Lockers In The Mud?

[Wojo]

Do lockers help in deep mud? If so, front and rear lockers or just rear only? This is my first Rubicon and still trying to figure out if the lockers are good for anything but rock crawling.

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[km58501]

Do lockers help in deep mud? If so, front and rear lockers or just rear only? This is my first Rubicon and still trying to figure out if the lockers are good for anything but rock crawling.

I'd say yes. 9 times out of 10 it is better for added traction. But it will also depend on the terrain and your speed. There are so many variables.

 

[WXman]

Lockers will definitely help in mud. However, front being locked will make it hard to steer left and right and sometimes you have to saw the wheel to get unstuck. So, use as necessary.

In my years of experience, the #1 piece of equipment you need to plow through mud is a big fat set of mud tires. Narrow tires just won't do, and neither will all-terrain tires.

 

[The_Phew]

BLD will help in mud as much as lockers, but if you are traversing miles of mud, you are going to cook your brakes relying solely on BLD.

Like with all things Wrangler, tires and operator skill trump drivetrain configuration.

 

[Kajmcbride]

In my limited mud driving experience I feel lockers help. I also like to have the front locked so that the front will pull me in the direction needed. The only bad thing with the Rubicon is that the transfer case needs to be in low range for the lockers to be engaged is stock form. With the transfer case in low it is difficult to get the wheel speed to shed the mud from the tires.

 

[Wojo]

Lockers will definitely help in mud. However, front being locked will make it hard to steer left and right and sometimes you have to saw the wheel to get unstuck. So, use as necessary.

In my years of experience, the #1 piece of equipment you need to plow through mud is a big fat set of mud tires. Narrow tires just won't do, and neither will all-terrain tires.

LOL great, I am screwed on both of those accounts! Still rocking my stock configuration and trying to decide which tires and wheels I want to get. Leaning towards Ridge Grapplers or Milestar Patagonia's. Also on the fence as to whether I want to get 35's or 37's and also whether to get 17" or 20" wheels. I am probably over thinking this but I want to get the best offroad performance possible without totally sacrificing my ride on the road seeing my Rubicon is my daily driver.

 

[mwilk012]

LOL great, I am screwed on both of those accounts! Still rocking my stock configuration and trying to decide which tires and wheels I want to get. Leaning towards Ridge Grapplers or Milestar Patagonia's. Also on the fence as to whether I want to get 35's or 37's and also whether to get 17" or 20" wheels. I am probably over thinking this but I want to get the best offroad performance possible without totally sacrificing my ride on the road seeing my Rubicon is my daily driver.

Please don't get 20's.

 

[Wojo]

Please don't get 20's.

I feel you, but I didn't say 22's. I have seen many Jeeps offroad with 20's and there is still a good amount of sidewall, not low profile. While I definitely do not want a mallcrawler, I also don't like the huge ballon tire look with tiny little wheels buried in the center. In the end though, if someone makes a compelling case for having huge ballons tires for offroad performance and that I wont completely trash the ride on the road then regardless of the look I will consider them. The only thing I can think of is for airing down but seems to me that there is still enough tire on the 35 or 37/20 configuration to air down without having to worry about damaging the wheel.

 

[Wojo]

Please don't get 20's.

As a follow up to my last reply to you, this to me is the perfect look (at least based on my personal opinion). I have looked at countless pictures of tire/wheel combos on JL's and at this point this is my favorite. Unfortunately the site does not mention any details about sizes so not sure of these wheels are 17's or 20's? At this point this is what I am leaning towards.

 

[Wojo]

As a follow up to my last reply to you, this to me is the perfect look (at least based on my personal opinion). I have looked at countless pictures of tire/wheel combos on JL's and at this point this is my favorite. Unfortunately the site does not mention any details about sizes so not sure of these wheels are 17's or 20's? At this point this is what I am leaning towards.

And yes, I realize this is not a JL. lol

 

[mwilk012]

I feel you, but I didn't say 22's. I have seen many Jeeps offroad with 20's and there is still a good amount of sidewall, not low profile. While I definitely do not want a mallcrawler, I also don't like the huge ballon tire look with tiny little wheels buried in the center. In the end though, if someone makes a compelling case for having huge ballons tires for offroad performance and that I wont completely trash the ride on the road then regardless of the look I will consider them. The only thing I can think of is for airing down but seems to me that there is still enough tire on the 35 or 37/20 configuration to air down without having to worry about damaging the wheel.

With 35's, you're going to look like a cadillac on low profile tires. with 37's, it looks fine. Do you have a lift on already or have one planned?

Those look like 35's on 17's, if not an even smaller wheel/tire. Perspective is strange on JK's though.

 

[Wojo]

With 35's, you're going to look like a cadillac on low profile tires. with 37's, it looks fine. Do you have a lift on already or have one planned?

Those look like 35's on 17's, if not an even smaller wheel/tire. Perspective is strange on JK's though.

I was planning on a RC 2.5" spacer lift for the time being. Yes, I know I should get a $1,500 Mopar lift with full fox suspension but that is not happening at the moment, still trying to recover from the huge down payment on made on my Jeep! I am seeing ALLOT of people using that RC lift with 0 issues. In fact the youtube channel Lite Brite does harder wheeling that just about anyone I have seen with their JL Rubi and that is what they are using (with 38's). So for now that is my plan. The good thing is that it is apparently enough to support up to 38's with some slight modifications with a heat gun. So I will be fine with 35's or 37's.

 

[mwilk012]

I was planning on a RC 2.5" spacer lift for the time being. Yes, I know I should get a $1,500 Mopar lift with full fox suspension but that is not happening at the moment, still trying to recover from the huge down payment on made on my Jeep! I am seeing ALLOT of people using that RC lift with 0 issues. In fact the youtube channel Lite Brite does harder wheeling that just about anyone I have seen with their JL Rubi and that is what they are using (with 38's). So for now that is my plan. The good thing is that it is apparently enough to support up to 38's with some slight modifications with a heat gun. So I will be fine with 35's or 37's.

35's look small on a lift is why I asked. Sorry if I derailed your thread.

 

[Wojo]

No worries, tires and wheels is an easy topic for me to get distracted by. I am still interested in hearing other peoples experiences with lockers in the mud so hopefully this thread will continue, if not I will start a new one!

 

[BillG]

Depends on your usage. For “playing in mud” you need wheel spin. I’m using it to check fences on the farm and such. I don’t want to dig deep ruts. If there’s mud, I drive around, but if that’s not possible, usually you can keep one side on semi firm ground. In that case, lockers definitely help.

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