Diff Lock or not to diff lock...

[jop]

lsd front?

[Homer]

Hey BG...the bits I can add

So group by for air lockers is being organised by BornGeek...........good onya buddy!!

bull! you said YOU would!! (Daryn can hopefully help us with pricing anyway so happy to help if I can )

The rear locker and open diff would not suit my current driving style and the fact I spend a lot of time in the city in the wet and life would be pretty boring without the LSD. Dont get me wrong if I had the choice at the beginning I would have grabbed the diff lock now. Retrospect (I would have had to wait for the MN anyway which would have been an OK thing. -all jokes aside )

Now for the n00b question1.. If we went aftermarket (eg ARB) on the rear and remove our LSD crown... This would not be tied into the ECU electronics and therefore could be activated in 2wd yeah? SO fun could in fact continue on and off road.... risks/comments////

n00b question2.. If we kept the factory LSD and whacked a locker on the front.. (I have driven locked front wheel drive race cars so I know the strain and loss of steering involved from this at low speed and advantages at high speed but zero for offroad)
A couple have indicated (AG & D) that this is going to put enourmous strain on CV's (makes complete sense). If we engaged this feature only for the challenging parts of the track and disengage after we will be minimising strain but really what are the biggest killers?The fronts lifting and spinning then coming down and loading up = breakages High RPM/Torque applied during obviously but if you say engaged 4low and were able to adapt some sort of throttle lock mechanism (like the old lancruiser dad had you could pull this little stick and lock it at certain revs) and be 'sensible' (dont laugh) is this a feasible option given it would be something I would rarely use?

What precautions, what are the real risks, what have others with mates (no matter the brand of truck) have seen, heard or otherwise? The hard part is throttle control during the crawl IMO. Something in the back of your head makes you (even slightly) press the accelerator as soon as forward momentum is slowed. If your front wheels come up and land then you risk damage - with concentration and much discipline (something you and I have a lot of ) the risk is minimised....and it has been my experience from 2 mates with 80 series cruisers years ago that front lockers take you at least as far (further) as rears if you are only going to have one or the other.

To move on from that on the front locker.. Upgrading your CV's to something tougher.. Is this worth it? what will break instead seeing the weakest point will move! Very interested in peoples opinion here too....I hate fixing cars now...that's why I bought a new one I would consider paying for upgraded CV's if it significantly reduced the risk of breakage

//D happy to have you stick front lock debate in another thread just saw it started here and figure if it gains traction (pun intended) you can move it out

[sam]

lsd front?

Would make quite a diff while your tyres are in contact with terra firma but once in the air not much diff to an open differential
I think it's the Hyundai Terracan that runs LSD's front and rear .

The other thing to avoid if a front locker is fitted if at all possible is turning to hard while locked as this would put big stresses on the CV's .

[snowman]

ok i'll wade in here.......

1. Homer - an aftermarket DL can be operated anytime including 2WD. Mad (and illegal) to do it on road but no issues on the sand so you could still have all your fun there. It is only the Factory locker you cannot engage in 2WD but i live in hope that some electrical guru (yep i am looking at you Garth ) will find a way to allow the factory DL to operate in 2WD.

2. After seeing the DL test that 4WD Action did they were busting straight axles and not the diff so i think upgraded CV's would still be the weak point but just take more to break them. I see you points BG but if you limit throttle you can't use it if you need to. Remember CV's are at their weakest when on a lot of lock or suspension travel. I too am interested in aftermarket CV's costs. i personally would fit them straight away in the workshop and keep the originals as a roadside spare - also learn how to change one. If you use the front DL just be judicious with the throttle. Remember that if you are locked front and back and are revving hard you are either a. going quite fast for the selected gear or b. all 4 of your wheels are spinning and you probably should think about doing something else to get where you want to go that does not involve more RPM.

3. Front VS Rear - well i reckon i have had a good track record in this debate i and i will say this. Almost all the 4WDing where you need a locker is uphill. This places more weight on the rear of the vehicle. That, based with the fact that MOST of us are probably not equipped to replace CV's out in the bush makes it a clear cut decision to me. Ask someone (i have never had a front locker) who has both front and rear lockers which one they use the most....

If you are buying a Triton NEW and reading this and even REMOTELY think you might want to do some 4WDing - get the locker option. At $700 (not sure if that is still current) it is about one third the aftermarket price and comes with drivetrain warranty.One of the best things about the lockers is you can approach obstacles with far less RPM and pace to get the same result (or better) and they will often pay for themselves with reduced damage to other parts of your car.

I had to take a different colour car to get it but i am very glad i did. In fact i am actually glad i got the white as the colours are nice but a real pain in the bush (or with kids eh Ben )

[borngeek]

Thanks snowie awesome answer! I am getting evil thoughts about arb rear now that has been settled

Snowie I am thinking a throttle lock option that still allows instant overide if the throttle is applied manually... In cable setup it would literally pull the pedal down and you still had the rest of the pedal to dab throttle application as required but set the knob as the baseline of increased revs. allows you to yeah increase the momentum and move back to a realistic pace after that particular obstacle... hope I am making sense here

Surely as it is 'fly by wire' there be an electrical way to send the signal (and release it) working similar to how a sprint booster magnifies the signal

[4wd26]

Was thinking (and talking) about this a couple of weeks ago.
With the chassis stiiting around gathering dust- planning on pulling apart a cv and doing up a tutorial for the members- having a garage day.

Won't be until the new year though.

[jop]

I too took a different colour to get the diff lock.

My pajero rear locker is modified to turn on anytime, mainly because the transfer case switches, which the dl ecu needs to allow diff lock, get a bit dicky and it got to be a pain getting activation. Plus it will be soon complemented with an arb front locker!

[snowman]

Thanks snowie awesome answer! I am getting evil thoughts about arb rear now that has been settled

Snowie I am thinking a throttle lock option that still allows instant overide if the throttle is applied manually... In cable setup it would literally pull the pedal down and you still had the rest of the pedal to dab throttle application as required but set the knob as the baseline of increased revs. allows you to yeah increase the momentum and move back to a realistic pace after that particular obstacle... hope I am making sense here

Surely as it is 'fly by wire' there be an electrical way to send the signal (and release it) working similar to how a sprint booster magnifies the signal

did you try turning OFF your sprint booster BG........

[borngeek]

NO why would I?

[Homer]

Was thinking (and talking) about this a couple of weeks ago.
With the chassis stiiting around gathering dust- planning on pulling apart a cv and doing up a tutorial for the members- having a garage day.

Won't be until the new year though.

Sounds like a good idea mate...

Thanks Snowy...I forgot about the rear locker being aftermarket therefore independently switched.

Food for thought as the CV issue is a pain...unless we can get some stronger ones.

Rear locker is a touch cheaper than front...probably a little cheaper install too?

[biggibbo]

Good reason to get the diff lock. Pics below (it ok - Helicopter Cow is in fiji)

Stuck and going no where


Getting winched back

[snowman]

if you look in the second photo under AG911's bonnet (winch car) you will see traffic on the main road. That is how far he got before needing a little help....

note: AG911 is standing there with a self satisfied grin on his face knowing that the winch purchase was all worth it!! We couldn't snatch him because the road was so close and the bloke in front of him did a runner!!!!! eh BG!!!

[Gfoss83]

The traction control in the MN would have got him over that hump no worries at all.

[biggibbo]

you would think so bu no. I got stuck on the way out and t/c was doing nuthin. hit the difflock and away I went.

[Diddy]

lockers wat a waste of money just cant justify the 2k ea installed including compressor for the after market (arb) for a little bit of traction aid but i would of definitely gone the factory option if i could of. i would rather drive around or winch out and not to mention the loss of drive line warranty and the lsd cos the warranty was one of the main features that got me to buy the triton

[daryn]

I have been having discussions today with my mate who can help out with bulk buys, is there enough consensus in me starting a discussion in buying ARB lockers or not or do you all think it is a waste of time or would prefer to do your own thing ?

[Diddy]

considering that most peolple will want it installed its gonna make it a hard one mate cos if there are 10 people that want them the price will probably include fitting i presume and will 10 people be willing to come to newy to get it installed unless they can organise a national agreed install price but i think its a tuff 1 mate goodluck

[al coholic]

The traction control in the MN would have got him over that hump no worries at all.

Check out the 4wd action trip report from the weekend mate...............proved without doubt that the traction control isnt that great at all.............didnt get it any further up the hill than an lsd equipped ML And BTW......Scott from 4wd action in the MN Triton press vehicle got stuck on exactly the same spot !!!!

I have been having discussions today with my mate who can help out with bulk buys, is there enough consensus in me starting a discussion in buying ARB lockers or not or do you all think it is a waste of time or would prefer to do your own thing

I'm all for it if you can get it at a good price for us............say $500 The installation part is the tricky bit as Pdiddy suggested See how you go for pricing to start with???........maybe????

[Diddy]

$500 for a ARB air loccker would be xmas come early for some people but dont forget u will need the compressor aswell and there $290 plus install

[Gfoss83]

The traction control in the MN would have got him over that hump no worries at all.

Check out the 4wd action trip report from the weekend mate...............proved without doubt that the traction control isnt that great at all.............didnt get it any further up the hill than an lsd equipped ML And BTW......Scott from 4wd action in the MN Triton press vehicle got stuck on exactly the same spot !!!!


Really? Thats dissapointing cause i dont have the diff lock, there is a video on youtube demonstrating how the traction controll worked on a similar situation and it worked really well. you see the wheel in the air spinning then the computer applies the brake to that wheel and she drives straight out. ill try and post the link.

[daryn]

Ok, I am going to throw this out there as this has been playing on my mind.

Ag, har and snowy certainly showed us that diff lock is trumps, but, the LSD boys were as the diff guys were all running road pressures, 40psi vs I would have been close to 20psi if I had dropped down, I am certainly willing to go back and see the difference.

So yes diff lock is the ideal but I think that the LSD could have done better, not as good but better than what was showed.

[Diddy]

that vid is full of shit we seen it with our own eyes its like chalk n cheese

[jop]

lockers wat a waste of money just cant justify the 2k ea installed including compressor for the after market (arb) for a little bit of traction aid but i would of definitely gone the factory option if i could of. i would rather drive around or winch out and not to mention the loss of drive line warranty and the lsd cos the warranty was one of the main features that got me to buy the triton

Priced against a winch, it is comparable, once you include dual batteries, installation and the right recovery gear to make a winch worthwhile.

[jop]

I was going to ask that Daryn - what was with the different tyre pressures?

[al coholic]

Scott wanted to keep road pressures because of the clearance measurements and stuff he was doing etc...........thats all. Everyone was at around 40psi or whatever they run on road.............only Snowy aired down and than had to pump back up when doing the articulation tests