Locker options for Sport

[Tommyd]

Well I’m definitely not the know all be all, but I’ll give you my thoughts.
ARB are excellent I’ve had them in the past. If you’re not planning to play in the mud and rocks an “e” locker will serve you well. And I’m sure the aftermarket will catch up soon!
Another thought is running in soft sand you’re going to be better off locking front and rear. If the rear only breaks free you’ll sink and have to be pulled out!
Again this is my humble opinion!

Why not mud and rocks?? Is mud bad for an e locker?

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[Jeepforfun]

If you guys really want to see the return of affordable lockers you might try an email campaign writing to the locker manufacturers such as PowerTrax (LockRite lockers) and other equals to ask when they are going to bring those back to the market. We've seen limited product availability for lots of common products. Lets face facts the Gladiator was introduced just as the world went into lock down and is just now starting to recover.
I'm in the electrical supply business and we have seen product offerings dramatically reduced due to plants having to reconfigure for Covid spacing and lots of old standard product got cancelled permanently. We are still seeing long delays and having to redesign systems to work with what we have available.
I think this is what happened to product offering for the Gladiator. If everyone raises their hand and yells loud enough we might see this line of thinking come back. Due to timing the manufacturer just didn't have the resources to put the effort into new product development for a limited market as they see it when the Gladiator was introduced.

 

[Kiwi Jason]

Hi all. I thought that I might try to reactivate this discussion. I took my Gladiator Sport into my local ARB supplier (I am in Auckland, New Zealand). They opened my diff and found some sort of electronic controller present, which apparently they had never seen before, and which does not connect through to anything on the dash etc. Picture attached. Apparently, I have a 1.41" OD axle and not a 1.50" axle, so I have a non-locker sized axle. So after some debate, we ignored the electronic thingy and decided to keep going with the installation. But they then tried to install the ARB RD245 and found that when they reinstalled the axle it was too long and it had insufficient spline length on the axle for side gear engagement. So they wanted to do a modification of the axle length and the spline length. Apparently they have installed plenty of these ARB diff lockers into Wranglers in the past, so were confident that they knew what they were talking about, but were confused about my Gladiator Sport. I told them to put everything back together again with no changes, while I try to figure out what is going on. So all comments very welcome thanks.

 

[JRobes]

Hi all. I thought that I might try to reactivate this discussion. I took my Gladiator Sport into my local ARB supplier (I am in Auckland, New Zealand). They opened my diff and found some sort of electronic controller present, which apparently they had never seen before, and which does connect through to anything on the dash etc. Picture attached. Apparently, I have a 1.41" OD axle and not a 1.50" axle, so I have a non-locker sized axle. So after some debate, we ignored the electronic thingy and decided to keep going with the installation. But they then tried to install the ARB RD245 and found that when they reinstalled the axle it was too long and it had insufficient spline length on the axle for side gear engagement. So they wanted to do a modification of the axle length and the spline length. Apparently they have installed plenty of these ARB diff lockers into Wranglers in the past, so were confident that they knew what they were talking about, but were confused about my Gladiator Sport. I told them to put everything back together again with no changes, while I try to figure out what is going on. So all comments very welcome thanks.

Did you buy your gladiator used? That sure looks like the Rubicon locker in there, and I wonder if someone axle swapped your sport axles with someone's takeoff Rubicon axles.

 

[Kiwi Jason]

Did you buy your gladiator used? That sure looks like the Rubicon locker in there, and I wonder if someone axle swapped your sport axles with someone's takeoff Rubicon axles.

Hi JRobes. Yes, bought new straight from the official Jeep dealer. Which is why everyone is confused. Apparently my mechanics do not understand, the dealer does not understand, and even Jeep NZ have no answer. Of course, the next question is: how to take advantage of it if there is no wiring on the dash? Cheers, Jason

 

[JRobes]

Hi JRobes. Yes, bought new straight from the official Jeep dealer. Which is why everyone is confused. Apparently my mechanics do not understand, the dealer does not understand, and even Jeep NZ have no answer. Of course, the next question is: how to take advantage of it if there is no wiring on the dash? Cheers, Jason

I believe there should be a plug in the top side of the diff housing that passes the inside wires of the locker unit to the outside... I assume it should be there and if so you'd just need to buy the Mopar cable that connects that plug to the switches inside the cab and retrofit it to your needs.

 

[Blade1668]

That is a Rubicon locker from the look of it.

This is a picture of the one I've got, a front axle one. By chance what gear ratio is your Gladiator? That could explain how or why.

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