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Post by vr4madness on Mar 12, 2018 17:54:26 GMT -5
Hey guys,
I found this company that makes air lockers that are similar to ARB but much more affordable. They don't seem to be super well known yet, but I am going to give them a try. They quoted me $1075 for the front and rear air lockers and the compressor to run them shipped. That's literally thousands less than going through ARB. I know that they don't have the reputation, and that they are built in China, and are probably knock ARB off, but I want to try them out. I have looked into their design and torque testing. Their units hold up to about 97% of ARB and they have the same warranty. Their air compressor is water/weather resistant so it can be mounted outside the cab too. Their part numbers for Montero Sport air lockers are as follows (I think they are even the same as ARB):
Front: TR110 Rear: TR154
ARB Warranty: "With our improved two piece design available right across the range, along with the addition of forged gears and an industry leading five year warranty, ARB Air Lockers are now better built and better backed than ever before"
TRE Warranty: "We provide 5 year warranty and free replacement parts if the air locker is broken."
You can find the TRE air lockers vie their Facebook page or at marxxon.com/differential.html
I hope to buy them this summer, but we will see. I don't have the desire to install them myself so I will have to add that to the cost as well. If anyone has any information or experience with these please share. It seems that some people refuse to even try them because they are made in China. All I care about is that they perform. I have found just as many articles about ARB Air Lockers failing as I have these Chinese air lockers. At least this is somewhat affordable, but that's just me.
-Aaron
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Post by vr4madness on Apr 10, 2018 9:19:07 GMT -5
I decided to pull the trigger on the TRE air locker. Everyone that I have spoken to that actually owns one (not just talks crap because it isn't ARB or is Chinese made) is happy with the performance and reliability. I got the rear locker with the compressor for $620 shipped. I will post pictures of everything when it arrives.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Apr 10, 2018 19:20:26 GMT -5
I decided to pull the trigger on the TRE air locker. Everyone that I have spoken to that actually owns one (not just talks crap because it isn't ARB or is Chinese made) is happy with the performance and reliability. I got the rear locker with the compressor for $620 shipped. I will post pictures of everything when it arrives. Cool. Looking forward to hearing how they work out. Edward
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Post by vr4madness on Apr 13, 2018 9:25:24 GMT -5
I will let you know! I will take pictures of everything when they arrive. Should be here next Friday (the 20th).
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Post by vr4madness on Apr 20, 2018 16:10:48 GMT -5
Everything arrived Wednesday! ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏
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Post by ES_97Sport on Apr 25, 2018 17:32:20 GMT -5
Yep. Looks like an ARB clone. Right down to the pump. Casting quality isn't as good as the actual ARB pump. Metal work on the locker isn't as clean either, but otherwise looks like an ARB. Edward
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Post by vr4madness on Jul 5, 2018 19:24:36 GMT -5
I finally got everything installed and in the process learned some things about the Montero Sport. If you have the 3.5L with 4.90 gears like mine, the holes in your carrier ring are about 12mm (17mm socket). The TRE air lockers come with 10mm holes pre drilled. That means that you have to drill your locker out in order for it to fit. I called ARB and spoke with one of their technicians and he stated that the ARB equivalent is the same way. Both TRE and ARB still honor their warranty if you need to get your locker drilled to accommodate the bigger bolts. I tried to drill them myself at first. I built a jig to hold my locker perfectly still, but there was about 1/8" play in the shaft off my drill press. My concern was that having each hole 1/8" off would result in one or more of the 12 bolts to not line up. So I went to a machine shop and had them professionally drilled out so they would be dead center. Sadly this cost me an extra $250. After that, the install went smooth. You still need to get the carrier bearing which is a bit hard to find. I will post the part number and pictures when I get home, hopefully that will help some of you. I ended up with the compressor in the engine bay on the drivers side fender near the battery. Everything works fine so far, the locker locks, the compressor runs well, no I just need to test it in a real off road situation.
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Post by vr4madness on Jul 6, 2018 13:39:34 GMT -5
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Post by vr4madness on Jul 13, 2018 17:32:50 GMT -5
My first official test is going to be tomorrow. I am hitting what I think is a really hard trail tomorrow. So I will be putting this locker through its paces for 5 to 6 hours. It is the combination of two trails, Bill Moore Lake/Empire Loop. I will make a video of it all too. Last time I went, my MS didn't have the clearance for some spot and I had to build up the trail with rocks. Wish me luck, I will be in serious trouble if the locker decides to grenade.
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Post by montie on Jul 15, 2018 17:29:32 GMT -5
How did it go?
Also, how did you go about ordering it? I’ve had some dialogue with them through email, but I’m for some reason I’m somewhat hesitant to order something through email from a guy in China who seems to struggle a little bit with English.
I guess PayPal is a pretty safe way to go though, right?
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Post by vr4madness on Jul 15, 2018 21:37:50 GMT -5
How did it go? Also, how did you go about ordering it? I’ve had some dialogue with them through email, but I’m for some reason I’m somewhat hesitant to order something through email from a guy in China who seems to struggle a little bit with English. I guess PayPal is a pretty safe way to go though, right? I ordered it through a facebook contact. Her name is Sunny, you can reach her at: sunny@marxxon.com.
So I put this setup through a pretty serious stress test yesterday and the locker/air compressor held up with zero issues! The trip started from my house at 6:30am and I didn't get home until 9:05pm. It was a long day. We were on the trail by about 9:00am and finished at 7:30pm.
The trail is possible without a locker (I did it last summer) but it seemed like I was getting stuck at just about every obstacle. I needed to either go around hard stuff, build the trail up, or run and gun it with momentum to make it through. It was very stressful and I was worried that I would break something.
This time was a whole different story. I seriously is night and day now having a locker. The only thing that limited me was my stock ride height, so I had to chose my lines correctly. But I was able to effortlessly climb everything without ANY TROUBLE! Given how easy the trail was this time, I almost felt like I was cheating. Seriously, that is how big of a difference a locker makes. I was able to use it on the fly, it always engaged/disengaged smooth. So smooth in fact, you cant even feel it engaged/disengaged whether you are sitting still or moving. The locker survived a good 10 hours of serious off road action and over 400 miles of normal use now without issue. So far, every penny was worth it.
On a side note, if people are in for a group buy, TRE offered me the opportunity to be a distributor. I will be able to get it at a better price with 10 or so purchases that buying individually. Just a thought. I personally would like to use it a bit more before standing behind it though.
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Post by tharanaw on Mar 17, 2020 9:30:32 GMT -5
How did it go? Also, how did you go about ordering it? I’ve had some dialogue with them through email, but I’m for some reason I’m somewhat hesitant to order something through email from a guy in China who seems to struggle a little bit with English. I guess PayPal is a pretty safe way to go though, right? I ordered it through a facebook contact. Her name is Sunny, you can reach her at: sunny@marxxon.com.
So I put this setup through a pretty serious stress test yesterday and the locker/air compressor held up with zero issues! The trip started from my house at 6:30am and I didn't get home until 9:05pm. It was a long day. We were on the trail by about 9:00am and finished at 7:30pm.
The trail is possible without a locker (I did it last summer) but it seemed like I was getting stuck at just about every obstacle. I needed to either go around hard stuff, build the trail up, or run and gun it with momentum to make it through. It was very stressful and I was worried that I would break something.
This time was a whole different story. I seriously is night and day now having a locker. The only thing that limited me was my stock ride height, so I had to chose my lines correctly. But I was able to effortlessly climb everything without ANY TROUBLE! Given how easy the trail was this time, I almost felt like I was cheating. Seriously, that is how big of a difference a locker makes. I was able to use it on the fly, it always engaged/disengaged smooth. So smooth in fact, you cant even feel it engaged/disengaged whether you are sitting still or moving. The locker survived a good 10 hours of serious off road action and over 400 miles of normal use now without issue. So far, every penny was worth it.
On a side note, if people are in for a group buy, TRE offered me the opportunity to be a distributor. I will be able to get it at a better price with 10 or so purchases that buying individually. Just a thought. I personally would like to use it a bit more before standing behind it though.
Hey vr4madness, After a long time, could you give an update on how your locker has been performing. I'm looking to fit one of these to my Montero Sport. Also do you have an idea of how their e-lockers perform? Thank you.
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Post by vr4madness on Mar 17, 2020 10:00:42 GMT -5
I ordered it through a facebook contact. Her name is Sunny, you can reach her at: sunny@marxxon.com.
So I put this setup through a pretty serious stress test yesterday and the locker/air compressor held up with zero issues! The trip started from my house at 6:30am and I didn't get home until 9:05pm. It was a long day. We were on the trail by about 9:00am and finished at 7:30pm.
The trail is possible without a locker (I did it last summer) but it seemed like I was getting stuck at just about every obstacle. I needed to either go around hard stuff, build the trail up, or run and gun it with momentum to make it through. It was very stressful and I was worried that I would break something.
This time was a whole different story. I seriously is night and day now having a locker. The only thing that limited me was my stock ride height, so I had to chose my lines correctly. But I was able to effortlessly climb everything without ANY TROUBLE! Given how easy the trail was this time, I almost felt like I was cheating. Seriously, that is how big of a difference a locker makes. I was able to use it on the fly, it always engaged/disengaged smooth. So smooth in fact, you cant even feel it engaged/disengaged whether you are sitting still or moving. The locker survived a good 10 hours of serious off road action and over 400 miles of normal use now without issue. So far, every penny was worth it.
On a side note, if people are in for a group buy, TRE offered me the opportunity to be a distributor. I will be able to get it at a better price with 10 or so purchases that buying individually. Just a thought. I personally would like to use it a bit more before standing behind it though.
Hey vr4madness, After a long time, could you give an update on how your locker has been performing. I'm looking to fit one of these to my Montero Sport. Also do you have an idea of how their e-lockers perform? Thank you. The locker has held up fine to this day. I sold my Montero Sport to a colleague to buy a full size Montero. But it never failed after all this time. So that's good.
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Post by tharanaw on Mar 17, 2020 10:05:05 GMT -5
Hey vr4madness, After a long time, could you give an update on how your locker has been performing. I'm looking to fit one of these to my Montero Sport. Also do you have an idea of how their e-lockers perform? Thank you. The locker has held up fine to this day. I sold my Montero Sport to a colleague to buy a full size Montero. But it never failed after all this time. So that's good. Thanks a lot for your feedback. Will update my experience if I purchase this as well.
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Post by muddblood on Jul 1, 2020 22:49:46 GMT -5
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