Anybody ditched their smartbar and hardwired their lockers?

[olyelr]

But you can activate the lockers at any speed ( recommend against that), in any transfer case position, irrespective of the sway bar. A HUGE benefit for the majority of us.

Yep, I did the same type of mod to my jeep (although it was soooo much easier, thankfully) and it has just seemed "normal" ever since. I guess I understand the manufacturers reasoning behind only allowing lockers in 4-low, but... SCREW THAT! Its not like I find myself using the lockers in 4HI or locking the rear up in 2WD very often, but when I want to I CAN. Honestly, it seems like the majority of the time I am using my lockers I am typically in 4LO anyway.

[myoung84]

I'm interested in this also. New here. Just got a 08 Powerwagon. It's just 12v to turn stuff on or off right?

Well, yes, you're pretty much correct. The solenoids take 12V to activate the lockers, but it's how you get there that makes it fun...

[Trapper]

Well just getting this truck. When I put it in 4low. And try to turn the locker knob. The orange light flash. I don't think mine works right.

[myoung84]

If you turn the knob and they don't lock, the system is working as designed. LOL, low blow, sorry.

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[FirerescuePW]

The light will flash until it is locked. It won't lock until there is some difference in wheel speed (spin) to align the actuator parts. Give it time. If they haven't been used much, they may take a little while.

It's not an instant lock like an air locker.

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[olyelr]

If you turn the knob and they don't lock, the system is working as designed. LOL, low blow, sorry.

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LMFAO!

[Trapper]

I get it. It's not a like an air locker. I don't have a manual with the truck. I find know if the blinking light over the axle was a warning it is on or a slap in the face like right your going to is what?

[2wagons1driveway]

Ya just try turning sharply when locking the diffs under 5kmh helps wheel speed difference is Deffinately required


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[Trapper]

I had a 95 LandCruzer in the past and it was a simple wire job with a jump wire. And you could lock at will.

[leo72987]

You know it's funny quite a few 2005 Power Wagons I see around have been hard wired to sep toggle switches it's quite humorous. I went into a Dodge dealer for some warranty work and they looked at my toggles and noticed my service 4wd light was on... They said my smart bar failed.... I looked at them and asked if they even looked under the damn truck.... I said I removed the darn thing and made the lockers and sway bar work they should have worked from factory LOL.

[adeluca73]

The more I read the humours antedotes, the sadder it gets. This shouldn't be this way. There's obivously a disconnect there between the RAM driveline engineers, the marketing folks, their 4x4 Grp (yes they have a 4WD grp of engineers who concentrate on off-road, snow, etc performance as part of the total system), and the user/consumer.

The older 3rd Gen guys shouldn't had to pioneer all these switches and 12V straight runs etc, and Martin (MyYoung81) shouldn't have had to spend all that time and money trying to fix the 4th Gen lockers the right way. It's BS. I spent a lot of time reviewing and watching all the videos by Ram when they went around the country shopping/hyping the newest version of the PW and all of their product engineers and program managers touted how they took all of these feedback from the PW and off-road community on what to do to make the PW even better, and I can't see how this whole locker deal wasn't brought to their attention, or at least acknowledged by them that a LOT of PW owners are by-passign their OEM design implementation, and to ask what must the reason why we're doing it and fix it....

[TommyG]

To truly replicate all the functionality of the OEM lockers, w/o having to go through the Smart Bar babysitting circuitry, would consist of some considerable ripping through the truck's core electrical system. MyYoung did an excellent job decoupling locker activation from the smart bar, but he was still not able to tie in the locker sensing switch circuity to his kit because of the way Ram has plumbed the circuits all over the front of the truck using the CAN bus logic circuits. He was able to pull power from the switch directly to the locking solenoid, and use the OEM indicator lights to signal power to the locking mechanism, but not able to actually tell if the lockers are truly locked in and engaged. But you can activate the lockers at any speed ( recommend against that), in any transfer case position, irrespective of the sway bar. A HUGE benefit for the majority of us.

It is engineering by attorney. The engineers do it right then the lawyers look at it and say "Some idiot will engage the lockers going down the road at 70 mph and get killed. Make them nearly impossible to engage so we don't get sued."

One person does something that is Weapons Grade Stupid with the truck and some enterprising attorney fires up a class action lawsuit and wants every Power Wagon owner to be compensated for that deadly beast they have in the driveway. So they have to make it idiot proof cause God forbid a vehicle owner would act like a grown up and take the time to understand how their new vehicle works and how to safely operate it under all conditions. You know of course, it you get hurt doing something dumb it is someone else's fault. There's someone on the TV explaining that to me every 15 minutes or so.

Whew, rant over. Can you tell I miss the days where the only equipment on the vehicle was to make it go, stop and steer, etc?

[loveracing1988]

To truly replicate all the functionality of the OEM lockers, w/o having to go through the Smart Bar babysitting circuitry, would consist of some considerable ripping through the truck's core electrical system. MyYoung did an excellent job decoupling locker activation from the smart bar, but he was still not able to tie in the locker sensing switch circuity to his kit because of the way Ram has plumbed the circuits all over the front of the truck using the CAN bus logic circuits. He was able to pull power from the switch directly to the locking solenoid, and use the OEM indicator lights to signal power to the locking mechanism, but not able to actually tell if the lockers are truly locked in and engaged. But you can activate the lockers at any speed ( recommend against that), in any transfer case position, irrespective of the sway bar. A HUGE benefit for the majority of us.

It is engineering by attorney. The engineers do it right then the lawyers look at it and say "Some idiot will engage the lockers going down the road at 70 mph and get killed. Make them nearly impossible to engage so we don't get sued."

One person does something that is Weapons Grade Stupid with the truck and some enterprising attorney fires up a class action lawsuit and wants every Power Wagon owner to be compensated for that deadly beast they have in the driveway. So they have to make it idiot proof cause God forbid a vehicle owner would act like a grown up and take the time to understand how their new vehicle works and how to safely operate it under all conditions. You know of course, it you get hurt doing something dumb it is someone else's fault. There's someone on the TV explaining that to me every 15 minutes or so.

Whew, rant over. Can you tell I miss the days where the only equipment on the vehicle was to make it go, stop and steer, etc?

Thanks you for giving me a new phrase. "weapons grade stupid"

[FirerescuePW]

I really laughed at that one too!

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[old sole mopar]

I need a new phrase! Some people get offended when I say "Full retard". I'm going to start using "weapons grade stupid."

[05PWrockcrawler]

Mentally challenged


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[FirerescuePW]

Mil spec stupid?

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[adeluca73]

I'm kinda fond of calling someone a plain ole dumpster fire.

[Trapper]

Mouth Breathing Crayon Eating Window Likers. Kinda long but I get my point across. I'm going to do the diode mod first and see how it goes.

[Cactus Red]

Ain't worth it IMO. The low range mapping is weird in high range. I did the diode years ago, used it a couple times, and wish I hadn't wasted the time...

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[adeluca73]

Mouth Breathing Crayon Eating Window Likers. Kinda long but I get my point across. I'm going to do the diode mod first and see how it goes.

diode mod???? please explain.

[Cactus Red]

The info is in the FAQ, but in essence, a switched bypass is installed with a diode that fools the system into thinking low range had been engaged. You can use both lockers in 4hi, or the rear in 2hi. But, it also remaps the throttle and transmission to low range parameters, and that sucks.

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[adeluca73]

The info is in the FAQ, but in essence, a switched bypass is installed with a diode that fools the system into thinking low range had been engaged. You can use both lockers in 4hi, or the rear in 2hi. But, it also remaps the throttle and transmission to low range parameters, and that sucks.

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Copy--obviated by MyYoung's new kit. Thanks. Mine's in the mail....

[myoung84]

Resistor mod, not diode, but as mentioned it's not worth the effort. Still relies on the smartbar which is the bottleneck in the system.

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[2wagons1driveway]

Does anybody have any pictures of what they did with their swaybar module once they removed the bar. I'm told people can just stick it up and out of the way but just wondering if it's bolted somewhere else or water proofed once the actuator/module assembly is removed from the bar?


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