Diff locker or Winch? Which one first

Hi all

I know this sounds an odd question but to those who have both or either which would recomend getting first? I certainly carnt afford both at the moment. I like the idea of a winch as i would be able to get myself out of certain situations, but would i have got in that situation with a diff lock? I know its a lot of ifs and buts but what would be the most useful initialy?

Ive been looking at KAM diff locks, i know some of you will recomend ARB but it will come down to cost at the end of the day. They are also based not to far from me so in terms of help and parts they will be ideal. I have also heard very good things about there lockers.

The idea will be to have both but it will a fair few months in between before they are both fitted. I know how valuable a winch is off road but i have how much diff locks can make a huge difference. I just want your opinions.
Nobby

I'd go for the rear diff lock first
The Kam ones are very good and come with hardened halfshafts, If you want a cheaper one have look at a lockright as they are about half the price of the Kam or ARB ones
We used ours without a winch but with diff locks for about a year and only got stuck if we tried something stupid- and then there is usually someone around to pull you out after laughing and pointing of course

Nobby22 wrote: Hi all

I know this sounds an odd question but to those who have both or either which would recomend getting first? I certainly carnt afford both at the moment. I like the idea of a winch as i would be able to get myself out of certain situations, but would i have got in that situation with a diff lock? I know its a lot of ifs and buts but what would be the most useful initialy?

Ive been looking at KAM diff locks, i know some of you will recomend ARB but it will come down to cost at the end of the day. They are also based not to far from me so in terms of help and parts they will be ideal. I have also heard very good things about there lockers.

The idea will be to have both but it will a fair few months in between before they are both fitted. I know how valuable a winch is off road but i have how much diff locks can make a huge difference. I just want your opinions.
Nobby

Depends on how hard terrain you're driving, or how deep mud. Diffs are great, but climbing steep enough or though deep enough mud, Diffs are of no use. Then you'll need a winch.

darthloachie wrote: I'd go for the rear diff lock first
The Kam ones are very good and come with hardened halfshafts, If you want a cheaper one have look at a lockright as they are about half the price of the Kam or ARB ones
We used ours without a winch but with diff locks for about a year and only got stuck if we tried something stupid- and then there is usually someone around to pull you out after laughing and pointing of course

Am i right in thinking the lockright are on all the time and give when you turn? I realy like the idea of having one i can turn on and off. Plus the hardened halfsharts sound good too. Not that i think i will brake the standar ones. :laugh:

I wouldn't buy Lockright.
On youtube there's plenty of videos with Lockright breaking and saying strange noises.

In my world, there's only ARB when it comes to Difflocks.

I have had an arb rear from new from devon 4x4 great chaps, it worked great but oil started to creep up the air tube to the pump.
And I did not like the slop as I changed gear, at first I thought it was not adjusted right i.e. the backlash but that was spot on
So I took it apart to see what was really going on and what I found was the gear splines in the arb diff where slightly bigger than the standard jimny diff gear splines,
which felt bad each time I changed gear. so I sold the arb.
If I were to do it all again then I would go Kam as I love the way they have thought this through..
I would stay away from lockright as I like good road handling. But I have not had one.
But if you like arb remember one thing, you will have to change the air seal once every so often as they wear out. Which would mean sliding both rear shafts out and taking the diff out:( If I were to get an arb again I would buy the removable diff pan from kam, which would allow a quick change of the oil seal without the need too take both shafts out and the diff out, as only one shaft would need to be slid out and th rear pan removed. I think that there would be enough room to do this possibly. If you do go down the kam route then you will be using a standard jimny diff . I way prefer the electric set up.. cant wait to get a kam setup. And they are extremely helpfull tobootB)
If you do go for the kam make sure you follow their instructions to the letter.
The Ideal setup would be KAM rear and arb front as you would not need to change the rubber seal so often as the axle shafts would be stationary most of the time while driven on road. And I would put a rear removable diff pan from kam on the front for the same reason as stated earlyer. Hope this helps. :blink: :S