Thread: Vacuum to mechanical diff lock conversion

Originally Posted by Davo

Is this what you were thinking of? (Assuming it works - posting photos here always seems so complicated.)

I don't know where on Earth I found this piccie. I just copied it for future use. I'm thinking of making the same thing as even if the vacuum set-up is pretty reliable I don't want it to fail in the middle of nowhere.

And yes, I've also noticed that Google has suddenly become useless for searches of more than one word!

That pic is of my car when I was setting it up to see if it worked.

I can tell its mine as you can see my temporary washer spaces when I was fitting the front prop

The linkage works fine.

No, but they do have stuff for vacuum.

I just spoke to them and were very helpful. There's 2 switching options, elec solenoid or direct air switching (both work for pressure, elec would be best for vacuum though direct would work).

A kit of cylinder (16-20mm bore), mounting kit, clevis and rod, hosing, fittings and switching system should be able to be done for < $200-. Less than most prices I've seen for a second hand D2 lever. I can see making up a system for the 4sp RRC box to remove the original vacuum capsule and mounting the cylinder directly to the selector shaft (there's a threaded hole left when the diaphragm clamp bolt is removed) and a bracket to hold the cylinder in place. Would work in either vacuum or pressure operation, with elec solenoid activation.

The elec solenoids can be banked together so you only need to run a single pressure/vac inlet, then run out to your operations, or you could even run some in vac and some in pressure (stacked but blanked off between the press & vac units. I can see at least 4 uses, CDL, winch freespool, winch motor pressurisation, F&R lockers.