Ashcroft Locking Diffs

[59bluebear]

Hi to the forum
Looking for some feedback on Ashcroft Locking Diffs, I am thinking of having some fitted front and rear to my Disco,
Does any one have feedback positive or not about the performance and reliability?
One last question has anyone bothered with the Ashcroft pegging kits to strengthen the diff housing?
My disco is a td5 auto mainly used for touring and fairly easy off road not extreme completion.
Thanks in advance.[smilebigeye]

[bee utey]

I organised a fully built up Ashcroft air locker diff centre for a friend's RRC, complete with pegging, and the owner couldn't be happier. The diff pegging is like an insurance policy, rarely needed but handy if you ever have to give it a bit of curry in a difficult spot.

[gavinwibrow]

Hi to the forum
Looking for some feedback on Ashcroft Locking Diffs, I am thinking of having some fitted front and rear to my Disco,
Does any one have feedback positive or not about the performance and reliability?
One last question has anyone bothered with the Ashcroft pegging kits to strengthen the diff housing?
My disco is a td5 auto mainly used for touring and fairly easy off road not extreme completion.
Thanks in advance.[smilebigeye]

For the use you mention, I would have thought the ashcroft ATBs would have been quite adequate. I have a pair of similar trutracs on both cars, and could not be happier. Fit and forget!!

[rick130]

IMO the Ashcroft locker is one of the best designed/engineered lockers for a Rover diff you can get.
As beeutey said, pegging is insurance, but if you are just running standard sized tyres probably not needed.

If you were ruining a Maxi Drive low low, 33"+ tyres and a big chip, big IC, etc then yep, definitely worth doing.

[RobMichelle]

Have you considered jack McNamara 6 gear centers and Ashcroft axles, I run this set up on my td5 auto cheaper than lockers, but tough enough for what you describe.

[59bluebear]

Hi to the forum
Thanks for the reply's gives me some ideas.

Regards

[Jazzman]

I run the ATB front and rear. With the traction control they are the bees knees. Couldn't be happier.

Whichever you decide to go with you will not be disappointed with the quality. Remember if you decide to go ATB and pegged then the outside circumference of the ATB needs to be machined, i'm not sure if you are required to do this with the locker. Best ask Ashcroft to be sure.

[twr7cx]

Remember if you decide to go ATB and pegged then the outside circumference of the ATB needs to be machined, i'm not sure if you are required to do this with the locker. Best ask Ashcroft to be sure.

Do Ashcroft arrange the machining prior to delivery? I'm surprised that they haven't modified the case sizing to suit instead.

[rangieman]

I run the ATB front and rear. With the traction control they are the bees knees. Couldn't be happier.

Whichever you decide to go with you will not be disappointed with the quality. Remember if you decide to go ATB and pegged then the outside circumference of the ATB needs to be machined, i'm not sure if you are required to do this with the locker. Best ask Ashcroft to be sure.
I have Ashcroft Air locker pegged and yes the carrier (centre) needs to be machined to clear the pegging see attached pic`s[wink11].
Who ever set`s th diff up should be able to do this mod in a lathe ,This is what Dave Ashcroft does so is done with his approval.

138362

[Jazzman]

Do Ashcroft arrange the machining prior to delivery? I'm surprised that they haven't modified the case sizing to suit instead.

Yes you can option the centre to be machined to fit into a pegged housing. It is an option on the online website when you purchase it. As Rangieman said you could have it done locally too, but if you are going to purchase it from Ashcroft anyway it probably makes more sense to get them to do it.

[weeds]

Man o man, I’m confused which way to go.....

Ashcroft air locker or ATB.....

Had F&R airlockers on my last Defender.....never forgot to engage. I followed a 130 around the high country with a Detroit in the rear and it performed as expected.

[martnH]

IMO the Ashcroft locker is one of the best designed/engineered lockers for a Rover diff you can get.
As beeutey said, pegging is insurance, but if you are just running standard sized tyres probably not needed.

If you were ruining a Maxi Drive low low, 33"+ tyres and a big chip, big IC, etc then yep, definitely worth doing.I recently take a good look at TMJ prolocker. The locking machinist is also static and massive. It can probably rival the ashcroft airlocker.

[twr7cx]

Man o man, I’m confused which way to go.....

Ashcroft air locker or ATB.....

It depends on what sort of driving you use the vehicle for. Personally I went with Ashcroft lockers front, centre and rear. They are bloody brilliant on the road, in wet and slippery conditions, high speed dirt driving etc. When offloading they're fine but there's been a few times that I wished I had a proper locker, it would have been the difference between getting through/up or not. For me though, that wish thought is about once a year so not enough to justify it but the ATB's probably benefit me weekly. I'm also only running AT tyres so moving to MT would probably help my offroad capability but I haven't wanted to take the hit in road noise and handling yet...

Reading the thread does make me wonder though if an auto locker in the rear might perhaps have been a more suitable option for me for the benefit of both?

If your offroading a lot or that's the priority for your truck then get the real deal.

[weeds]

Oh should have mentioned Detroit as well....

[Jazzman]

Man o man, I’m confused which way to go.....

Ashcroft air locker or ATB.....

Had F&R airlockers on my last Defender.....never forgot to engage. I followed a 130 around the high country with a Detroit in the rear and it performed as expected.

It really does depend on how much off road driving you do, and how difficult it is. Essentially it is cheaper and easier to fit the ATB's. They will NOT lock and give you a 50% 50% split to each side. (someone told me the best you will get is a 70% 30% split) The ATB relies on a difference in load to bias the function, the traction control in a Disco helps apply a load to achieve this, if you lift a wheel with the ATB and you do not have traction control the ATB will act as an open diff and therefore all power will go to the lifted wheel. The benefit of using an ATB is it will be more forgiving on the drive tran, axles especially.

But for a Defender it could be a different story, do defenders have traction control? I guess it is only relevant if you actually lift a wheel.

Some argue if you are constantly re inflating tyres you've let down to go bush, than you should have an air compressor with an air tank anyway, not much more work to plumb lockers in.

IMO Personally, if you don't go hard core four wheel driving lifting wheels frequently. Save the cash and go with the ATB's, spend the money you save on something else like a extra capacity sump for the LT230 or an adjustable panhard rod if you have a lift without one. If you were going to only put a locker in the rear maybe you can justify an ATB front and rear?

That is my opinion for what it is worth.