Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Recently blew a open centre front diff in hilux and was going to put in an LSD but came across a detroit locker......... It has just been fitted and i am looking to get feedback from people who run them. Cheers

get some spare cv's to go with the locker

I ran twin Detriots in my Daihatsu Rocky for around 10 years. Good gear. They do take a bit of getting used to on the road, as they can do some interesting things to handling in some conditions. And I would not run them in the front without power steering.

As for blowing CV's, I only did one in all the time I had them fitted.

have a lockrite in the rear of the car. they are pretty rough but it does its job. The car has power steering on it. anyone know how a detroit compares? surely it will be better in the front than a harsh old lockrite????

I cant give you a direct comparison, but given the fact that you will only be using the front offroad, it would be an excellent buy. You can actually drive on road with hubs locked, and you wont notice any difference, as long as your not in 4wd, of course.

Even off road, in 4wd, driving on easy dirt, theres not much difference. Its only when heaps of torque is being applied to the front axle that your steering will become difficult, hence the reason for the power steering.

Aren't Detroits almost as expensive as air lockers? I know I'd prefer something I can turn on and off on the front axle. Sounds like you have already bought one presumably at a very good price?

my detroit cost more then the airlocker

Hopefully this helps a little. I have lockrites on the front of two of my cars and a detroit on the rear of one. The lockrites are excellent, much quieter and more predictable than the detroit. The detroit will randomly make massive bangs when it unlocks (often when going straight) especially when power is applied or you take your foot off the accelerator quickly. On the front it might be ok as you will only have it engaged on dirt? but it will make your steering heavy and unless you are getting a really really good price i would go for a lockrite (they are around $350 new). It can be a little worrying when your taking a really fast corner and you are unsure how it will react (keeps you on your toes!). PM me if you have any questions

RAY185 wrote:Aren't Detroits almost as expensive as air lockers? I know I'd prefer something I can turn on and off on the front axle. Sounds like you have already bought one presumably at a very good price?

Yeah got it for a good price. time to go point the car at a big hill and see how it goes.

4runnerJonno wrote:Hopefully this helps a little. I have lockrites on the front of two of my cars and a detroit on the rear of one. The lockrites are excellent, much quieter and more predictable than the detroit. The detroit will randomly make massive bangs when it unlocks (often when going straight) especially when power is applied or you take your foot off the accelerator quickly. On the front it might be ok as you will only have it engaged on dirt? but it will make your steering heavy and unless you are getting a really really good price i would go for a lockrite (they are around $350 new). It can be a little worrying when your taking a really fast corner and you are unsure how it will react (keeps you on your toes!). PM me if you have any questions

From my experience when drivin with the rear lockrite its only when your not really on the ball or concentrating that it bangs clangs and goes mental. Also if the backlash is wrong or needs adjusting. Not really worried about it making noises as the cars nickname is bucket of bolts. Many many wierd noises.......

I used to have detroit softlockers front and rear in my troopy.

They're rubbish

The front was shit all the time -
On high speed dirt it made steering unpredictable and far too sensitive to power inputs. Even in a straight line it would cause the car to pull one way or another.
On slippery surfaces the car would only plow straight ahead when under power - especially uphill. Downhill i sometimes had to 'unload' the front diff by giving the throttle a stab to make it start a turn.
Anytime i had to reverse with significant force i'd break CV's
Driveline windup could cause the steering to become impossible to turn, and in extreme cases caused huge load if moving the car forward or back, whilst turning (higher traction surfaces)
Honestly i think the car was more capable when the front diff was open! It was certainly easier to drive.

The rear isn't so bad, but sometimes frustrating - i really had to change my driving style to drive smoothly. I think my springs in the rear are too stiff to provide enough traction to the inside wheel to allow the locker to operate correctly (i.e. it's always locked solid). I'm glad i have it back there for when the road's wet though. An LSD would be far better for road use.

4runnerJonno wrote:Hopefully this helps a little. I have lockrites on the front of two of my cars and a detroit on the rear of one. The lockrites are excellent, much quieter and more predictable than the detroit. The detroit will randomly make massive bangs when it unlocks (often when going straight) especially when power is applied or you take your foot off the accelerator quickly. On the front it might be ok as you will only have it engaged on dirt? but it will make your steering heavy and unless you are getting a really really good price i would go for a lockrite (they are around $350 new). It can be a little worrying when your taking a really fast corner and you are unsure how it will react (keeps you on your toes!). PM me if you have any questions

I'd say your detroit is not set up right as I ran them front and back in my lux and never had that problem. If the price is right go for it you will notice your turning circle is larger off-road and if you don't have power steer it will be heavier but I think pro's out way con's.

I would still prefer air lockers though for the ability to be able to turn them off.

the gun wrote:get some spare cv's to go with the locker

Mate of mine has one in the front of his Lux and has broken more CV's than he cares to remeber including strengthened/treated ones. Problem being that you can't "turn it off". Get an air-locker for the front.......you'll spend that much extra anyway when you break the CV's over and over.

When the application suits, Detroits are a good thing....but not for the front of a Lux.

I have a detroit in the front of my GU it will pull a little bit under power, but not anything worrying you can turn ok with them unlike air lockers, and you don't have to remember to turn the buggers ON!
I like them and will use them in all my 4b's in the future.

At the end of the day the only way ur gona know what it would be like is to drive a car that has a detroit fitted. A lockrite works very similar and an air locker when engaged is locked up !00%. Either way it will be hard to steer but at lest with the air locker it can be switched off. Once you've had an air locker u wouldn't go back.

thanks for the feedback.

as always people will always have differing opinions on these things. some people like me swear by lockrites and reckon they r awesome if u know how to drive the car. others reckon they r a piece of shit and would never run them so......

Cheers for your input and i am keen to get out over the weekend and test it out. As for cv's, i am sure the original 88model cv's r pretty close to fuct anyways so once they break i will get chromoly ones. Cheers