[Dcraw]

Can a front sierra arb locker be changed to take 26 spline axles? As in the side gears changed or something... or will i just have to suck it up and buy a rear arb locker for the front and try to sell the front locker.

[tanshi]

yes you can buy the 26 spline gear set.
they are woth about $400 and its not worth it

[mrw82]

You can (or used to be able to) buy the airlocker 26 spline side gear assembly from arb.

Alternatively, how much do you want for the front locker?

[Zook_Fan]

tanshi wrote:

yes you can buy the 26 spline gear set.
they are woth about $400 and its not worth it

At the rate that front lockers sell, seems to be sub $800, it probably is worth it. You won't get a rear locker installed for $1200.

[tanshi]

you also cannot buy rd88 gear sets any more

[jimny_timmy]

^^ isn't it the same as the 208??? I think the only thing changed was a certain part is now brass instead of plastic?

[fordem]

The 200 series is a complete redesign - two piece housing as compared to the older three piece, the internals are different, and whilst I'm not 100% certain, I do believe the side gears are different (new, improved, timed, and stronger" - took me a while to understand how having the gears timed made them stronger, but, the changes required to make them "timed" gears means they are probably different.

[jimny_timmy]

Ahh ok is it worth asking what "timed gears" actually are, or is my head going to hurt?

[fordem]

This is the new two piece air locker - the side gear to the right in the exploded view has teeth on it that accept the locking collar (to the right) which lock it to the teeth on the housing cover (again to the right) - those teeth are bigger and stronger, supposedly 40% stronger, than the older designs - I think the "timing" has something to do with the number of teeth around the gear (for the locking collar) matching the number of teeth on the face of the gear (that mesh with the diff pinions).

If I find the article that explained it, I'll post you a link.

[jimny_timmy]

Cheers

[Samurai81]

You can buy the individual 26 spline side gears from Low Range.

[mrw82]

they are standard replacement side gears and will not suit an airlocker.

[Bruce]

mrw82 wrote:

they are standard replacement side gears and will not suit an airlocker.

X2

[Dcraw]

thanks for the replies guys. when did the new arb design come in?? pretty certain i would have the older version... pulled my air lockers out of my parts car tonight, is there away i can test them for operation before i put them into the other car? can i use a air gun to put some air down the air line to see if they lock them selves??

[fordem]

The new design came out two maybe three years back - it's hard to pin down an exact data because what they have been doing is gradually phasing them in - presumably as stock of the older three piece is depleted. Two piece for the Sierra has been out for awhile, two piece for the Vitaras was released either late last year or early this year.

If you have your centers out you can look at it and see which style you have, the new ones have the copper line on the ring gear side, the older ones have it on the other end.