Locker or Winch??

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yak51

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

684
San Diego
Member #

9488

I carry a 2 1/2 ft ( might be 3 ft) screw anchor that I found at Tractor Supply Co. It has a helical plate near the bottom and has an eye on the top. I used longer anchors at the phone co, when I worked there for temporary guying loads. It depends on the terrain you are in. This works better in sand of course It can be screwed in or, dig and bury. They worked well at work. I don't know how much strain they will take. I may be the anchor that gets me out some day.
 

tsteb112

Rank IV

Pathfinder I

1,212
Greenville
I'd go with a winch first. You can still get stuck with rear lockers, whereas if you have a winch you can get out of some bad situations as well as the above mentioned help other people in the process.
 

Zerobird

Rank IV

Advocate II

Having owned a 04 Nissan Frontier with an open diff and Warn M800. With my experience taking that truck on the trails, the open diffs were extremely frustrating. Any sort of off camber or even a lil bit of snow "obstacles " and you lose momentum immediately. Also the steering linkage is the weakest point. I suggest carrying a spare tie rod assembly with the tools to replace it. I bent tie rods on three separate occasions. Other than those couple of things they are solid rigs and geared super low from the factory. If yours is a manual trans it is geared 4.9, my supercharged auto trans was 4.64.
 

JeffG98034

Rank V
Launch Member

Member II

2,431
Kirkland, Washington
Member #

9850

I’m new to overlanding and I am trying to build my rig with as little “buy and learn” mishaps as possible. I have the funds for my next upgrade but having a hard time deciding which would be the best money spent shrockworks front bumper with winch or rear lockers? Please help with this decision with your experiences and wisdom.
Bumper and the Winch....
 

SSRuger

Rank I
Launch Member

Traveler I

233
North Las Vegas, NV, USA
Member #

5843

As nice as it is to have lockers they are prone to adding extra stress to components which leads to axle shaft breaks. If my jeep didn't already include them I would still get the winch before buying the lockers.
Even though it was awesome when I made it through a obstacle that 2 other folks had to winch out of cause I had lockers. A bone stock Rubicon vs a couple of lifted up sports with 35s.