Detroit Locker Report - Its fitted

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Originally Posted by Tank

Phil, can you sort something for me, these (Detroit) lockers disengage while turning and act as a normal differential, is that correct, Locked in a straight ahead drive, Unlocked while turning, Regards Frank.

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technically these should be called auto un-lockers, ie, they are always locked, they unlock when required.
however they wont unlock if you have them under load turning corners.
if you drive as normal they drive like and open diff, even in the rain.
the only time ive ever had any dramas is when driving loke a loon, wet or dry.
fitting a detroit LSD in the front counteracts what ever oversteer there might be.

i drove up the dorrigo range in the rain at 50-60kph no probs, the vr commadore i was following was taily more than once.

cheers phil

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Originally Posted by Dougal

Are these the ones that freewheel the outer wheel around a corner?

Have you tried climbing at full lock on gravel to see how that goes?

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dont know if im keen to turn full lock on the side of a gravell hill.:(

and yes do not fit the detrooit locker in the front of a constant 4x4!

cheers phil

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Originally Posted by discowhite

technically these should be called auto un-lockers, ie, they are always locked, they unlock when required.
however they wont unlock if you have them under load turning corners.
if you drive as normal they drive like and open diff, even in the rain.
the only time ive ever had any dramas is when driving loke a loon, wet or dry.
fitting a detroit LSD in the front counteracts what ever oversteer there might be.

i drove up the dorrigo range in the rain at 50-60kph no probs, the vr commadore i was following was taily more than once.

cheers phil

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Have they changed the way they operate? I have had "No Spins" or Detroit Lockers in two very high performance cars and three way lockers in a road train prime mover. These all operated as a normal diff until one wheel was slipping and they then locked up and drove both. Gleasman Torsens are still available under a number of different names. Gleasman is a brand name of Gleason Gear Co. Most manufacturers of gears and gear systems use Gleason originated theories, systems, and/or tooling.

Detroit lockers are as described, and are not Torsen type.

DLs unlock when one wheel travels faster, and send drive to the slower wheel ( ie the inner on a curve). If that wheel spins the speed is equalised and they lock. and so on.

Quaifes and Torsen work a completely different way and rely on the phenomenum that a worm can drive a gear but not vica versa or is it the opposite?
Anyway look here Torsen Products Page
I bought a Quaife on this forum but I haven't fitted it yet. Soon, soon!
Regards Philip A

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Originally Posted by cartm58

would like to hear from anyone who fitted these to front and rear of a RRC for a report on vehicle handling characteristics

had previous fitted aARB air locker to a 1991 Nissan wagon to the front used it once up near Dargo was impressed with extra ability but unimpressed with price and never did much to justify continuing to fit them to replacement vehicles.

now got a 1993 RRC would like a little extra traction without having to play around with air compressors have been thinking of electric detroit lockers

1980's yes l know years ago torsen differentials were the rage hardly hear of them now

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Have heard stories regarding unreliable operation of the electric lockers. The tru-trac (also by Detroit) is probably a better way to go, being a gear driven LSD.

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Originally Posted by mark2

Have heard stories regarding unreliable operation of the electric lockers. The tru-trac (also by Detroit) is probably a better way to go, being a gear driven LSD.

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Mark, I've fitted twin Tru tracs to a D1, transformed the vehicle off road, no adverse effects on road, owner dosen't notice them at all in the wet etc. Off road however, he has Evo2 scorpion suspension etc, even with mudders on he had difficulty in a few sections. Now, no problems on Michelin 245/75 LTX A/T tyres, and he has SOLD the mudders!!:D

I'm fitting twin tru tracs to mine AS SOON as I can find the $$$ and time...

JC

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Originally Posted by cartm58

would like to hear from anyone who fitted these to front and rear of a RRC for a report on vehicle handling characteristics

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I really wouldn't put an auto locker in the front. Sometimes the truck will be more capable with the front unlocked as silly as it sounds. When you're getting gnarly with it and spinning wheels even when twin locked, the 4WD can steer and pivot as it's driven by the rear wheels due to the fronts spinning and giving no lateral traction. This is a problem when climbing things like angulated steps, loose X'd up climbs etc.

What are the electric Detroit lockers mentioned in this thread? The ones I had were mechanical, no electrics whatsoever, and they definitely functioned as normal diffs until one wheel was slipping then the dog clutches enaged and locked up to drive both wheels equally.
Gleasman Torsens have been around for about 25 years. They are based on a phenomena of worm gear pitch discovered by Gleason Gear Co. A worm wheel will not normally drive a worm gear but if the gear pitch is quite steep, they will. Quaife is a form of Torsen.

Probably the elocker. I didn't think they fitted Rover. Oh well. Instead of using air pressure or vacuum to operate the locker, they use an electromagnet. Manufacturers like Toyota I think also did an electric operated locker which I assume was solinoid driven.

There is also the electrac I think it was called from Tractech that was a TrueTrac gear driven LSD that also had a manually controlled locking function. Great idea, but also not built for Rovers.

Torsens aren't heard of these days as they aren't really available aftermarket. (only racing)
There are three versions of the Torsen available, with different bias ratios. OEM's like Mazda (the last versions of the RX-7), Audi, etc use them.
The Quaiffe diff is closest in design to the original Gleason Torsen. (Gleason no longer own or make the Torsen.)

Trachtech were also bought out several years ago (IIRC it was by Auburn Gear) and the Electrac was dropped. This was a Tru-Trac with electric solenoid full locking. Auburn have their own E-Locker which, again IIRC is a clutch pack LSD with solenoid locking.

The Soft Locker version of the DL is a vast improvement over the old type, which IMO were a frigging horrible, unpredictable, noisy, clanksome device.
The way they cycled from drive to coast on a part throttle was almost unbearable on the race track, (which is the only place I've used the old style) so I can't imagine what they were like on road.

Mark, your comparison with the Nissan LSD is interesting, as it is known to be the tightest and best performing OEM non locking diff. I've used these in a GQ and GU and they do indeed chirp and tear up the ground, and also create a bit of understeer on bitumen which the average punter just feels as a bit more lock needed when turning in, but I notice when I jump from the Landy to the Patrol.