How important is a front locker?

[Lucky j]

A front locker can get you out of some situation, but a winch will take you out of almost all situation. Even th one you got into because of your front locker or that your front locker can not get you out.

And the winch can be use to many different situation not related to wheeling. I got in some bad situation that while overlanding that my front locker did not get me out, only the winch did. I'm planning more overlanding then pure off roading in the next future, so I got a rear winch on top of that around here, it is more mud, rock and wood than sand on the isolated road.

I also use the jeep in winter to plow snow, and if I'm stuck, the front locker does not make taht much difference nore the front winch, were the rear winch will get me out.

So to me, front winch, front locker and rear winch, in that order. Assuming that the rear locker was already theire.

And the compressor is in my book an essential.

 

[kojackJKU]

I have to get crackin at my winch. Need to pop off the bumper cover, flip the mount and mount between the frame rails. hidden besides the fairlead mounted between the fog lights and remount my Light bar and good to go. Also, I am adding a skid row front skid plate and VDP high clearance corners to finish my front end off. Custom looking, without the weight.

 

[v_man]

Not even sure what vehicle you have , but I think it's hard to justify the 'necessity' of a front locker . Like someone else stated I'd get a winch first , and you can help others out with a winch . I pulled a minivan out of a ditch once and they were so thankful and grateful to the point of tears ...

... if you wanna get into rock crawling or extreme trails like Fordyce and Johnson Valley stuff , I'd look into a front locker in addition to a winch .

 

[Cascade Wanderer]

v_man - I didn't state which vehicle I had, mostly because I just wanted a good discussion from experienced overlanders re front lockers in general.

My rig is a 2-door Jeep JK with front & rear aftermarket air lockers and a 10,000 pound winch.

At this point the front locker hasn't been used much. I do like having it there, just in case. And no, I'm not interested in bashing my Jeep into the rocks at Fordyce or elsewhere. It just gets me on down the road. Dirt, sand, rocky or snow covered.

Regards, Guy

 

[SDDiver5]

I wish I had one just to be able to have it say so in my sig.

Would I ever use it? Highly unlikely.

 

[njtacoma]

I had f&R air lockers in a previous truck and rarely used the front. Realistically I could have made it with just the rear, but it would have resulted in more trail damage and possible truck damage.

If I were outfitting a truck now, I don't think I pay to install a front locker, but I would do a rear selectable locker right away.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I think it depends on the truck. A front locker is going to be more important in trucks without traction control (ex. Disco 1) and trucks with weak stock front diffs (ex. 100-Series).

My 100-series had plenty of traction with a rear arb locker and ATRAC. But I wanted a front locker after seeing multiple friends blow theirs.

I think everyone would agree that a winch and hi lift jack are more important. But in a recovery, you always want to try the safest thing first, which is going to be a front locker.

So how important is a front locker? Less important than tires, a rear locker, winch, or jack. But more important than that flashy mod you want to do but know you shouldn't.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

I would consider a rear locker to be something every 4wheeler should put at the very top of their list of important mods. A front locker, not so much; it's more of a luxury than an absolute necessity, especially for the expedition crowd. I'd place a winch higher up on that list of must-haves, but if you have the money for a front locker it's definitely a good mod to make. I use mine a lot but I spend a lot of time in the rocks and on snowy trails where every last ounce of traction is critical - I'm a little more hardcore than the average expedition driver.

 

[poriggity]

I would absolutely love to have a set of front and rear arbs in my dodge, but just because I love modifying vehicles, but honestly, if i am taking a fullsize dodge ram quad cab long bed into a place that will require lockers, I better just turn around, because I don't want that much body damage, and I'm a bad driver lol.

 

[locrwln]

It depends. I have both a front locker and winch. I have used the locker more than I have the winch. Of course, I have put a full size truck in some very remote places and a lot of places in the desert don't have anything to hook a winch to. I do have a pull-pal for those occasions, but haven't had to use that either.

Here I am taking the truck over Mengal Pass in Death Valley and I tried it without the front locker just to see and it wasn't happening. Front locker = no problem.


My current Jeep, my two different 80 series Land Cruisers, my 4Runner and my YJ before that all have had front and rear lockers and I have used them on all of those vehicles. Only my Taco was open in the front with the rear factory locker. I would always rather have both winch and lockers because I have been in situations where the front locker works and sometimes only the winch works.

Jack

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: Spoken like a true off-roader/overlander and

It depends. I have both a front locker and winch. I have used the locker more than I have the winch. Of course, I have put a full size truck in some very remote places and a lot of places in the desert don't have anything to hook a winch to. I do have a pull-pal for those occasions, but haven't had to use that either.

Here I am taking the truck over Mengal Pass in Death Valley and I tried it without the front locker just to see and it wasn't happening. Front locker = no problem.


My current Jeep, my two different 80 series Land Cruisers, my 4Runner and my YJ before that all have had front and rear lockers and I have used them on all of those vehicles. Only my Taco was open in the front with the rear factory locker. I would always rather have both winch and lockers because I have been in situations where the front locker works and sometimes only the winch works.

Jack

That's what it's all about-thanx locrwin

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[BigSwede]

Yeah, I would get a rear locker first. But if you have both front and rear lockers you get to play on trails like Golden Spike in Moab, Rubicon, etc.... Just depends what you are looking to do. Recently did a week in the Rockies, only used my lockers once, on Poughkeepsie. Didn't use the winch at all, although I did tug several rigs with a strap.

 

[newhue]

An expedition truck usually has too much invested in it to warrant where a front locker comes into it's own. However if your expedition has IFS than it's gong to have 1 wheel in the air for most of the time you go off road, so a locker may be of use.
If you have a live front axel than a locker in the rear will see you 95% of where you want to take an expedition truck. Really it's similar in an IFS truck as well. But supported with a winch can see you through 100%. I have a Detroit locker, and have had a ARB manual in the past. If I were to buy again I'd go the auto, just set and forget and enjoy the day. Good tuff tyres are perhaps more appropriate for an energetic expedition truck than a front locker IMO.