I talked to a guy the other day that said he was working on a way to permantly "lock" the rear diff. I think that is great, but I have an idea that I think would work better for me. My Rhino had a locked rear, and it would tend to tear up grass and turf when turning. There are times when I need atleast 3 wheels powered, but it is usually 4wd conditions. For me, if it has to be permantly locked, I would prefer the front, as this would allow me to not tear up turf in 2wd, but would give 3 wheels turning when I really need it in 4wd. What are your opinions. Am I thinking wrong, is it a good idea, could it be done? If any of you come up with one I would be first in line to buy one.
Locking up your front axle forever is not a good idea in my mind, It decreases turning radius, hard on CV joints, and easy to loose control at higher speeds on slippery surfaces. Idealy would be to have a air or electric locker. I do not own one of these japanese units yet so I am speaking from experence with full size vehicles. Hope this helps a bit.
If these have a regular spider gear differential you can just weld all of the gears up aka "Lincoln Locker". I wouldn't recommend doing this to the front though. The rear would be what I would lock.
The front wheels turn at very different speeds as your truck goes around a turn. Locking the front differential would cause some severe stress in your front axle any time you turn more than 10-15 degrees. Here's an experiment to try: grab a couple of buddies, set the front wheels straight on your truck, draw a vertical line on each tire straight up from the hub. Have a guy stand on each side of your truck and count how many times each wheel rotates as you make a 90 degree turn at full steering lock. That is why you never want to permanently lock a front axle. Later, Swoop
There is an old hot rodding trick for "tightening up" an open diff for a bit more traction off the line where the side gears or axle gears in the differential carrier are shimmed up to take the slack out between them and the spider gears,I have never done it personally but I see where the added resistance would serve some benefit,might be an interesting project.
I'm trying to find a Tractech or Detroit gearless locker that we could "drop in" on the rear. Close, but no luck yet. I have contacted three manufacturers and they don't make one specifically, but there is a chance an "off the shelf" unit may yet work. Still trying to get confirmation before I spend several hundred dollars and find out it does not work. No luck at all on the front diff, but I've been concentrating on the rear diff. I've never liked the outcome when welding the spiders. gbrad
The outcome can be rear tires chirping on turns on pavement and extreme stress placed on axles usually at the weakest points, the splines. Up to and including twisting or breaking axles. U joints tend to wear dramatically quicker also. I guess if it was 100% on soft dirt it may not matter, but I always end up on hard pack or pavement for short stretches. That's why I would not weld the spider gears. I drive the mini truck on the pavement sometimes and would hate to twist an axle. I've done it twice in the past on full size 4x4's and was never pleased with that outcome. I've got a Detroit Locker in a Suburban right now that is just barely streetable. It always chirps 2nd gear rubber when leaving stop lights or turning. It's great off road, but definitely wears the rear tires out quicker even in straight line driving. The Detroit will unlock in real stressful cornering, although you may have to let off the throttle, the welded gears will not. gbrad
Hey DRW, That shim trick might be an idea. I've heard of it also, just never tried it. I've not seen a '99 or newer Suzuki like mine with diff lock. They may be out there, but I have not been able to find one yet. I've checked with the two largest suppliers of parts we have on the board. I also thought about getting a locking diff rear end from an older model but I'm going to hold that as my last option. The older ones are spring under. Mine is spring over. So I know I can do the fab work I just would rather not. The full lock up issue is one I would like to get resolved so if anyone finds a way or has ideas I'd sure like to hear about it. gbrad
I think when and if I buy a mini truck I'll go with a "Lincoln Locker". 99% of my riding will be on dirt and mud with some situations that will be sure to lift a tire off the ground with the limited wheel travel of the minitrucks. Most sidexside vehicles are either locked, or capable of locking the rear axles with no adverse affects, and they're in relatively the same weight/power ratio of the mini trucks. A friend of mine has one of the converted golf buggies for riding off-road, and it has an un-locked rear axle, and it's virtually useless in uneven terrain where one wheel comes off the ground, but on the other hand, he has a Rhino with a locked rear axle, and you seldom need to go to 4wd unless the uneven terrain is muddy or steep. But still, I really wonder how well the mini trucks would do with a "Lincoln Locker", as far as durability. I hope it wouldn't break something but you never know. OOPS! Sorry, I failed to pay attention that this was referring to a front locker, and I was talking about locking the rear. One reason I prefer asking questions instead of replying to older posts found in searches. I goof once and a while! hnh
On a side note. Most of these trucks have a engageable(sp?) front diff i.e. the front differential is not engaged when in 2WD. At least thats the way it is on my truck. Anyway, if you welded up the front diff then while in 4WD both front wheels would pull, in 2WD you wouldn't know any difference. So as long as you only use 4WD off-road and/or in situations when you need it, it should be OK. -Greg
how does it engage? is it the driveshaft that engages to the diff? or the diff that engages to the axles when you flip the switch?
In 4WD High. When you flip the switch there are 2 vacuum soleniods; 1 engages the transfer case and the other engages the front diff. In 2WD low its the same as hitting the switch plus you get a lower gear. -Greg
I recently picked up a custom extended cab from Bull Dog All Terrain Mini Trucks in Louisiana. While I was talking to Chris I asked him about lockers. He told me to wait a little while as he was engineering a bolt on/in aftermarket lockers for front and rear diff. He had a bug in it and was working it out. So those of you that may want one here you go. These guys are the best custom mini truck builders in the U.S. and are truly good people. I do business with them and will continue doing business with them. Your truck is your imagination with these guys and Linda.
Actually, I don't think that was the answer you where looking for. It engages the CV's to the Diff. At least thats what I believe it does. With the front jacked up off the ground in 2WD, if I rotate one of the wheels neither the driveshaft nor the other wheel turns. -Greg
thanks greg, that makes sense. the only draw back i would see to welding the front diff up then is when you are running on hard pack or asphalt in 4wd then, i might get kind squirly. i'm new to the whole 4wd thing and learning as quick as i can... i learned last week that you can't do E-brake turns in 4wd... since the drive train is locked together it really didn't spin around, just kinda turned a little bit to the left, stopped and slammed my head into the side window
I have a Climber, so I just tied the hot wires between the diff lock and cab light switches. I have diff lock all the time if the Diff Switch is on.
lockers What about the guy on the forum who was building pieces to drop in to the diffs to make any and all automatic locking diffs. I am assuming they work on inertia. Anybody try these?
Chris Allen @ "Bull Bog All Terrain Mini Truck" had built a locker and was in the testing mode.That was about a year ago. Knowing him he's installing them in his custom trucks. His design was at low speed it would lock at higher speeds it unlocked. If I remember you could put it in front or rear diff. He pretty much stays with Suzuki/Mazda,Daihatsu's.
Little known trick; Poor mans LSD: One way you can get more traction with an "open diff" is to apply the breaks and the throttle at the same time. The breaking force applied to the spinning wheel will transfer power to the other wheel (not near as much as a locker or LSD tho). Also note, this is a WAY easier technique when you have a automatic tranny.
here is what i have learned about this in the last year.... Lock right lockers are awesome up front. they eliminate the front spider gears and use a type of cam? for lack of a better term to lock in both front axles. this only happens when you engage the front drive shaft and apply power to differential it then spreads the cams and engages both front axles. it's a little jerky and you will hear it clunk a little as you accelerate and decelerate since that is what engages and disengages. they are a little quirky in parky lots at a full lock turn they partially engage and make funny noises that draw attention. my preference for the rear is ceratianly not a lincoln locker. they work for a while but things tend to break from the heat stress of the welds. if i had all the money i could dream of, it would be ARB for sure. detroits tend to have problems and eventually self destruct. e-lockers (electronic) have always gotten a bad rap.. just something about electical units that ride in liquid that tends to lead to failure. OX lockers seem like an easy and simple solution being that they are cable actuated, but those tend to fail over and over again. i just put a new Dana 44 axle in the rear of my jeep. went with superior cro mo axles to support the added stress of having a spool in the rear. yep, that's right, always locked and no moving parts. my wife says it sounds like something's broken and that it sounds pretty ghetto driving around. the jeep chirps, scrubs and wobbles side to side when taking corners on the street. it's also a real treat with the lock right locker up front. people stare like my junk is going to fall apart... it is pretty ghetto the more i think of it. as for shimming the diff up tight.. it's called poor mans posi. been there done that. it actually works pretty well aside from premature wear of components due to the added stress of everything being so tight. i did that in an old drag car, but as often as i blew up trannies i never had the issue of failure from the poor man's posi... lol.
Locker So has anyone tried to fit the model 1510 Powertrax to the front of a '90s Carry to see if it will work? I've done some searching but haven't found if this locker is compatible. It's all I need to finish the climb up "WidowMaker" hill in my area. I can only go about halfway, then it gets too uneven and one of the front tires unloads stopping me dead in my tracks. Ofcourse it doesn't help that I lost pretty much all articulation once I put 250# springs up front. Jon.
If it fit that would be to cool. And the price is not out of line. Most of the time when I am driving around the place I always have either a couple hundred pounds of corn or fire would in the back. Cant tell you how much that difference that makes. We have two wet weather creeks that run through the place and I have never had issues crossing them. The trucks that have the rear diff. locks also makes a huge difference. For the normal guy that rear diff. is not needed, you can pretty much go anywhere you want to. I can see that Powertrax 1510 making a huge difference if it fit. Sometime ago there was someone working on a front diff. lock but I havnt heard anything about it lately.
