 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / 4x4 Cars / February 2005Front diff, locker or limited slip?
Time to upgrade the front diff. Any stories? What experience have people had with a full locker in the front differential? -- Vic It depends what vehicle and what purpose... A front locker makes steering pretty hard and can more or less be only used when needed on rock climbs and mud .. A slip is more driveable but will only give you some traction to the other wheel .. If going for the locker make sure your axles will hold up to it. if you have an IFS toyota they will not . I have such truck and use a TrueTrack in front. Matt you could have the best of both worlds with a selectable locker such as an ARB or OX locker (fully locked when you need them, open when you don't) > Time to upgrade the front diff. Any stories? What experience > have people had with a full locker in the front differential? > > -- Vic > you could have the best of both worlds with a selectable locker such as an > ARB or OX locker (fully locked when you need them, open when you don't) I suppose all lockers have this option. Otherwise the car will be impossible to drive/steer on more solid ground. And on tarmac the car will fall apart..... Kind regards, Erik-Jan. > > you could have the best of both worlds with a selectable locker such as an > > ARB or OX locker (fully locked when you need them, open when you don't) [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Kind regards, > Erik-Jan. No, very few lockers are manual. Most are just on so unless you can unlock your front hubs, you don't want one in front. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's We have to distingiush between: - Spool/Welded Diff - Automatic Locker (not talking about slips here) - Manual Locker Listed in the order driveability . Matt Reverse order of driveability, that is > We have to distingiush between: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Matt > No, very few lockers are manual. Most are just on so unless you can > unlock your front hubs, you don't want one in front. Yeah, sure. In that case it is possible. Was only thinking about air lockers. Kind regards, Erik-Jan. I belive that the best option for your rig would be to get a locker that works as a limited slip while not locked.Your front end will last longer and you have the option of steering if need be and not blowing your front suspention on one smooth scoop.I have know people who have either welded or locked the front ends and due to lack of steering they hit trees rocks and other objects that they could steer away from and then break steering components. mc i agree that that a front locker really dependes on the application..... in the gooey stuff it rocks, but on the tight trails it bites. My particular setup is very versatile in that i am running a NP205 transfer into a full spool with manual locking hubs. I can unlock 1 side independent of the other choosing from 2,3 or 4wd..... pretty slick setup.  SignatureMad-Dog '79 Chevy K-10 Slightly modified http://mad-dog16.tripod.com/ -- >> >> > you could have the best of both worlds with a selectable locker such as [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's > Time to upgrade the front diff. Any stories? What experience > have people had with a full locker in the front differential? > > -- Vic I had the guy put a True-Trak gear-driven limited slip in my front diff when he regeared my TJ (Wrangler)... I never even notice it other than a lot more grab up front when I'm wheeling. OTOH, my Jeep SUCKED on ice up at elk camp last year but I think that was the MT/R's as much as anything. -jeff Wow! Great input. I have to start asking more questions here. The truck is a 1971 Chevy K20, manual 4-speed, manual hubs. I drive to Tahoe a lot so snow/ice is a big concern. I have heard bad stories about lockers on slippery streets. So the options seem to be either limited slip on both or something like OX or Truetrac Electrac. Eaton alos now has an electric locker. Those lockers are both around a $1,000 though. I was leaning towards limited slip, but wanted a more aggressive for off road. what if I put limited slip in back, put a Detroit locker in front where I can unlock the hubs? Another thought, if my transfer case is manual, I could even have the Detroit up front with the hubs locked if I was in 2-hi. -- Vic > Wow! Great input. I have to start asking more questions here. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > -- Vic You have to have slip between the two front wheels if you want to turn a corner because the outside wheel travels a 'lot' farther then the inside of the corner wheel. The limited slip in the back if you know how to use it on ice (they can be badly behaved if you have a heavy foot or a light rear end) or an open diff on back and a manual locker up front would be my choice. I too like to drive in 2 wheel drive with my front hubs locked in bad weather on my CJ7 so I can just shift on the fly into 4x4. If I was dealing with my Cherokee, it has a vacuum lock for the front axles so a locker would be ok there up front because the axle unconnects automatically when in 2 wheel drive. I have an 86 CJ7 with open diffs front and back and for some reason I am the one everyone always 'tries' to follow up and across stuff on summer and winter snow runs. I have tons of good photos of folks with big fat tires and fancy lockers trying and trying and trying to get up to or over to where I am taking the photos from.... Oh I also can have 4 rooster tails flying out on snow or mud when taking off from a stop by using my brakes to load up the open diffs for a slippery start. (usually only 3 rooster tails though, my front is hard to lock) Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's asdf <asdf@see.below.com.net.org.invalid> writes in article <cuvl3n$inr$0@pita.alt.net> dated 16 Feb 2005 14:24:55 GMT: >Wow! Great input. I have to start asking more questions here. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >Those lockers are both around a $1,000 though. I was leaning >towards limited slip, but wanted a more aggressive for off road. So far everybody seems pretty down on limited slip, I'm not sure they understand it the same way I do... which means I could be wrong but here goes. Limited slip means that if one wheel is moving, so is the other. But they don't necessarily have to be rotating at the same speed. So for straight line travel you can spin them both (or, in a 4x4, all 4 wheels). This is definitely "what you want", the only reason not to get it is money. >what if I put limited slip in back, put a Detroit locker in front >where I can unlock the hubs? > >Another thought, if my transfer case is manual, I could even have >the Detroit up front with the hubs locked if I was in 2-hi. Not sure about this but I think that would lock the 2 front wheels to the same RPM, making turning difficult/damaging, even though they weren't being powered by the engine. -- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer. > Not sure about this but I think that would lock the 2 front wheels to the > same RPM, making turning difficult/damaging, even though they weren't being > powered by the engine. In snow/ice circumstances it will even damage the whole car. Whatever you do.... it will follow a straight line (theorethicaly). Anyway, it will go wherever it wants to go and you can't do anything about it. Kind regards, Erik-Jan. > > Not sure about this but I think that would lock the 2 front wheels to the > > same RPM, making turning difficult/damaging, even though they weren't being [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Kind regards, > Erik-Jan. I sure will, even a part time 4x4 system can cause that on a turn because the rear and front axle are locked together so one front tire has to scuff on a turn. If there is heavy snow/slush down or if you have wide tires, this scuff can get you up on top so you just go straight. When I am in that kind of snow, I drop to 2 WD as I take the corner and go back to 4x4 once straight again. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's So, front end will either be a limited slip, or one of those manual lockers I can turn on and off from inside the cab. I'll put a regular locker in the rear. SignatureVic > So, front end will either be a limited slip, or one of those > manual lockers I can turn on and off from inside the cab. > I'll put a regular locker in the rear. I would say airlocker in front. Lasts longer then a LSD. And on snow/ice it is completely open (unlocked) as well as on road so consuming less energy. Why not one in the rear too? Seems the best set-up to me. On a part-time 4WD, as mine, an air locker in the rear would be an advantage. Even in 2 WD mode sometimes. I do not do any rockcrawling so an open diff in front is good enough for me. Kind regards, Erik-Jan. http://www.fotograaf.com/trooper One thing for certain that this thread has proven - there are different needs for different situations. I believe this is why whenever you see some sort of 4wd challenge, the same rig never wins all the obstacles. If I had the ability to build a dream machine, I'd want the ability to manually (on demand) lock front/rear/and even center transfer (IE UNIMOG) when I needed it. I'd also like a rear drive disconnect and tractor brakes. I would prefer a cable system as I've seen so many people stranded with air-line issues on the ARBs (read Ultimate Adventure). Not sure about the electrics but I just like the simplicity of a cable. I know a cable can break but usually you can correct that on the trail if needed. Locked Front and Rear is great for slow rock crawling. You are moving slow and usually have 1 or more tires off the ground. I'd stick with open front and rear for snow and ice on tarmac with the ability to lock if needed. Locked on ice will have you going sideways quicker than anything. I currently have opened front / locker in rear. On the slick stuff, I ride in 2wd because I can still use my dirt track training to steer. 4wd even with open front has me going straight sometimes when I don't want to. It's amazing how far you can get with open diffs but having the ability to lock when needed is probably the best. As for front end, I have friends with ARBs in front. They only lock the front when tires are in straight line. Unlock when turning as this has saved them front end damage allowing for more wheeling, less fixing. It's all about what you do with your rig. I feel flexibility is the name of the game but flexibility comes with a price. My $.02. > > So, front end will either be a limited slip, or one of those > > manual lockers I can turn on and off from inside the cab. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > http://www.fotograaf.com/trooper |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.