Last trip to Sundown I noticed some unusual noises on the way into the park, but couldn’t track is amongst all the other rattles from the crap in the back.
I had the lockers installed 6 months ago when the front diff was broken as it seemed an opportune time. This was my first chance to really test them out in anger, and I planned to have some fun getting into places that were normally too rough or steep to attempt.
Next day I merrily headed down a track I wanted to explore and knew needed lockers and luck to get back up. Imagine my suprise when half an hour down the track I hear the compressor kick in and not stop – oh oh – air leak.
Investigation showed the rear diff breather venting air madly, making me happy that at least it worked as opposed to blowing out diff seals and oil. Under the bonnet had oil spraying out the solenoid, meaning oil and air were definately in close contact – something not in the ARB design.
A quick re-wire to engage the front locker first, and a bit of luck that meant the rear locker was actually still engaging despite the leak meant I could get home, cursing the complexity of the system all the way. A mechanical locker would never have these types of problems.
Mr ARB came to the party and fixed it under warranty, blaming the ARB dealer / installer who had since sold his business. When pressed for details they muttered about a broken copper line, however the oil flowing back up the line pointed instead to a failed seal. They wouldn’t discuss it any further except to cover their ass.
Who was at fault? I’ll never know. It does go to show however that the Legendary Air Locker is not without it’s bad points, in my case the significant risk of a 10km walk back to help.
My vote is with the Lock-Rite or Lokka for simplicity and therefore reliability.
[...] The diff housing was not cleaned out after the last failure. The company that did the work was BOAB 4×4 at Lawnton run by the owner Darryl. $5000 for 2 air lockers, CV’s, bearings and seals was obviously not that well spent. I should have been more suspicious after the rear air locker failed. [...]