Subaru Rear Difflock Project

Dedman

Dedman

Forum Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Messages
766
Location
Perth Western Australia
Car Year
1999
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
5MT
Hi all

A few members of the Offroading Subaru community have decided to start a project to either build or convince a 3rd party to build a lockable differential for the rear Subaru R160 diff.
If we are successful this will be the ultimate modification to convert your Subaru into an offroad machine.

At these early stages we are just trying to obtain information about what the Subaru community wants and gauge interest.

We ask if anyone interested could please fill out the below survey.
https://goo.gl/forms/tlqGutEevG6dzO763

Currently the project page is located on Facebook if you are a user, otherwise any updates will be posted here.
https://www.facebook.com/R160.Diff.Locker.Project
 
Last edited:
Kevin said:
FYI we already had a similar exercise here: https://www.offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=7092
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Yes I was aware of the Cap locker project, it has since failed with the company not progressing with the development of the locker.
This project however is an initiative driven by Subaru owners so there is going to be a lot more push behind it. But we can only push if we have the data to show there is a market so please if you have not already done so, complete the survey.
 
The survey has so far been very promising. In just under one week we have received 279 responses with 160 willing to pay $1000 USD or more for our very own Subaru diff locker.

Let's keep the momentum going!!:monkeydance:
 
NachaLuva said:
The survey has so far been very promising. In just under one week we have received 279 responses with 160 willing to pay $1000 USD or more for our very own Subaru diff locker.

Let's keep the momentum going!!:monkeydance:
Click to expand...

Not bad at all!
 
Just a heads up to everyone, this project has not been forgotten, it's just hit a few dead ends. There are more options becoming available all the time & we'll keep exploring those as they come up.

If anyone has any leads on a manufacturer keen to do a R160 locker, please PM myself or Dedman, or leave the details here
 
Noob bump! off-road subie newcomer here, in need of locking diffs!
 
Gday iamsam

in need of locking diffs!
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You and me both! We're still working on it, it's difficult trying to find a manufacturer willing to commit to designing a locker for our R160 diff as it's very small & needs a ground up design instead of adapting existing parts

In the meantime, I suggest a Cusco 2 way clutch LSD. These are very good & will make a dramatic improvement to your offroad grip
 
People have been waiting for an R160 locker for almost as long as the Second Coming, with less chance of it occurring in our lifetime or ever. Simply, the demand is too small as every manufacturer approached on this has figured out. The business case just doesn’t stack up. If it did, it would have occurred by now. Not enough people are prepared to spend the money needed, so unless something dramatic changes, it’s not going to happen. And with the advent of electronics, even though not as good as a locker, they are deemed good enough not to need one. As the old cars diminish in numbers through attrition, there will be even less demand for lockers.

Very few people really take their Subarus seriously off road. Sure, you see lots of cars with big lift kits and big tyres, but most of that is for show or because people mistakenly believe they need it for where they go. The overwhelming majority of Subarus never leave the bitumen. So if you want a locker, you will need to either pay someone lots of money to do it for you, or rely on your own talents and experiences of those of us who have already done this.

My car was the first Forester with a locker back in 2017. To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other. No one wants to spend the money. Either to invest in an R160 specific one or go the whole R180 conversion.
 
Rally said:
My car was the first Forester with a locker back in 2017. To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other.
Click to expand...

There is another one now. That Forester ute on foztrek now has a rear ARB air locker. Interestingly they did custom axles to get it to work so there are now 3 different variations on how to do an R180 locker.
 
Do you know how much the custom axles were? Which hubs did he use?
 
Oh, well, the more the merrier. I really thought at the time when i showed that it could be done that by now lots more cars would have one.
 
We decided that our off-road driving skills are so good that we don't need a rear locker :lol:
 
While not doubting your skills, I do remember seeing a picture of a particular 03 Forester being towed up a particularly difficult track in a magazine of a well known club Kevin is a member of. Jokes aside, I wish I could have attempted that track to see how I'd go.
 
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