Thread: Locking diff options

Originally Posted by DiscoWeb

Tyres and suspension could also have had something to do with it!

Obviously not the driver

My D3 has the rear e-diff so i have no idea how they perform without it but they are bloody good with it.

George

No certainly not the driver... I can't drive for the proverbial

Yes - I was having a slight lend, the D4 in question had stock (road) tyres.

However the best ETC system will not equal manual lockers - especially at crawl speeds.

The guys at haultech who developed their own ETC system, that is far more sensitive than anything from LR found that ETC + F&R (Tight) LSDs, was about as good as twin lockers. So an e-diff + ETC is probaly about 99% as good as a locker. However to me the e-diff actuation seems a bit on the fragile side, and I like my lockers strong and low-tech.

All my D3/RRS have had the rear eLocker (and of course the centre diff is the same) and I've never had an issue with them being "fragile"?

In terms of sheer traction, a D3 with rear eLocker + someone who knows how to use it, is perhaps 99% as effective as a non-ETC car with _dual_ lockers, not just one. You wont see any slippage of the front wheels when in rock-crawl, even with a front wheel off the ground. And in many other situations, the TR/eLocker combo is far more flexible than simple mechanical lockers - as we showed at the recent WA-AULRO fun day out.

You won't get a mechanically twin-lockered D3 anywhere that a TR/eLocker D3 won't go. What limits the vehicles (when compared to heavily modified twin-locked Patrols etc) is the tyre size and ramp-over angle.

Cheers,

Gordon

I didn't mean this to be, and don't want it to continue to be, a TR/TC v's mechanical lockers debate. However, I think what is clear is that having the e-diff in a D3 does make a big difference, and most (would anyone like to guess a percentage?) D3's out there were not supplied with an e-diff.

The reason I'm looking for locker options is that you simply can't buy an e-diff off the shelf and put it in your non-e-diff supplied D3 (as far as I'm aware!?).

Can anyone confirm that you can't walk into an LR dealer and order an e-Diff?

Doesn't anyone agree that an off the shelf locker option for a D3 would be valuable?

for anyone interested, this links shows some interesting images of cut away diff housings showing std open and e-diff.

Rear locking differential - Land Rover and Range Rover Forums

Originally Posted by Presto

Can anyone confirm that you can't walk into an LR dealer and order an e-Diff?

Doesn't anyone agree that an off the shelf locker option for a D3 would be valuable?

You can order an eDiff, but no dealer will fit it for you - which I guess is what you're asking - as it's deemed a factory-only option.

An after-market rear locker would indeed be a useful option for those that didn't order the rear eLocker. But you'd at least need the uprated axles and cv joints too.

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by isuzurover

So that is why my twin locked '80s 110 could idle up a hill that a D4 needed to have 50 attempts at.

TC, difflocks hell not even the fact one was a manual vs a sludge box it was simply the hill gave up to the vehicle, more of "oh, crap, If I dont let him up he'll just let that thing idle at me till the vibrations cause me to collapse into a mole hill then drive over that " than "my isnt that new vehicle just so soft on my precious upper crust, with nary a wheel spin or slip to disturb my my fragile slate skin, I will let him progress peaceably"

edit.

looking at the pics its not a FULL locker but an LSD with variable preload on the clutches, Wouldnt want to rely on it the way I would a mechanical locker. I suspect that it would suffer from contaminated oil the same way a traditional LSD would but being variable would keep winding on the pressure till it totally pooched the packs.

Originally Posted by gghaggis

All my D3/RRS have had the rear eLocker (and of course the centre diff is the same) and I've never had an issue with them being "fragile"? ...

It was suggested in a previous thread that they wouldn't be able to hold up to being 100% positively locked for long periods, like a manual locker.

That may be incorrect, and is a moot point if you are controlling the diff via the OEM methods.

Interesting to read in that link above that they consider a full size spare to be an indication that you have the e-diff! ...I have a full size spare, but my e-diff is missing!

Although I was also surprised (more naive) to the fact that the e-diff doesn't actually have an on/off switch but is simply controlled as part of the TR system!?