Thread: F&R Maxidrives - what is next to break?

Nothing

you will have to try hard spinning wheels on rocks to break anything but the next to go is usually the crown wheel at the back and CV joints at the front.
Regard s Philip A

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

We are looking at fitting diff locks to our car. Maxidrive is a little more pricey than the arb airlocker, but comes with the strengthened axles.

My question is, if we do the maxi's F&R and possibly the maxi CV's what is the next weakest link? How likely is it that we'll break something?

Our usages will be desert stuff like the Canning, and Simpson. It will certainly do a cape trip at some point too. I'm not really into extreme play for the sake of it.

Our car is a 05 td5 fender. It will likely get a TR chipping in it's near future too.

Ok i have done some of the track above and more. I towed a trailer . I was trying to be talked into a set of arb's
But i did not need them and in my mind i don't think you do.
a few questions.

What size tyres do you have on , ie if you are running a mad set of 35"-38" then yeah you need a set but apart from that then i would not bother

How much of a ruff ar*e driver are you . If you are stuck in the middle of no where and you scream the tits of the car trying to get out then you will break somthing
In my mind all you need is to spend your money on a front winch, and a ground anchor (thats what we did ). With these two items they will get you out of anything that you get stuck in. Plus even with lockers and stronger shafts you will still need these at times anyway. But with standard shafts you just stop tring to drive out sooner and then don't damage anything
We got stuck on the sand dunes north of perth with the trailer on had to go forward could not go back. Used the ground anchor and winch and we were out in about 5 mins.

Thats just my pennys worth of advice

I do take your point and I appreciate your experience. However the people I travel with do get out there a bit. They are very experienced and use LR products by choice. They have recommended I fit diff locks. All the people I will be travelling with will have at least a rear locker fitted and most F&R. They are reluctant to invite me without them.

The reason is that some places like the Simpson have LOTS of sand dunes. When it's dry it's very difficult going. Each time someone gets stuck it delays the whole party 10/15 minutes while the people are extracted and everyone gets out to have a look.

So, the more competent the vehicles involved just means you can make better progress. Last time we broke a Prado (see my threads) which threatened everyones trip. I'm hoping for better reliability with the lockers.

Here is a link to our last trip. It involved about 500k of cross country driving plus a little bit of track (the French line). It was pretty easy (I'm told) as it had rained. Next time it will almost certainly be harder.

Simpson 2005

We hope to own the car for at least 10 years so hopefully they'll come in handy at some point.

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I do take your point and I appreciate your experience. However the people I travel with do get out there a bit. They are very experienced and use LR products by choice. They have recommended I fit diff locks. All the people I will be travelling with will have at least a rear locker fitted and most F&R. They are reluctant to invite me without them.

The reason is that some places like the Simpson have LOTS of sand dunes. When it's dry it's very difficult going. Each time someone gets stuck it delays the whole party 10/15 minutes while the people are extracted and everyone gets out to have a look.

So, the more competent the vehicles involved just means you can make better progress. Last time we broke a Prado (see my threads) which threatened everyones trip. I'm hoping for better reliability with the lockers.

Here is a link to our last trip. It involved about 500k of cross country driving plus a little bit of track (the French line). It was pretty easy (I'm told) as it had rained. Next time it will almost certainly be harder.

Simpson 2005

We hope to own the car for at least 10 years so hopefully they'll come in handy at some point.

Ok on that basis i would personally do what i did in my past winch challenge defender and that was to ARB lockers in and maxi Drive shafts. I have always found that to be the best combination .
And when and if i need to put lockers into the 90 or disco we will be getting . Then i will do the same

you wont need arb or maxi lockers to cross the Simpson desert

if you dont do things like climbing up rock ledges or scrabbling up muddy hills or crossing ditches you dont need them

what you do need is tyre gauge and air compressor

what might be useful is a land anchor and hand winch for the 1 in 1000 times you might get stuck anywhere

what is really useful always is snatchum strap and another 4wd

save the $3000 plus and sped it somewhere else

If youve got the traction control fitted you dont need the difflocks....

I dont go out to break the vehicle I use the vehicle to get me places..

I havent yet (apart from when I was trialing the trailer on the back to see whats what) been in a situation where the TC has let me down.. mud, sand, gravel, wet clay, spoon drains, technical track. Im fairly confident that the only type of ground I havent tried to cross in her is deep snow.


Big red has NEVER been so badly stuck that she couldnt work her way out by uncoupling the trailer, chucking some firm detrius in front and behind the wheels then bagging down from 15-12psi. First low, high idle or there about and gently with the clutch has always gotten her out. Im still on the original general grabbers too.

90% of the time my traction control light stays off unless Im being lazy and havent aired down appropriately or havent done a proper route reccy.


If I didnt have TC I still reckon Id have gotten through most of it. That said on the wish list for kermit is an LSD front and an LSD rear with a locker but as thats exxxy Will probabley settle for just the locker on the rear and an LSD in the front.

Have to say on the dunes etc you would be unlikely to break anything, you may get bogged, but it is also a good opportunity to get everyone out of their cars for a walk around as we should do. And any way half the fun is getting bogged and recovering. Most of it depends on your finances and wants. If I had the spare cash yes I would fit front and rear maxi drive diffs, axles and the cv joints, but untill other things are done or something breaks a bit of a waste of money. In all honesty I have never had my LRs bogged so bad I could not get out under my own power. Have pulled plenty of Jap 4x4s out though.

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I do take your point and I appreciate your experience. However the people I travel with do get out there a bit. They are very experienced and use LR products by choice. They have recommended I fit diff locks. All the people I will be travelling with will have at least a rear locker fitted and most F&R. They are reluctant to invite me without them.

The reason is that some places like the Simpson have LOTS of sand dunes. When it's dry it's very difficult going. Each time someone gets stuck it delays the whole party 10/15 minutes while the people are extracted and everyone gets out to have a look.

So, the more competent the vehicles involved just means you can make better progress. Last time we broke a Prado (see my threads) which threatened everyones trip. I'm hoping for better reliability with the lockers.

Here is a link to our last trip. It involved about 500k of cross country driving plus a little bit of track (the French line). It was pretty easy (I'm told) as it had rained. Next time it will almost certainly be harder.

Simpson 2005

We hope to own the car for at least 10 years so hopefully they'll come in handy at some point.