Do I need/want rear lockers on my '75 CJ5?

Wow! This did get interesting. Thanks for all the advice.

You guys have convinced me not to get lockers for a while. I've done a ton of wheeling but not in this jeep. I was a year round full time hunting guide in AZ for about 7 years and never owned an atv. I drove the S%$# out of a nissan pickup. People couldn't believe where I took it. I got very familiar with its capabilities. I've been driving 4X4's since I was 16 when I had my first CJ5. (I'm 42 now) I have not wheeled this jeep (my second) much at all but am already impressed with its ability. The tires are a big improvement. Goodyear MTR's.

I hear you about getting in over your head before you know it. I have had the old sphincter pretty tight a few times in the past.

I also live in an area where it snows and rains (unlike much of AZ) so safe on road driving in those conditions is a must. Maybe I'll save some money on the lockers and put it towards a winch, shovel, and pry bar and just fix the dang road! I'm there to get somewhere not wreck a jeep.

Sparky, What are ARB's?

There is a tag on my rear diff but I don't know what it says. It's dark, raining, and muddy out there now so I'll crawl under for a look some other day.

Since you see many roll overs how tippy are these things? The big problem with the road in the picture isn't so much the boulders but the trench that runs down the middle of every hill. Seems like I'll end up laying it on its side if anything. Definitely end up with tires up in the air too. I want to give it a try anyway but need a partner to help pull me back out or up if I tip. I'm almost always alone so good judgement keeps me out of trouble most of the time.

 

ARB= Air actuated locker( spool/open diff depending on if you hit the switch). to be honest i dont know what the real acronym stands for.

 

ARB= Anthony Ronald Brown http://www.arb.com.au/

This has been LWB's useless trivia for the day.

Tune in tomorrow, when LWB tells what LWB stands for. (I'm sure the suspense is killing you)

 

D'ooh- I meant to give some useful info too.

Early CJs and Jeeps in general aren't really inherently tippy, no matter what they tried to say in the '80s. I have leaned them 40 degrees and more with out rolling, but most rolls occur when momentum is added to the mix. If you feel you are in a sticky situation, don't try to do something to save it from rolling. 9 times out of 10, it will either cause the roll, or make it worse.

Some "leaners"

 

ARB air locker. Yeah, they are a little pricey, but they give you flexibility without the sudden, uncontrollable fishtailing that can happen when a locker that you can't control kicks in.

When that back end starts going east when you want to go north and you can't stop it price isn't really all that important.

My experience has been that it is very easy to recover the cost of the ARB setup when selling a jeep.

 

That road looks FUN!!
If you have been wheeling that long get a locker for the rear.
I run one in my daily driver and dont regret it all.
It becomes an issue of using your head though.
You need to learn the Jeep and what it can and will do.
As stated if in doubt dont do it. Most of the problems I see is guys trying to prove something. Thats just dumb.
Been wheeling almost 28 years and I've never put on over or on its side, been close though.
I got tired of being the one to get stuck or hung up on an easy obstacle thats when I put in a locker.

 

the only time i have ever been over was when we droped the passenger side into an 8ft deep ditch. i dont care what vehical you were in you would have been over.

 

I'm going to put it to the test stock and see how she goes. I can see this thing turning into an addiction. Can't get enough performance. Sooner or later you crash and have to start all over again.

I looked up ARB's and it looks like about $800. Can you get them cheaper?

My old CJ had a Levoguage (a BB in a curved tube) It was the source of much entertainment but I never got it over 40 degrees. Those are some pretty impressive angles in the pics. Talk about raising the old sphincter quotient. I think my seat would actually be sucked into my butt on the one with the snow in the background.

 

Actually, once the ground is close enough to touch with your elbow, you figure you're not going to fall very far.

Now put me along a cliff and lean me 15 degrees towards it, and my driver's seat is permanently creased.

 

Yep!! Think thats the closest I've come. Slide at Windrock on trail #7 and I could touch the ground with my palm.
Nothing like wet muddy rocks.

 

We're going to have to 'wheel together.

Soon.