Front axle, manual hubs: Spool or locker?

Slim-Whitey

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So it's soon time to get some diff guts for the Rodeo.
D44 front, manual hubs.

Whats the advantage to a locker vs a full spool in this situation? I don't run it in 4x4 unless I'm in the shit, and if I still want front axle help without locking the wheels, well, I lock one hub and not the other.

Is there a downside here? A good locker is 1000 bucks, a spool is 180. This seems simple to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
 
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Slim-Whitey

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Dont spool a front end that ever sees pavement

But why? I have lockout hubs. Unlocked is unlocked.
That's why I want to know. I've heard that before, and it's great advice I'm sure.

But if the hubs are disengaged. . . . What is the difference?
 

Thesandaddict

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Spools never disengage. The diff is completely locked out 100% of the time. They are not steerable, ESPECIALLY in the front
 

4runner DOA

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I think Harley's missing the locked/unlocked hubs. An unlocked hub doesn't spin with the bearing. My CV axles pretty much spin 100% of the time because they're attached to the hub/bearing assembly.

How that would work with a spooled diff, I dunno.
 

Thesandaddict

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Yea I realized that too late I was just searching trying to find an answer lol
I spooled the rear on my prerunner
Had a spool and front locker on my 75 chevy, didnt really think about irs but yea just remember my first front end was locked when we hit the road and I blew the front diff quick. After that no lockers on high traction surfaces
 

85straight

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Spools rule, mostly cuz I’m a cheap ass and my truck drives to the gas station , then to the trails and that’s it.
My rear is spooled and I have a grizzly to throw in the front. I would only run a spool up front with some rcvs and generally beefed up axle and steering. Yeah you can unlock the hubs but the second you lock them it’s gonna be serious bitch to turn and do anything without breaking shit
 

Slim-Whitey

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So why don't people say this about their ARB up front or whatnot? The moment it's locked, it's LOCKED. sure you can unlock it, but I can also unlock my hubs.

Just trying to wrap around why no one does this. And if I still want front axle assistance, I can lock one hub and leave the other free. Yeah it's sort of a pain in the ass, but my T case is gear driven with no synchros anyway. I have to stop to put it in 4x, so what an extra 12 seconds to lock up the hubs? And it'll be no different if I ever decide to run, say, a 205.

Sorry for the confusion, I have gotten responses like that before. Pirate laughed me out of my own damn topic when I asked and all of those fuckknuckles couldn't figure out that my D60 had locking hubs. Just "hurrhurrr buy an ARB you fucking scrub!"

@85straight so your rear is spooled, and locked at all times, but your front, if you had locking hubs, you wouldn't? That's odd, since you can't unlock the rear. Whyso?
 

Chris In Milwaukee

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Maybe it's jut the convenience of it when you're in a precarious position like pointed up a steep grade. Is it safe to put on the parking brake, climb out of your vehicle, stumble up/down a hill, and then lock your hubs, climb back in and continue? Never had to do it, so just posing the question. Also are spools the kind that unlock when unloaded and in a turn?
 

4runner DOA

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Because you don't steer with the rear end. I've been in plenty of situations where I couldn't turn my wheel to adjust a line climbing through something without unlocking the front. Things bind up and you want the capability to disengage the binding before you break something.
 

85straight

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Yeah for a mud truck (fucking barf) or a super built crawler with full hydro steering a spool up front would be ok I suppose.
part of getting out to unlock/lock the hubs is just a pain the ass, part is it could be downright unsafe as said earlier. You want full control over the vehicle without leaving the seat.
just throw a lunchbox in the front with some beefier axles, or lock the rear and leave the front open. To really need the front locked up your in some real serious shit, but our terrain is vastly different from where your at

@Slim-Whitey well I know for most trails I run a rear locker is a must, I actually really like it locked all the time cuz it’s more predictable than a lunchbox. I do have manual hubs but still would not even consider a spool in the front for reasons stated
There’s a reason you don’t see many people run a spool up front
 

85straight

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Maybe it's jut the convenience of it when you're in a precarious position like pointed up a steep grade. Is it safe to put on the parking brake, climb out of your vehicle, stumble up/down a hill, and then lock your hubs, climb back in and continue? Never had to do it, so just posing the question. Also are spools the kind that unlock when unloaded and in a turn?
Nope that is the last situation you want to be in, playing Russian roulette

spools lock the axles together 100% of the time. Lunchbox or automatic lockers are what your thinking about. There’s a thread floating around with good info on all the differences
 

4runner DOA

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Maybe it's jut the convenience of it when you're in a precarious position like pointed up a steep grade. Is it safe to put on the parking brake, climb out of your vehicle, stumble up/down a hill, and then lock your hubs, climb back in and continue? Never had to do it, so just posing the question. Also are spools the kind that unlock when unloaded and in a turn?

Spools are full time locked. Lunchbox locker locks when one wheel starts spinning faster than the other. Or something.
 

Slim-Whitey

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Maybe it's jut the convenience of it when you're in a precarious position like pointed up a steep grade. Is it safe to put on the parking brake, climb out of your vehicle, stumble up/down a hill, and then lock your hubs, climb back in and continue? Never had to do it, so just posing the question. Also are spools the kind that unlock when unloaded and in a turn?

A spool is a direct link between the axles. It's a splined sleeve with a ring gear mount. No spider gears at all. Quads use them. No differentiation between wheels possible.

Because you don't steer with the rear end. I've been in plenty of situations where I couldn't turn my wheel to adjust a line climbing through something without unlocking the front. Things bind up and you want the capability to disengage the binding before you break something.

This makes sense. I'll need to evaluate just how much rock crawling I'm going to do compared to the mud and forest trails here. The rocks are 90 min north, the mud and forest is 5 minutes north, or 12 minutes west or 8 minutes east.

I could do the spool at first and see how annoyed I am.

I have a factory clutch pack LSD I could put in, but frankly, I don't think it'd hack the tires and power I'm going to run.
 

Slim-Whitey

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Oh I know all the differences between all the lockers. I also know the price differences.

I could likely get away without a front locker, but I'm in there redoing the R&P and bearings anyway. Now is the time.
 

Arcticelf

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Because you don't steer with the rear end. I've been in plenty of situations where I couldn't turn my wheel to adjust a line climbing through something without unlocking the front. Things bind up and you want the capability to disengage the binding before you break something.

@Slim-Whitey, above is probably the only real reason not to, certainly no other reasons I can think of you can't use the hubs as described otherwise.
 

Slim-Whitey

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K. That is a concern I'll have to look at. I know there aren't many rockslides here. It's all bigass bedrock that you climb up or fuck up.
 

Dukestaco

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Slim my Zuk has a welded front and manual hubs. I have only found my self in a few situations when the front didn't have a tight turning radius when locked. I was able to back up and get the line I wanted.
A unlocked locker would be nice if you needed to whip the ass around in mud.
 
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