Where to put yota thirds front or rear

Jon Sullivan

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Location
Harrodsburg Ky.
Alright I have a v6 3rd that I am putting a powertrax in, and a trd locking third. I am thinking the best setup will be the V6 with the powertrax in the front, and the TRD in the rear. I am hopeing this will be best for steering and strength. Does anyone know if there is any advantage strength wise to one way verses the other. Thanks Jon
 
is the TRD the e-locker? if it is a selectable, you might want to put it in the front, that way you can unlock to turn if need be... but then again, i cant remember which is stronger, you my answer may be a mute point...
 
It is the elocker. I thought about putting it in the front, but doesn't it act like a spool when it is locked. That seems to be a lot of locking and unlocking to go arround turns. I tried welded in the front once before, and I hated it. I know the elocker is not welded, but when engaged isn't it the same. In my previous truck I had a powertrax in the front, and it did not seem to affect turning radis at all.
 
you definately want the elocker in the front and here's why: for 80% of all obstacles 3 wheels pulling will get you up and over, just leave the front unlocked. Every now and then you'll hit an obstacle and you'll need that 4th wheel, just hit the button and you're up and over. Then unlock and continue your ride. The powertrax will act like a spool as long as you are in 4wd and will suck turning.
 
in my experience, a locker such as the powertrax in the front will not affect turning at all, so it really doesnt matter in that regard.........

In my personal experience, i would rather be locked in front and open in the rear. YMMV
 
I am not trying to disagree here, but I have had a powertrax in the front before, and there is a big difference in it and a spool. It seems like the rear axle takes the brunt of the stress. I want my strongest locker and third in the rear. Anyway my original question is not about steering, but strength. Which option will give me the least chance of breakage. I am just afraid that powertrax would not hold up in the rear.
 
Toy ft, powertrax rear. If you're running more than 37's just weld the rear because the powertrax might not hold up to heavy abuse. You definitely want to E-locker in the ft!
 
What year Toy? If you have manual hubs, the road manners of the front differential are irrelevant either way, since you'll leave the hubs unlocked when driving on thr street.
If you have auto hubs - get manual hubs...
 
These are going in a trail only buggy, based off an 84 4runner drivetrain. I don't care about street manners, it is going to have drive flanes anyway. I do want to be able to make tight truns, and I hate a spool in the front. I'm going to be running 39's which I know is pushing the limits of a toy axle, but the whole buggy will only weigh arround 2,000 lbs. I am hopeing the light weight of the buggy will offset the size tires. I am thinking I may be better off welded in the rear, and put the e-locker in the front and sell the other one. I have heard that the e-locker 3rd's have a weak side gear. Does anyone know how much of an issue this is? Maybe I'll just buy a detriot for the front, now i'm all confused. How does the detroit compare to the e-locker? If I sell my v6 locker, and e-locker 3rd, I might have enough to put a detroit in the v6 3rd. Somebody give me some more ideas.
 
you know what you need? One of them there toyota tercels! them things go anywhere. had a buddy had one, took me up this muddy hill, man that thing go anywhere!
 
I heard that recently, but something tells me that I don't want to buy one just to try it out.
 
i say toy locker in the front and weld the rear. if it has a weak side gear the only way to know foresure is to try it out. I think being able to completely open the front end will prove nice with the pull of a cable or flip of a switch. and as far as welding the rear wouldn't even think about it just weld it up and throw one of those extra thirds in the tool box in case something happens. I seem to remember we did that repair already in the last few weeks. You had a hard time finding wrenches small enough to work on that toy in my garage. what am i thinking scrap it and buy a chevy
 
A welded rear is beginning to sound better and better. I guess the bragging rights of having lockers front and rear are not worth the increased chance of something going wrong. As i remember My breakage cost me about $50.00 and a case of beer. What's your's up to now over a grand yet??? Those big nuts on that chevy don't mean it's better.
 
You kids play nice, now! Hey jon, if you decide against the e--locker, ill buy it back. dosent matter to me which one i use, cause i never break anyway. oh, crap, done jinxed myself now.
 
Jon Sullivan said:
...the whole buggy will only weigh arround 2,000 lbs...
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Based off of an 84 4Runner drivetrain?...:lol:

If you're going to use the Elockers stock electric motor (as opposed to an aftermarket cable setup) and assuming this is a low pinion (cause why would you want to put a Hipinion in the rear?) I think you're going to have problems with mounting it in the front if you want to run leaf springs...if coils/overs...nevermind...

regardless...I'd run powertrax front...elocker rear...you can pull of cooler moves when crawling with the rear unlocked. You'll still be able to turn as much with the powertrax up front...it'll give...
 
Yeah, doesn't weigh much. Only thing left of the 4runner other than the drivetrain is about 5 feet of frame. It's a real simple tube buggy, no frills, just as light as possible. Air shocks in the front, and coils in the rear. If I could ever figure out how to get pics on here I would post some. It is actually a buddys former buggy, and I bought just the chassis and suspension. He took his drivetrain out, so I have some pics of it in completed form when he had it. I'll try and figure out how to post some then. I've decided to run welded in the rear, and powertrax in the front. I'll keep the e-locker and put a new Ring and pinion in along with convert it to cable actuated, and maybe use it later if something doesn't hold together the way i want.
 
bigjeeprob said:
dosent matter to me which one i use, cause i never break anyway. oh, crap, done jinxed myself now.
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Don't think i missed that comment, I was thinking that is hard to break a rig that doesn't exist, with a driver that doesn't go wheelin.
 
Jon Sullivan said:
Yeah, doesn't weigh much. Only thing left of the 4runner other than the drivetrain is about 5 feet of frame. It's a real simple tube buggy, no frills, just as light as possible. Air shocks in the front, and coils in the rear. If I could ever figure out how to get pics on here I would post some. It is actually a buddys former buggy, and I bought just the chassis and suspension. He took his drivetrain out, so I have some pics of it in completed form when he had it. I'll try and figure out how to post some then. I've decided to run welded in the rear, and powertrax in the front. I'll keep the e-locker and put a new Ring and pinion in along with convert it to cable actuated, and maybe use it later if something doesn't hold together the way i want.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you know...but...I've run into people that don't...That Elocker is not a direct bolt in swap...you have to do some housing modifications...just a heads up.
 
e-locker in the rear, regular locker in the front. That way when you cruise around in 2wd you're basically open/open. I've run a spool in the rear and an e-locker in the rear and it makes a big difference. It also gives you the option of running single wheel cutting brakes in the rear, which is cool.
 
I did know about the housing mods, and I think eventually the e-locker will go in the rear. Just kind of in a hurry to get it ready for a trail ride, so for now welded in the rear will have to do. At least swapping the 3rd's in the rear is easy. Does anybody know where I can find a writeup about how to switch that e-locker 3rd over to cable, or maybe even one about the houseing mods. Thanks
 
Jon Sullivan said:
I did know about the housing mods, and I think eventually the e-locker will go in the rear. Just kind of in a hurry to get it ready for a trail ride, so for now welded in the rear will have to do. At least swapping the 3rd's in the rear is easy. Does anybody know where I can find a writeup about how to switch that e-locker 3rd over to cable, or maybe even one about the houseing mods. Thanks
Click to expand...

There used to be a write up on 4x4wire.com. That's the one I followed when i did mine.
As for the cable...I had Downey offroad's cable kit. It worked...but was really finickey...it's not a setup that you'd want to be locking and unlocking while wheeling...it's more of a lock it when you start...the unlock it for the ride home deal...at least mine was...
I tried to adjust it several different ways to make it easier...nothing really worked.
I'd keep the electric acuator if at all possible. Only reason I didn't keep it on mine is that it didn't come with it when I bought it. Good luck.
 
Thanks man I haven't even had a chance to really look at how the accuator works. I'm sure it can't be that complicated. I'll try useing it first before I mess with the whole cable thing.
 
I made this dorky video of me as I was figuring out how my fj80 elocker worked. The axle came disassembled in a milk crate so I had a little thinking to do. In the second half of the vid I tried to hold the camera and get the battery and locker in the shot at the same time but it didn't work out. Anyway, this might help you see how it engages.

http://www.just4fun.org/images/buggy/rear axle and suspension project/SANY0004.MP4
 
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