Jim,
I have cycled my ARB's literally thousands of times and to date I have had one solonoid failure ( I ordered 2 and carry a spare now) and I had to re-seal the front locker once, but the axle had sand, dirt, etc in it. My compressor needed a rebuild after only 7 years or service in the jeep.
ARB has incredible cunstomer service. I ordered the ARB seal and compressor rebuild kit tuesday night and the parts were on my doorstep the next day.
I also had a chromoly axleshaft explode insde the rear ARB and I couldnt get the piece out or remove the ARB. I had to cut the arb bearing surface off to get it out of the jeep. The entire case half was shipped to me for $80 and I got it in 2 days. They included a set of seals and air fitting grommets for free. They have also mailed me air grommets and fittings for free when I called and tried to order them.
ARB's aren't cheap, but customoer service like that is why I was willing to pay for the initial investment. Blow up a detroit and your just screwed.
I actually priced every part for the d-44 ARB and they do NOT charge a premium for them. it's the same cost to assemble it yourself as it is to buy the entire locker.
Like Rich said, most ARB failures are from a crappy installation. I did once drive in deep enough snow that it pushed the line up into the exhaust manifold and melted it, but I have never had one torn off.
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