Front or rear diff lock?

[Bowie69]

If you read a bit of the blurb on HERE, is what he is saying true?

Is a front diff lock better than a rear? I know it would depend on situations, but personally I would have thought a rear would have more chance of helping you out than a front.... but I am probably wrong

Not suggesting that I am getting that item, just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the subject......?

[JST]

and hes selling to get............. an ARB at a guess?

on the front less articulation so that argument works

also you can steer it so if both wheels were turning then steering may help the tyres find 'extra' purchase

biggest downside of front locker - lack of turning

i guess most go for the rear as once you have done shafts thats it - no need to worry ref CVs (not sure that they are that easy to change though as implied in the advert - although i take it he means RR axle stubs)

if i had one i would have it in the rear.

[HiFonics]

If you read a bit of the blurb on HERE, is what he is saying true?

Is a front diff lock better than a rear? I know it would depend on situations, but personally I would have thought a rear would have more chance of helping you out than a front.... but I am probably wrong

Not suggesting that I am getting that item, just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the subject......?

From what I have heard and read it has always been the opposite, that the rear locker makes the biggest difference. I am guessing that a lot of this is because you need to avoid using the locker when the wheels aren't straight which is much tougher on an axle that steers

I am sure there are people on here with more experience who can confirm/deny.

Ben

[cipx2]

In all situations where you would prefer a FWD in a 2WD car instead of a RWD then in the same conditions you would prefer a locker on the front axle.

So, on flat ground with mud, snow, sand (all building up a wall in front of the tyre) you would prefer a front locker.

Going uphill on loose ground (but no buildup or rock crawling) you would prefer a rear locker.

Since most of the 2WDs perform better o slippery surfaces (except uphill) if they're FWD then I think a front locker could be more useful than a rear one.

I second the steering issue and the fact that on the back axle, if something goes bang, it's easier and cheaper to repair.

[Orange]

if i had one i would have it in the rear.

Snigger, snigger!!! It's normally Mo that picks people up on things like this, but I appear to have beaten him to it!

Sorry James....couldn't resist!!

[wkw90]

[pugwash]

nice one orange.

The Lardcruiser seems to pick up more traction from the rear going in than the front, and I am wary of using the front in many situations for fear of blowing CVs.

Talking of CVs he doesn't seem to mention uprated units anywhere- so you're going to need to budget a few hundred extra ££ to make the lockers reliable enough that you aren't worrying about blowing CVs every 5 minutes!

[Bowie69]

Maintenance/repairs would worry me too, fortunately my budget won't stretch to anything like that at the moment!

I found my new truck, and was looking around for goodies for it -just stumbled across this and thought he might talking talking out his rear.....

I can see the pros/cons, but if it was my money, it would be in the rear I think.... just from a physics POV trying to go up a hill!

[tacr2man]

I think hes just trying to make a good case for someone to buy what hes trying to sell

I have maxi drive difflocks front and rear in my 110 and the front gets used about a tenth of the times the rear does, the mainreason being that once its engaged you cant steer even with pas .

The articulation thing is a bit of a red herring as unless your cross axled you will have at least 3 wheels on the ground and if your cross axled as long as you have a difflock one end its going to do the job

If you are going to spend on a difflock start at the back and then put in a front if you are cslow to learn where not to go JMHO HTSH

[mutant 90]

nice one orange.

The Lardcruiser seems to pick up more traction from the rear going in than the front, and I am wary of using the front in many situations for fear of blowing CVs.

Talking of CVs he doesn't seem to mention uprated units anywhere- so you're going to need to budget a few hundred extra ££ to make the lockers reliable enough that you aren't worrying about blowing CVs every 5 minutes!

I think he has the KAM CVs as he mentions replacing the stub shaft. Which are designed to be a weak link and easily replacable by unbolting the drive flanges.

Cheers Dave

[Escape]

In all situations where you would prefer a FWD in a 2WD car instead of a RWD then in the same conditions you would prefer a locker on the front axle.

So, on flat ground with mud, snow, sand (all building up a wall in front of the tyre) you would prefer a front locker.

Going uphill on loose ground (but no buildup or rock crawling) you would prefer a rear locker.

Since most of the 2WDs perform better o slippery surfaces (except uphill) if they're FWD then I think a front locker could be more useful than a rear one.

I second the steering issue and the fact that on the back axle, if something goes bang, it's easier and cheaper to repair.

I agree with your reasoning, but not your conclusions. A RWD will generally perform better then a FWD, because when accelerating or applying torque, the rear wheels will get more load, thus more potential for traction.

You do have a valid point concerning build up in front of the front tyres and you could possibly benefit more from a front locker by steering the wheels left to right in search of traction.

Overall, offroad I think one is more likely to encounter other situations, favoring RWD or a rear locker. Often the difficult sections are uphill, rear wheels often hold traction longer, giving you just a bit more momentum to overcome an obstacle and when giving someone a pull, the rear will take most of the load.

So I would definetely chose a rear locker first, as is recommended by most brands as well (Terrain Respons only has the option for a rear locker, as do some Japanese 4x4s, ARB standard wiring always engages rear first...).

[nas90]

If you read a bit of the blurb on HERE, is what he is saying true?

Is a front diff lock better than a rear? I know it would depend on situations, but personally I would have thought a rear would have more chance of helping you out than a front.... but I am probably wrong

Not suggesting that I am getting that item, just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the subject......?

On my nas90 I use the rear : front locker in ratio 15:1 and I guess the weight distribution is about 45:55 rear : front.

On my Eagle (when I get around to fixing the damn thing) with a monster 5.9 litre cast iron block I use the front : rear locker in about 3:1 ratio. With a much heavier load on the front axle it just seems to work better.

If you are just looking to have a single axle with a locker I would tend to favour the rear axle, but will depend on your vehicle.

[Guest mortus]

Escape is basing his ideas im sure, on rear wheel drive and rear engined sports cars, if you look at a normal front engined car, with front wheel drive, it will out perform a rear wheel drive car.

this could get very very complicated.

i think it depends on the weight distribution in your car.

i second nas90's pointss/

Also, why do american rock crawler people weld up their diffs?

[Adrian Turner]

Escape is basing his ideas im sure, on rear wheel drive and rear engined sports cars, if you look at a normal front engined car, with front wheel drive, it will out perform a rear wheel drive car.

this could get very very complicated.

i think it depends on the weight distribution in your car.

i second nas90's pointss/

Also, why do american rock crawler people weld up their diffs?

No cost involved........ we've been doing it for in trialing. Weld up the front, fiddle's in the back, plenty of traction and turn on a sixpence

[Escape]

Escape is basing his ideas im sure, on rear wheel drive and rear engined sports cars, if you look at a normal front engined car, with front wheel drive, it will out perform a rear wheel drive car.

No, in fact I am not. When comparing for example BMW and Mercedes with Audi or Alfa, it is obvious the RWD has the advantage. To get decent handling, you need a good weight distribution anyway, and when accelerating this will always put more weight on the rear axle, thus favouring RWD.

this could get very very complicated.

Ain't that a fact!