al coholic wrote:Matt....check out Joe's post at the top of this page
He has just installed an aftermarket front locker and already had the factory rear locker........so he was able to test out the difference of the two.....and in his opinion the front locker is MORE advantageous when off road.
I have seen a few of the front locked guys VS rear locked, and it does seem the front locker is better.
Geek made a good example in this thread somewhere......
"Is it easier to push you wheelie bin up the hill or pull it up the hill??" There is your answer
But you are right........at $700 the rear locker is a great value for money option, and easily beats no locker at all
You hit the nail on the head here Alco
Matt is right, it wasn't a regulated test comparison, but it was as close as we could get - which was quite close IMO.
2 ML's, identical tyres, both suspension lifts, both front and rear bars, similar/same tyre pressures etc...only difference was we had 2 different engines and one had a canopy (which would assist the rear locked car due to weight over the axle).
It was ML only as there are no MN's around that we know of with a front locker, but one would
think if the TC didn't have a heart attack when an aftermarket front locker was engaged it would be as good as a dual locked ML.
The front locked cars went much further, much easier.
The front locked car with an open rear diff went much further, much easier than the rear locked car.
Although there was a different MT tyre brand on the rear locked car - but they were brand new as opposed to half worn on the front locked cars.
The only thing we couldn't test was twin locked V front locked - LSD. It stands to reason that twin locked will certainly have an advantage here but we couldn't replicate that in practise.
That was because with the 2 "test" cars we couldn't find terrain that would allow one to out climb the other. They either both made it, or both got stuck - within mm's of each other. I'm sure there will be situations that this will change.
There was also the first up/second up scenario to take into consideration as the twin locked was second up meaning the track was possibly damaged by the first cars attempts, although it appears the Triton wheelbase/design
may be the deciding factor here.
This is where serious suspension articulation, lifts and BIG tyres will come in to play. Once front locked, the car is close to as capable as it will get without these major type mods.
How much pressure/breakages that will put on components will then be the next level again.
We did try and compare apples with apples as much as possible though
as the banter on here has been all opinions only and no one has driven the front locked cars for an accurate assessment.
It should be noted that there have been occasions where the front locked Tritons have out climbed 37" tyred, 4" lifted, twin locked GU Patrol that required snatching before the Tritons then drove past...