ARB Working pressure

I recently bought an axle with an ARB and am now looking for a compressor, tank, safety relief valve for the tank, pressure regulator, etc. and have a few questions:

What is the working pressure for an ARB?

The air engages the locker, but is it cyclical? or does the solenoid allow pressure to engage the lockers and then release pressure to disengage?

Thanks.

Boatwrench said:

does the solenoid allow pressure to engage the lockers and then release pressure to disengage?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

This. ARB Lockers require 95 to 115 lbs. of air pressure to operate.

Scott

Boatwrench said:

or does the solenoid allow pressure to engage the lockers and then release pressure to disengage?

Click to expand...

Yes.

All 3 of my manuals say minimum 85psi,maximum 105psi.Their compressor is set at 85psi/on,100psi/off.

I think they'll engage as low as 60psi (maybe not safely), but max is 105psi as stated above. I usually run mine between 80-90 psi.

Make sure whatever compressor you use is using a pressure switch to keep it in that range. Also, it is a good practice to get the compressor and tank up to pressure before you plan on engaging, then flipping the locker/solenoid switch on after. Otherwise, flip them on and give it time to pressurize before continuing. If the locker is engaging when your tires are already turning different speeds, it can round the teeth on the engaging gear. It does not take many times of that (2 or 3) before the teeth are rounded off enough to slip when engaged, even at full pressure.

Fortunately, they are built to round off the teeth of a fairly easily removable gear, but who wants to pull a diff apart more often than never? :rof:

Seiler said:

This. ARB Lockers require 95 to 115 lbs. of air pressure to operate.

Scott

Click to expand...

The pressure depends on the model. I'd call ARB to be sure. I've got my (older) D44 and D60 models regulated at 90PSI.
Billy

I run mine up at 120. Its fine there. Do some reading on Pirate about this, the race guys are running them at really high pressures, most of us dont need it that high.

This quote was stolen from Pirate and ARB. I did not write it.

KH (see below)

"- Higher pressure is a positive thing. It relates to flow (flow=locking time) and locking force. Stock ARB compressor pressure is 70-105 PSI. We trialled 100-125 PSI and got a minimum of 300% more crash-lock cycles out of a clutch gear. We also ran 120-150 PSI and got even more still. We can't formally endorse this until we finish testing its effects on the seals over long distance driving (long distance wouldn't even apply to most of you guys - it's more of an Oz thing) but this is by far the #1 biggest improvement we have found. If anyone wants to push the enevelope on this concept then note the following - Our solenoids are rated to 150 but have been tested successfully to 170 - All of our compressors are performance tested to over 200 PSI but the safety valve will bleed out at just over 160 PSI - our air lines are good to 300 PSI - our seals (O-rings/X-rings/bonded seals) are all good to over 700 PSI static/??? dynamic."

Interesting info. From what I gather from that quote, the locker's mechanical parts will actually hold up better when run at higher pressure, it's just a question of whether or not the seals on the locking mechanism will handle long distance driving while under pressure.

I run my OBA system at 150 and use a regulator to dial down the pressure to the ARB's. I guess I won't worry so much about the regulator being set too high now.