I'd have to recommend the OX locker. I have one that I installed myself that usually pushes around little 235/75-15 BFG AT's but I also have a set of 33x12.5x15 Dunlop mud tires that it does just fine with as well. I have a hose wrapped around the cable to prevent chafing, melting, or whatever else wants to happen to it, and I would say the cable must be more stout than an air line, and I'm not dependent on the air supply being stable. When I first installed it, I had issues with it. You're supposed to thread in the inner cable to the actuating piece inside, but when I screwed the outer cable into the housing, it basically kept threading the inner piece into the actuating slide. Once I figured out the problem, I adjusted the cable, and it works great.
I was originally running a 242 TC, so that's why I initially went with the OX, but I now run a 231 (so I could take advantage of a Tera 2-low kit and a HD SYE, which I installed before the swap) and I still love it because I don't have to worry about the front end binding and plowing so much. I like being able to turn. I like the OX locker. I like the beefy diff cover that they provide as well. If they made an OX for the rear 8.25, I'd have one there as well. I have a Ford 8.8 that sits in my garage currently, and it's dreaming about being an OX-locked axle under my rig someday, too. The current axle is just working too well to throw more time and money at it right now.