ARB M226 Air Locker Install - Tech

Once the carrier was removed, using a puller, the carrier bearings were pulled off the stock carrier and pressed onto the new ARB air locker. The ring gear was also transferred from the stock carrier to the ARB air locker.

Once the carrier was removed, using a puller, the carrier bearings were pulled off the stock carrier and pressed onto the new ARB air locker.

The ring gear was also transferred from the stock carrier to the ARB air locker.

The old silicon that sealed the cover the housing was removed and a hole for the air line was drilled and tapped in the differential housing.The housing was cleaned out ensuring that there were no metal particles from drilling left in the housing. Once the air locker was assembled with the bearings, the ring gear and the copper air line attached, Scott loaded it into the differential housing. You may notice that the M226 uses cages on each side of the locker instead of using shims to set up the gears which makes things easier, Scott had the gears set up in no time. Since Jesse wheels fairly hard, Scott set up the gears a little tighter than normal to help keep teeth from breaking when under load.

The copper air line was then routed up and over the ring gear, making sure it wasn't touching any moving parts and attaching it to the proper air fittings. The freshly painted differential cover was then bolted back to the housing sealing it up with silicon.

Replacing the wheel bearings and seals is strongly recommended, if these are not replaced there is a very strong chance they will leak. Usually this isn't a problem with other axles but the M226 seems to be very touchy.

Once the new bearings and seals are in place and the axle shafts are bolted back into the axle, the diff was filled with oil.

The tires were then back on and the Xterra was back on the ground. Scott then took the Xterra for a test drive before turning the keys back over to Jesse.

Mounting the air compressor wasn't too much of a problem, There was enough space to mount it behind the drivers side headlight but would have been difficult to mount so we opted to mount it to the fuse box. Usually I wouldn't advise this but this spot keeps the compressor up and away from the elements.

It was mounted onto the fuse box right as close to the strong corners as possible. We also used the large square backing plate to keep the screws from pulling through the box. When the holes were drilled, we were careful to not drill through any of the diagrams on the underside of the fuse box lid incase we needed to reference it in the future. We then ran the wiring loom across to the driver side and through the firewall securing it with zip-ties along the way. There is also a ground wire that needs to be connected to a solid ground, we used a nearby screw in the body.

There is a large cluster of wires going through the firewall on the drivers side just below the windshield. This large cluster of wires has a large grommet that has plenty of room to poke another hole in it to pass the compressor wires through.

The easiest way to do this is to tape the wires to a piece of wire coat hanger and poke the hole in the grommet pulling the wire coat hanger through along with the wires. The wires will come out above and to the left of the pedals in the floor.