arb locker
just thought this might interest you guys.
and i know someone already has an arb locker on here. gonna take a punt and say its bob??? but i cant remember. whoever it is, whats you testimonial???
Hey Bob...oil...
Hey Bob, guess what I recently found on my garage concrete floor...a couple drop of oil !!! The locker is still working perfectly, but I have exactly what you described...not fair, I didn't even do any burn out...lol...
I have to go and see ARB today...
Happy io
EDIT 17/09/2012
Diff fixed by ARB, all under warranty, no problem....
My 5 door (not sure which
My 5 door (not sure which model you have Bob) comes with a factory LSD in the rear. I know a locker is better, but I personally can't see me spending the outlay on an ARB locker when I already have an LSD rear.
I guess I fear that the outlay - although beneficial, will be wasted as, in my opinion, the biggest fault of my iO is ground clearance.
In fact, I'm nearly to the stage where I am questioning whether its worth spending more money on vwith tires etc as I fear I'm still gonna get stuck on rocks!
Ground clearance
I went out with a friend with his Discovery and my iO and tackled some pretty big obstacles. With the approach angles and short wheelbase, and careful line selection, the ground clearance wasn't a huge issue for me. I did however need to get a gentle pull up one section of a particularly steep hill, as the wheels were losing traction on a rock ledge. I am confident that with a locker (and my new tyres), I would have made it up unassisted, and I could say that the iO went everywhere the disco went (and then some).
Looking at prices of lockers though, I think for now it would be cheaper to bribe a friend to tow me out of situations like this. The ARB price list I have doesn't list the RD05, but other lockers are around $1200, then $500ish for fitting. The smallest compressor is $175, plus $135 to fit. $2000 just for the rear locker is way above what I am willing / can afford to spend right now. :(
There is a dodgy-as ebay ad for arb lockers made in china (copies) which lists the RD05. Around $800 delivered including compressor. As tempting as that is, the locker is a safety / survival tool for the solo 4WDer, so its not something that should be skimped on.
Locker price
I totally agree that the arb unit is very expensive, I went for the install because arb used my io as the test unit for the first install.
All up it cost $1200 fitted which at the time was affordable given the lack of another option.
Either way, being able to lock the rear transforms the ability of the io, if the front diff and cv's were bigger I'd look at a front locker too.
ARB more info
Hello again!
I want to fit this ARB locker, but the local ARB shop didn't want to help. But I have been annoying them a bit more and they agreed to help me BUT, (they sound like my wife, yes but...:)) they haven't found any RD05 fitted to an io in they computer by ARB, they found one fitted 18 month ago in QLD but by another shop, not sure if it is the io, and would like the contact of the shop that done it, may be a name.
If you have something to "feed" them they might take my $2100! rather I might go ahead with the kaiser, I will wait KTM feedback!
I have been thinking of the kaiser diff, but while they are cheaper the ARB have a very good history of reliability
Thanks
Claude/Claud io
I might be keen for Kaiser
If you aren't in too much of a hurry, and if Glen and KTM are happy with how the Kaiser's go, then I think I will try to save up for a brazil order sometime in the new year. I'm definitely keen to get a snorkel and at least one diff lock. From what I've been reading recently, perhaps I'll only want a front locker. Will be keen to hear the feedback from the guys.
Ground clearance and ARB lockers
My 5 door (not sure which model you have Bob) comes with a factory LSD in the rear. I know a locker is better, but I personally can't see me spending the outlay on an ARB locker when I already have an LSD rear.
I guess I fear that the outlay - although beneficial, will be wasted as, in my opinion, the biggest fault of my iO is ground clearance.
In fact, I'm nearly to the stage where I am questioning whether its worth spending more money on vwith tires etc as I fear I'm still gonna get stuck on rocks!
That was my opinion also, but quickly found the limits of the factory LSD, Bob explained in another post the torque deferential needed to get one wheel turning independent of the other with the iO LSD, mind you, all I have done is a 50mm lift and 31" BFG muds and to have more ground clearance than most 4x4 with 33s, I also manage to get further than anyone i have been out with so far, get through the bogs better (IRS ground Clarence on the front helps) and have managed a few hill climbs my mates patrol with 35s and front / rear ARB air lockers (once he got them to work) could not even do. A couple of cheap mods and youll love your iO!
The ARB price list I have doesn't list the RD05, but other lockers are around $1200, then $500ish for fitting. The smallest compressor is $175, plus $135 to fit. $2000 just for the rear locker is way above what I am willing / can afford to spend right now. :(
There is a dodgy-as ebay ad for arb lockers made in china (copies) which lists the RD05. Around $800 delivered including compressor. As tempting as that is, the locker is a safety / survival tool for the solo 4WDer, so its not something that should be skimped on.
If only I had a better paying Job :) actually, even then Id still prefer the Kasier lockers, But BobOz has some good points about finding the limits of yor cars ability before you turn the ARB locker on. Thats not always going to work tho, often once your in trouble its to late, locked or not :)
but for $2k you could have front and rear Kaiser Vs 1 ARB. And I now have a winch as my get out of goal free card :)
I had a friend go out for
I had a friend go out for some fun in the mud the other day in his Sierra that only has a lift and some tyres, not only was he the only one that didnt get stuck in a hole, but he ended up having to save a patrol and a wrangler. These smaller cars always seem to go better once they are set up.
Glen, how did you mount your winch? I have been looking at getting one.
I still have not got around
I still have not got around to mounting it! Dam i have been slack (BUSY) lately, But i have a TJM bar that I will just mod a little to mount the winch, ill also make a mount to chassis, Ill draw it up in solidworks and do some FEAs ( finite element analysis, stress tests) to make sue its al going to be strong enough, it will be over kill, but since i do this stuff for a living I just cant help myself sometimes.
Themis and some of the other greeks just run some kind of mount tray setup some with there stock bumper. will find some pics later
winch bars
I still have not got around to mounting it! Dam i have been slack (BUSY) lately, But i have a TJM bar that I will just mod a little to mount the winch, ill also make a mount to chassis, Ill draw it up in solidworks and do some FEAs ( finite element analysis, stress tests) to make sue its al going to be strong enough, it will be over kill, but since i do this stuff for a living I just cant help myself sometimes.
Themis and some of the other greeks just run some kind of mount tray setup some with there stock bumper. will find some pics later
Front diff
This is mostly for Glen...but you never know !
Do you, or other, have your front diff out of the car ? The idea behind this question is to try to have an ARB diff lock trial fitting on it. I could bring my car to do this trial but the cost will be a lot less if the diff is out of the car.... I have, a few month back, asked KTM (he bought 2 kaiser lockers and have the original one out of the car), but I think that he didn't want to have anything to do with them :( I don't blame him, I used to be in the same position...
I have talked to my local ARB and , at the time, they were happy to work with other ARB shop for this trial fitting. My feeling is that no ARB locker will fit, but it could be worth trying...
Happy io.
Syndicate
ARB RD05
Hi Guys,
I 100% recomend getting a rear ARB locker installed in your pajero io
(re-read the above sentence - I cannot recomend the ARB locker enough)
You can choose leave it off and use it as a "get out of gaol free card" if you do get stuck, something a constant autolocker doesn't allow for. As I do a lot of driving by myself, the confidence of knowing that I can drive in 4wd Low/locked anywhere I want and if I get stuck the locker can be activated letting me back out of the situation is fantastic.
On many occasions it was only the locker that got me up or down the track due to large cross-angle berms and diagonal steps exiting bog holes. Recently it got me up and down knee-deep soft clay hills and so far up a loose boulder field hill climb it nearly rolled. I have been on a trip in Tas with a 4wd group and the paj was the only non-lift/ultra modified to make it through without getting stuck or unable to make the grade ( done on old highway michellin light truck tyres) Since fitting the Michellin latitude cross tyres the paj now dramatically out performs it's previous track record.
Install:
The locker uses your existing carrier bearings, one of the carrier bearing lock nuts and your crownwheel. The center and carrier are new items as is one of the carrier lock nuts.
Locker installed at 122,000kms.
Post install:
The diff was actually quieter than the stock diff most likely from having the backlash reset, no clicking or any hint that it was installed except for the two switches on the dash.
My driving habbit when i first had it installed was verging on baltant abuse, (don't judge me too harshly please) I can be a hoon, and the diff did not have an easy life yet it performed exactly as it should.
Use:
* Multiple burnouts, doughnuts and full noise clutch-dump smoking take-offs from the lights on dry bitumen.
* Long savage hill climbs. On one hill climb in the wet I was applying enough throttle to have the rear and part of the front spinning before gripping on a rock outcrop launching the front wheels off the ground.
* extended highspeed 2wd trips at 140km/h+ when in the northern territory.
Failures:
The air locker has operated exactly as it should every time except twice. In each failure the locker continued working throughout.
* At approx 12 months (138,000kms) after install the diff backlash increased dramatically and internal oil filter on air line leaked oil through the compressor and out the discharge line into the chassis rail. This was promptly repaired by ARB under warranty and replaced both carrier bearings no questions asked.
* At approx 25 months (150,000kms)oil leaked out the discharge line again. ARB QLD stripped the unit down and replaced the entire carrier as it appeared that the micro-polishing on the inner piston seal had not been completed from factory resulting in premature wear on the seal and oil bypass.
I think that a combination of existing worn carrier bearings, the initial install and my driving style in the first 12 months lead to the first failure.
The second failure would not have been detected had the techs who repaired the first failure not put the filter in backwards.
Interestingly neither the unit or my axels show any signs of the workout it's recieved.
Hope this helps.
.