason is the lock ring has to work it's way up a ramp to get seated into lock position. It has the same ramp backwards too.

So what can happen is that if your forward momentum gets stopped and the truck slides backwards some, the lock ring slides back down this ramp, and you are now unlocked. It then requires the wheel spin to engage again. If you don't make it and move backwards at all, again you get unlocked. You can end up bouncing between locked and unlocked if you don't have a smooth transition out of the obstacle.

ARB air lockers use air to engage the lock ring immediately, no rotation required. There is also no unlocking if you slide backwards, when you hit the button it's locked and stays locked.

This Eaton unlocking and relocking doesn't matter if you're just out wheeling in mud or a consistent obstacle like sand or snow. But if you're dealing with slipper rocks or downed trees you don't make it over, can get frustrating.

If you don't already have lockers, just get ARB imo.

This explains it

I appreciate the ARB, just way easier to go with the eaton. And for the amount i need it it will be fine.

 

[ryanlsmith]

For folks planning to get these, how will you wire the switches? I added the OEM aux panel, but already used 3 switches for lights. Surprised there is a lack of options for locker/rocker switch panel replacements for the factory location (there is one, but it has a lame gas tank switch that is completely non-applicable).

So as a follow-up to this, it occurred to me that this exists: https://www.zautomotive.com/product/z_lkr_ctlr/

Seems like that would be a great option to tap into the OEM rocker switch and get OEM control/read-outs. But does anyone know if the https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/l...tch-jeep-wrangler-jl-and-gladiator-jt-rubicon comes with the harness? I assume not, but I can't seem to find it anywhere either. Anyone happen to know the part number?

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