Thread: manual activated diff locks

If your going one manual locker do you go front or rear diff?
Does it make much of a difference... I seem to get my front wheels off the ground a lot more than my rear ...

People seam do have different opinions about where the locker would best be put at use.

There are pro's and cons I suppose;

You rear axle is much stronger in respect to the front one, And even if you break a rear axle, its not a hard task to remove the axle completely and limp home in front wheel drive.
If worst came to worst, and you blew a crown wheel, all you do is drop the tail shaft, and remove both axles, and drive home.

A front locker however increases the risk of blowing a CV joint, and guess what? Pulling one of those out is a big job. We (Team Shellian) have gotten around this by fitting fused end shafts (a sacrificial link at the end cap) but that is another $1000 on top of the diff lock and the heavy duty axles. Another thing we (and probly everyone else) have noticed is when the front locker is locked, you loose the ability to steer (more so if you have a wider than standard track) and using one whilst going down a slippery hill is considered by many suicide. I have seen and heard of a few incidents, where the front locker has been engaged, and after the back end looses traction, the car rolls down the hill.

If you are lifting front wheels more often than rears, a rear would still be a benefit. While only one front wheel is in the air, the back axle still has traction and drive. When the back axle looses traction on one side, engage your rear locker and you will be fine.

So in a nutshell, I would put a manual locker in the back.

Oh wait no I wouldn't, its already got one

Cheers

Ben