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do auto lockers handle general driving

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:25 pm
by tippy
hi i was wanting to fit(lockright) autolockers to my hilux i was wondering if they would handle on road touring ky,s as well as the off road driving they were designed for

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:47 am
by bad_religion_au
they're a tad noisy, and take some changes in your driving style (i.e. planting the foot mid corner isn't really a good idea), but you can easily live with em. after you get used to the way they work, they can be alot of fun (i could get the 40 to crab along a straight dirt road with a decent crown in the centre for about 4 k's).

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 11:57 am
by hilux79
I've got detroits front and rear in my lux and they're pretty good on the road, just got to take care with the right foot in the wet. If you drive smooth you will hardly notice it.

Can be great fun to like bad_religion_au said :twisted: .

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:35 pm
by bad_religion_au
forgot to answer your question about offroad.

offroad they are brilliant. handle better than an air locker when it's locked, and give more traction than the airlocker when it's unlocked

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 1:37 pm
by leehamescort
I've had them front and back in my sruf for 4 years, no probs at all, drove to broken hill and back, and did the west coast of Tassie. On the hwy you dont even know they are there.

As previously said you just change your driving style a bit round town, especially roundabouts and carparks.

Love em, wouldnt run anything else.

catcha
Leeham

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:20 pm
by Chucky
I have mates with the auto lockers with mixed feelings. Some love them other hate them, The guys that hate them ditched them for air lockers.

I borrowed a mates hilux with auto lockers for about 6 weeks once, on road didn't really notice any difference except in the wet. the arse wanted to slid more than my brothers hilux that is unlocked. but I don't know how much of that was due to tyres, suspension etc. Off road I personally didn't like it in the front.
Much prefer my air lockers in the front that I can switch on and off when needed.

Price wise you cant go past them.

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:25 pm
by tippy
thanks for your input much appreciated i think ill give them a go once i get the dollars

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 5:32 am
by BabyGodzillaGTi-R
I enjoy too much with detroits in the rear......
Especially in the rain and with a light rear tray......

If only i have a 2JZ supra engine in the Hilux..... :armsup: :armsup: :armsup:

Just curious for those that have LockRights on your Hilux what would probably be the biggest tyres one is wiling to go safely?
Would 36s still be bearable?

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 6:07 am
by locktup4x4
I've run Detroit's and Lock Rights in daily drivers. They run fine down the road. You just have to be aware that it can lock on you around tight corners, and adjust your driving habits accordingly.

Jason

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:41 am
by Troopy93
leehamescort wrote:I've had them front and back in my sruf for 4 years, no probs at all, drove to broken hill and back, and did the west coast of Tassie. On the hwy you dont even know they are there.

As previously said you just change your driving style a bit round town, especially roundabouts and carparks.

Love em, wouldnt run anything else.

catcha
Leeham

Like he said..

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 12:26 pm
by celtlux
I don't have 1 in the rear of mine but i can't fault the 1 up front, plus as said earlier for the price they are great.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:03 pm
by me3@neuralfibre.com
Had em, loved em.

Paul

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:24 pm
by thehanko
driving up old bathurst road last night in the rain, I almost didnt make it around the last switch back which is tight and steep as my lsd is stuffed and just one wheel was spinning, tried backing off the gas etc but just totally striggaled for grip.

Would an auto locker make tight switch backs like this easier or worse as the diff would lock force loss of traction but at least still force both wheels to turn.

My lsd is so pointless I struggled to drive the other day from a standing start with 1 rear tyre on sloppy grass and the other on the bitumen.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:44 pm
by me3@neuralfibre.com
thehanko wrote:driving up old bathurst road last night in the rain, I almost didnt make it around the last switch back which is tight and steep as my lsd is stuffed and just one wheel was spinning, tried backing off the gas etc but just totally striggaled for grip.

Would an auto locker make tight switch backs like this easier or worse as the diff would lock force loss of traction but at least still force both wheels to turn.

My lsd is so pointless I struggled to drive the other day from a standing start with 1 rear tyre on sloppy grass and the other on the bitumen.
Inside tire will slip, but not spin. Once the inside matches the outside speed, both will drive you out. If you use more throttle, both will spin, as per any car.

Paul

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:46 pm
by leehamescort
RE: Tyre size
I've been running 35's with them for 4 years, no worries. had 37" bogers for a while, busted everything else (cv's, axles, tierods) but the lokkas where fine.

mates run 36" simex and havnt had any dramas.

Cheers
Leeham

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:59 pm
by bad_religion_au
I beat mine silly with 36 swampers. a good friend of mine in the states beats his stupid with 40's, full hydro, and V8 on the rocks. about the only part of his rig that lived through the stepup from 36's

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:52 am
by BabyGodzillaGTi-R
leehamescort wrote:RE: Tyre size
I've been running 35's with them for 4 years, no worries. had 37" bogers for a while, busted everything else (cv's, axles, tierods) but the lokkas where fine.

mates run 36" simex and havnt had any dramas.

Cheers
Leeham
So with 36s with LockRights should be fine? I know many factors are involved. But still curious in general how they stand a beating. Many Thanks.
Cheers

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:39 am
by bad_religion_au
BabyGodzillaGTi-R wrote:
leehamescort wrote:RE: Tyre size
I've been running 35's with them for 4 years, no worries. had 37" bogers for a while, busted everything else (cv's, axles, tierods) but the lokkas where fine.

mates run 36" simex and havnt had any dramas.

Cheers
Leeham
So with 36s with LockRights should be fine? I know many factors are involved. But still curious in general how they stand a beating. Many Thanks.
Cheers
on toyota running gear, definately. you'll snap an axle, CV, pinion, or shred the teeth off the crownwheel before you damage the lockright.

and most lockright failures are pins snapping. a 5 minute job to fix (once the diff is out). they're basic, but because of that, they are pretty tough

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:40 am
by Emo
I've had a Powertrax in for a few weeks now and apart from the click clack noise when going around a roundabout you wouldn't know it was there when on the bitumen.

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:36 pm
by Red04VXE
So Lock Right in front would be fine with Hardened CV's and one in back Highway driving?

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:03 pm
by spongerx
Just a word of caution about auto lockers. They'll be fine for driving on the road with you at the wheel but if you lend your rig to anyone make sure they understand there's an auto locker in the back and what that means when it comes to handling. Guy I know leant his 04 SR5 Hilux TD to a junior employee. He'd just finished chipping, intercooling and fitting a detroit in the back before doing this. The junior employee managed to put the Hilux on it's side while exiting a side street because he stamped the throttle and the back locked and the truck oversteered and mounted a wall. Bodywork woulda been easy to fix but the employee exited the vehicle and just left the engine running so now the engine is completely farked.

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:18 pm
by midi73
bad_religion_au wrote:forgot to answer your question about offroad.

offroad they are brilliant. handle better than an air locker when it's locked, and give more traction than the airlocker when it's unlocked
All the comments on here have been good, except I fail to see how auto lockers perform better than an airlocker when they are locked. When they are locked, they are locked, wheather it is an auto locker or an airlocker. They would be the same.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:20 am
by bad_religion_au
midi73 wrote:
bad_religion_au wrote:forgot to answer your question about offroad.

offroad they are brilliant. handle better than an air locker when it's locked, and give more traction than the airlocker when it's unlocked
All the comments on here have been good, except I fail to see how auto lockers perform better than an airlocker when they are locked. When they are locked, they are locked, wheather it is an auto locker or an airlocker. They would be the same.
because on low traction or highly variable surfaces, you can keep the front locked for traction, and there is still a chance the outside wheel will have enough traction during a turn to be sped up (the way they allow wheel speed differential) taking the bind out of the system. an airlocker, when locked, doesn't allow this, so the front end, if it comes into traction, will bind up the axles, and induce understeer.

if you could sit there and predict that the next 20cm was going to be firm enough/have enough traction to be able to progress with just one wheel driving on the front axle, then unlocked the locker for that section, then locked it back in for when the traction dissapears, you'd get the same effect as having an auto locker in the front.

effectively, yes, both are "locked" if the situation is too low grip to progress with the drive of just one front wheel, but the auto allows dissimilar wheel speeds if you hit a patch of unexpected traction (i.e. firm soil during a climb, loose rock - hard rock - loose rock)

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:46 pm
by steven101
spongerx wrote:The junior employee managed to put the Hilux on it's side while exiting a side street because he stamped the throttle and the back locked and the truck oversteered and mounted a wall. Bodywork woulda been easy to fix but the employee exited the vehicle and just left the engine running so now the engine is completely farked.
You make it out like its the employee's fault? The guy that owned the car its his fault for modifiying the car!

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:04 pm
by MissDrew
In my hilux I first had a Detroit. Loved it as I had never had a locker of any sort before getting it.
Then I got an air lock cheep so changed to the air lock to save tyre wear.
Once I changed I noticed how badly the auto locker made the rig handle and drive. The difference really was amazing.
Then I decided I wanted to put a air lock in the front of our 80 so took the air lock back out of the rear of the hilux and put the Detroit back in.
I now hate the way the hilux drives on the road, if I was still daily driving it I would have by now gone and spent $1000 and bought another air lock.

If you`ve never had locks an auto lock will be orsome, but if you`e had air locks before you`ll notice just how bad auto lockers are for daily driven rigs.
My hilux has now gone back to living in the shed till its going 4x4ing, so with the small amount it gets driven the Detroit is fine.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:33 pm
by the_quokka
I was also wondering if my 80 would daily drive ok with the part time kit + free wheelers + say a detroit SL in the front (rear LSD left alone) ? What would be the effect of hitting the CDL accidentally at pace while the FWB's were in ?

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:42 pm
by Mick_n_Sal
Auto lockers in part-time 4WDs work fine in the front - you don't notice on-road ( no drive & hubs unlocked ) the rear requires some respect with regard to driving style and weather conditions. They _SHOULD_NOT_ be fitted to full time 4WDs. they can have very nasty effects on steering and drivetrain. Full timers can have switchable lockers, or any of the limited slip style - torsen etc.

M+S

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:56 pm
by bad_religion_au
Guts wrote:In my hilux I first had a Detroit. Loved it as I had never had a locker of any sort before getting it.
Then I got an air lock cheep so changed to the air lock to save tyre wear.
Once I changed I noticed how badly the auto locker made the rig handle and drive. The difference really was amazing.
Then I decided I wanted to put a air lock in the front of our 80 so took the air lock back out of the rear of the hilux and put the Detroit back in.
I now hate the way the hilux drives on the road, if I was still daily driving it I would have by now gone and spent $1000 and bought another air lock.

If you`ve never had locks an auto lock will be orsome, but if you`e had air locks before you`ll notice just how bad auto lockers are for daily driven rigs.
My hilux has now gone back to living in the shed till its going 4x4ing, so with the small amount it gets driven the Detroit is fine.
yes but your just a girl.

an airlocker handles onroad like an open diff. pretty easy comparison to do :D