Thread: D2 with rear auto locker - what's it like to drive on road, particularly tight turns?

This afternoon I finished installing an Eaton Detroit into the rear diff on my Discovery 2. My vehicle already had Ashcroft Transmission ATBs in the front, centre and rear prior to this (the rear has obviously been removed and replaced with the Detroit). My reasoning for the swap was to give the vehicle a bit more hard core off road capability but I still wanted to retain the positive active traction that the ATBs had offered.
I’ve only test driven it 15km so far on the road - including highway up to 100km and through a twisty hilly pass at 60km. In general the vehicle felt exactly like before, the only time I noticed anything different was when turning through a roundabout I heard a single click clunk noise (I had the radio off - had it been on I likely would not have heard it) there wasn’t a clunk or feeling through the driveline. While cruising a long I felt like there was a very slight gentle pull to the left - possibly from the chamber of the road? Turning and reversing at home was as normal. All up my initial view and perception is perfectly liveable and hard to notice on the street.

I am going to enter this thread because I feel I am well placed to offer facts on the Detroit locker in the rear of constant 4wd system.
I have been running a Detroit in the back of 101 Landy for over 10 years.
The presence of drive from the front diff in a constant 4 wd system reduces any driveability effects to near zero unless you go looking for it on a round about driving like a idot.
I fitted a Detroit to the rear of a 80 series cruiser and the owner of the vehicle gave a Detroit knocker a 200km drive of it on road though towns ECT.
The knocker was floored to be told after wards the vehicle was fitted with a Detroit and the knocker was a regular 80 series cruiser driver.
Detroit camming design has greatly improved over older units.
The Detroit causes no more axle strain than any other locker on the market.
The old siding side ways off road thing was mentioned again with the Detroit on a side slope.
The fact is if driving across a slippery hill the Detroit has already taken you further than a open diff as the up hill wheel would have lost traction.
The Detroit is the great unlocker..........and will remain locked if traction to a wheel is limited...........it in the real world behaves no differently to a manually locked diff on a slippery side slope.
I found the auto locking feature is key off road as I am not worried about having to lock and unlock a diff manually to get a tighter turn off road or to release strain on the axle on a hard surface.
I was also mentioned the Detroit can increase turning circle off road.........I found that's not the case, the Detroit does give the steering a more self centring effect, and on full lock low traction surfaces the throttle can be used in a way that encourages the back end to break out and reduce the turning circle under throttle and why the Detroit was a favorate of the rally crowd.
The Detroit is simpler to fit than a E or Air or a vacuum locker...........no compressor, no wires or pipes to get ripped out by a stick.
The Detroit will even let me know if one of the rear tyres is down on air............yes they will pull the steering to one side if tyre pressures are not even...............correct tyre pressure s and no problems at all.
The only minor draw back I find is slightly increased drive line free play as the dogs on the Detroit need wide clearances to work.
One other point is there are Detroit knockoffs out there that do not use the proper Detroit oscillator camming tube of late model Detroit's................they are not in the same class as a Detroit and operate much like what some people have posted, especially in a two wheel drive vehicle or part time 4wd system.
Ron

We had a Detroit unlocker in the rear of our D1 and it was great. The only time I ever noticed it was when doing full lock turns on roundabouts it would click to unlock. No effect on steering.
It definitely got us to places we would not have reached without it because of spinning wheels. Made a significant difference in The Simpson.
Very strong too. Just make sure your diffs have plenty of oil and you can forget about it.