ARB lockers

[ciderman]

I have today fitted a new ARB locker into a mates truck , Its a 24 spline rover axle ,

Now we got it out of the box and it didnt look the same as the Normal 24 spline RD56 locker . The RD56 has now been superseeded to an RD128 , a much better looking bit of kit but the air supply coupling is now fitted on the opposite side of the diff and the copper pipe now passes over the crown wheel and exits in the normal spot .

Also the "O" rings have been replaced by quadrant seals , Much better IMO .

Has anyone had any experience of these later diffs regarding endurance and maintenance , Have they been improved internaly IE; The cages ??

[jericho]

Just fitted one to mine.Not used it yet.From a quick glance at the exploded diagram it looks like there is no cage in the new model as the air ring is on the same side off the diff as the doggy clutchy bit.So that should be one weak point removed.

I could be wrong - a knowledgeable person should be along soon.

[RedLineMike]

got a Rd128 in the front of my 90 & its only been in use for 2 weekends & it looks like it will be coming back out as it appears to be leaking air

[Guest WALFY]

Not sure if I got a new or old style 24spl ARB from Ashcrofts back along. But the air ring is now held in place by a small wire clip rather than the grub screws previously. Mine leaked a bit when fitted and after a few phone calle to Dave all was sorted with a visit from Mr Grinder. Now all s well and they work perfectly.

[ciderman]

I havent seen the one with grub screws . The RD56 and RD128 have a locing wire clip holding the air banjos in ,

My RD56 lockers both leaked when they were new , I changed to different O rings in the banjos and no problems since ,

I do know a chap on here who has fitted lockers and never had a leak since fitting them , JST ........ I wonder why that is

[Steve 90]

Fitted a 128 to the back of Kris's truck not long ago and it seems fine so far. Really dont like the air feed going over the crown wheel tho, Seems a poor idea. There was a thread about the differences between the 56 and 128 on Pirate. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[ciderman]

Steve , youve just jogged my memory

[saley]

ARB's have problems, Twiggy is having them at the moment

[Steve 90]

Steve , youve just jogged my memory

What, That you still aint put that stuff in the post????

[Steve 90]

RD56-128 on Pirate4x4

[Boothy]

Mine are about 2 years old and have not been a problem, they're 24 spline with the wire retaining clip,

but following an ingress of silt due to failed wheel bearing, I stripped the diff cleaned the axle tubes/pan etc and renewed diff bearings because the pinion bearing was knackered.

Upon rebuild the rebuilt one (rear) did about 20 minutes before it failed on the Howlin Wolf round 2 (excuse 106) and I bought 3 new pairs of Devon 4x4, I've put a new set in and no way will it seal.

Upon inspection the old seal is round and the new ones are more of a square profile they feel like they will work when putting them on but they blow straight past, and I did oil the surface with EP90 and we've cleaned the surface in a lathe with emery to remove any harshness.

Not had chance to speak to Devon yet as this was Sunday afternoons job.

Anyone had similar or different seals from elsewhere?

[ciderman]

What, That you still aint put that stuff in the post????

Its In Transit ?????

On the dash

[ciderman]

Anyone had similar or different seals from elsewhere?

After the first set of Brown ARB seals started leaking , I went to my local supplier of seals and he gave me a few o rings which he told me were Viton seals , they seemed to do the trick , I recently had the diffs apart for routine maintanance and took the seals out ,they looked fine with no flat spots ,But I went back to a different supplier asking them for the same Viton O rings , They told me Viton seals were brown in colour and the ones I had were Nitrile as they were black in coluor , so I went for some more .

Size BS133 they were about £0.25 each

[Boothy]

I've not managed to get Viton but have managed slightly bigger black seals which I will try, apparantly Viton will stand a higher heat 150"C as oppose to 120"C for to'thers, what I don't know is about wear properties etc, we will find out no doubt.

I have spoken to Tim at Devon 4x4 who tells me that the round seals for the spring clip type end has now been replaced by the squarer section ones, which should be a like for like replacement, but be carefull when fitting them not to roll them, oop's I hope I did roll them that will solve my problems but I feel sure I didn't.

What I have done is lost all faith in the realabilty of ARB lockers to keep air and will always now have doubts of will it last the day, it's another doubt I'm sure but it's adding to a long list of things I thought were improvements to standard items.

So now my tea's gone down its of to the inventing shed to find out

[Guest WALFY]

The new seals I got from Dave were square in section.

[ciderman]

The new seals I got from Dave were square in section.

Quadrant seals , same design as Warn use in the 8274 winch drum , These would be better with two lips per seal as opposed to one .

[Boothy]

Now then,

I did the business and used another pair of my square section seals and put the diff in the vice and used a long piece of spare air pipe to enable me to use my ARB compressor and switches that are on the truck.

This enabled me to put the bango on nice and square and see where the air is leaking, answer nowhere its cured.

I hope.

When I turn the diff by hand there's air moving and a slight hissing around the bango area but the comp does not run up, and the locker can be heard moving in and out.

Sat it for 10 minutes or so engaged and the comp still didn't run up, it does run after 2 or 3 operations which is the same as before.

So hopefully it will work when its back on the floor with the wheels turning for a few miles, we'll see towards the end of the month.

Will keep you posted if anybodys interested.

[Guest WALFY]

I had this problem. When the diff was fitted it leaked. In and out 3 or 4 times, worked on the ground leaked when fitted. Air the locker up and then fitted it, all was well till I got the nuts up tight on the diff housing and it then leaked . After a long hair pulling session I then smeared the whole of the inside face of the diff housing with a thick layer of grease. Put the diff in and found out where the diff was fouling. It turned out to be the ears that stop the lock ring(?) from rotating. It was just resting against the air ring and causing a leak So a quick whizz with the grinder and all is well. .