Diff Lokka - INFO NEEDED

Bumper said:
All I know is locked=good :biggrin: wheel spin=bad :raspberry:
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That all depends on whether or not the wheel spin is all four while sliding sideways or one hanging in the air...

Not many of you may know, but there are already auto lockers out there for the subaru but they're rarer than hen's teeth! I know of one member here who has one in a PT4wd subi - it works very well offroad.

Airlocker - that would be the ulitmate! But with the space restrictions inside the subi rear diff it is pretty much deemed impossible to do.

The rear diff of the subaru has not changed greatly - the only thing that has changed, as previously mentioned, is the way the rear shafts connect to the diff - newer subi's are a female "stub axle" in that the drive shaft actually goes into the diff, I think its held there by a circlip. The older subi's have a stub axle that the drive shaft mounts on to. Don't ask me why subi went this way as I cannot see a good reason for it.

Over on Ausubi we've also had the debate about the driving characteristics of the AWD with an auto locker in the rear - most reckon it would be more dangerous through corners in that you would not be able to start accelerating out of or through the corner when you usually do, you have to do it later otherwise you'll get some oversteer - that said, no one was a test dummy for it. Also, when offroad you will be able to spin a front wheel much easier when the rear has all the traction, such as when climbing a steep hill.

I guess it all comes down to having some one with an auto locker in their AWD subi to give us an un-biased report on its driving characteristics and its offroading abilities.

We'll always be toying with this - for you guys with AWD, the real answer won't arrive until you can lock your centre diff (manual) and we can get our hands on an air locker or the like that we can control.

Cheers

Bennie
 
One thing I've learned from SL-i.net: DON'T WELD YOUR REAR DIFF GEARS! A member did that and it caused nothing but trouble, from what I understand.
 
El_Freddo said:
I guess it all comes down to having some one with an auto locker in their AWD subi to give us an un-biased report on its driving characteristics and its offroading abilities.
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I drove a buddy of mine's AWD Explorer with a Detroit Locker (newer, "softer style) that sounds a lot like the Lokka that you guys are talking about. It's not the same, but if you guys want, I can do a writeup of what I thought about the AWD/rear locker setup on a different vehicle.
 
jg09 said:
One thing I've learned from SL-i.net: DON'T WELD YOUR REAR DIFF GEARS! A member did that and it caused nothing but trouble, from what I understand.
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I've got a welded rear end in my L series - It is an awesomely (yes I'm into creating new words) cheap way to gain a pot load of traction on the rear end. Difference is that being Part Time 4wd (PT4wd) I remove a shaft when I'm not offroading - means I don't have to fight the steering wheel all the time, or put up with the "hop, skip" squeal or the odd tyre wear when both shafts are in on the black top. I havn't broken a shaft/stub axle yet (touch wood I won't).

I'd be interested to hear your report JG.

Cheers

Bennie
 
Well here's the low down on AWD with a rear locker:

My buddie's truck is a '00 (IIRC) Explorer with AWD and the 5.0 V8. He installed one of the newer style Detroit Lockers in the rear. The newer style, or "soft locker", is a lot more pavement friendly compared to the older, "hard locker" style. I don't know what they changed, but the new ones started coming out about 10 years ago.

Driving in a straight line, it's obviously unnoticeable. Going into corners, also unnoticeable. However, if you get on the throttle kind of hard, you feel the outside tire getting kind of skiddy. Fortunately, it's easy to get used to, but there is a bit of a learning curve. Now I realize that the 5.0 has more torque and power than a Subaru motor, so maybe a rear locker wouldn't engage as quickly in a Subie. I can't say one way or another on that one, just speculation.

Going out of corners without the throttle is a bit of a nuisance since the exit speed is painfully slow, but the trade off is well worth it. Off road, the truck just will not spin a rear tire. At least to me it's worth it, since it's not my daily driver. I don't think I could live with having to drive so carefully, making sure not to do anything that will piss off the rear diff. I never tested it in snow, but I'd imagine that it'd be pretty tricky to drive. In a truck that saw most of it's time on the trails, it'd be great. Otherwise, I think he should've just put in a limited slip or a selectable locker. Now granted, the Ford 8.8" has a lot more options for limited slips and selectable lockers, so it's easy to say for that truck, but there are options for Subies. I know that USDM Outbacks came factory with a limited slip that works well. I'd go with a swap like that instead of a locker.
 
If you lock your rear diff, you will also get understeer as well as oversteer, because the grip at the rear will be greater than the grip at the front in some circumstances.
 
that's how my bmw was with the 245 front tires and 275 rear tires. The rear gripped so well that it made the front the weak link in traction. It'd understeer at it's limits, even though it was RWD.
 
nope i sorta totally forgot about, so never passed any stuff on, i'll see if i can follow it up
 
I'd like to direct your gaze this way - a vacuum locker.

So its do-able, but 500 people need to put their money on the line for it to happen and I believe it comes as a kit for you or your mechanic/local gearbox specialist to fit. At $1000 for a locker I think its a good deal if it happens...

Cheers

Bennie
 
Not on my behalf. The 500 confirmed orders is not going to happen believe it or not! Bummer though, an air or vacuum locker would be the goods!

If I happen to win the 20+ million in tatts I'll have a set made for the front and the rear :D

Cheers

Bennie
 
I sent an email to Eaton who make detroit lockers

I asked if they were intending on making a locker for an Awd r160 diff, With the number increasing all the time i was hoping there answer would be favorable here is there reply
"Thank you for the interest in Eaton differentials. At this time, we have
no plans to service the r160 application."

Regards,

Barney Gwozdz
Customer Service Manager
Technical Specialist
Phone# (248)226-6234
Fax# (248)226-6740

May be if Barney gets a few more emails:iconwink: he might think about it.
Here is the link https://www.eaton.com/EatonCom/ProductsServices/PerformanceProducts/index.htm Have a look at the animated videos on there diffs they are very interesting.

Jan
 
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