Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I heard that from Dwayne yesterday at MR that they've ordered heap of steel and are shortly going to start production of Maxi Drive Lockers again

this is fantastic news for us Rover owners

I thought they sold the rights to TJM?

Someone can probably clarify , but I thought TJM lockers were rebadged Mcnumura Diff locks.

disco_owner wrote:Someone can probably clarify , but I thought TJM lockers were rebadged Mcnumura Diff locks.

Yeah thats what i thought, tjm copied the design of the mcnamara units but aparently they arn't as strong or something....

Great news if maxi lockers are back in action!!!!!!!

I know TJM pulled their lockers from the market due to "quality" issues.

AFAIK, maxi drive never sold their rights to TJM.....they were picked up by MR Automotive, they have slowly been sorting out what they need to start making the MD lockers again. I believe they will be starting with the Sals as this doesnt need a new center and would e the easiest to get off the ground production wise......

maybe someone should covince them to do a 30spline upgrade to the sals MD locker

cheers,
Serg

cookiesa wrote:I know TJM pulled their lockers from the market due to "quality" issues.

Yeah and probably due to "attitude issues" as well ... have you ever called Jack Macnamara and tried to hold a civil discussion with the man???? Not possible.

tjm locker was of Jeffs (McNamara)design but not built by him, it was done by tjm and they were using inferior materials hence the problems. Jeff is hard to talk to but builds the best locker around imho.

MR AUTO Will be making maxi-drive locka but only starting with Defender salisbury rear ones for now steel was delived last week of Oct and production was started shortly after first ones should be out by jan 2010 at the moment they are trying to source control valves
if more people show intrest in disco and rangie locka they will start production on them
Regards kelvin

discothrasher wrote:MR AUTO Will be making maxi-drive locka but only starting with Defender salisbury rear ones for now steel was delived last week of Oct and production was started shortly after first ones should be out by jan 2010 at the moment they are trying to source control valves
if more people show intrest in disco and rangie locka they will start production on them
Regards kelvin

wouldn't rangie and disco be in much higher demand than the sals

6.5 rangie wrote:

discothrasher wrote:MR AUTO Will be making maxi-drive locka but only starting with Defender salisbury rear ones for now steel was delived last week of Oct and production was started shortly after first ones should be out by jan 2010 at the moment they are trying to source control valves
if more people show intrest in disco and rangie locka they will start production on them
Regards kelvin

wouldn't rangie and disco be in much higher demand than the sals

yes they would be, but it takes alot more work and materials to do the rover type compared to the sals, so i guess they are going to cut their teeth on the sals and try and spread out some of the initial costs and getting some return....... just remember these use to sell world wide.

serg

uninformed wrote:cut their teeth

very apt.

Simo63 wrote:

cookiesa wrote:I know TJM pulled their lockers from the market due to "quality" issues.

Yeah and probably due to "attitude issues" as well ... have you ever called Jack Macnamara and tried to hold a civil discussion with the man???? Not possible.

Very possible. Have done it on several occasions.

x2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

uninformed wrote: yes they would be, but it takes alot more work and materials to do the rover type compared to the sals, so i guess they are going to cut their teeth on the sals and try and spread out some of the initial costs and getting some return....... just remember these use to sell world wide.

serg

Hi Serg,

why is the salisbury easier to make ?

isn't it the same design, just bigger ?

ashtrans wrote:

uninformed wrote: yes they would be, but it takes alot more work and materials to do the rover type compared to the sals, so i guess they are going to cut their teeth on the sals and try and spread out some of the initial costs and getting some return....... just remember these use to sell world wide.

serg

Hi Serg,

why is the salisbury easier to make ?

isn't it the same design, just bigger ?

The same design, but the sals is so strong the hemisphere doesn't need upgrading.

For the domestic market Sals locker, Maxi-Drive just machine one bearing land off the side of the sals hemisphere, then machine and spline the hole to accept a new, splined press-fit bearing land/carrier made from 4340. For the ROW market, they used to make a completely new case to put your old gears in.

In addition to the above, the locking dog is a simpler design - it has a male spline to mate with the female-splined bearing carrier. The rover type was the other way around, which made the locking dog a slightly more complex design.

Also, the install is slightly simpler since no template is needed.

what ben said

Ben has given a more accurate discription than i could have

Serg

uninformed wrote:...... just remember these use to sell world wide.

Well, sort of.... They never made a real dent as there seemed to be a crazy markup by the time they crossed the ocean. Hopefully the new guys will be able to fix that problem.

I'd love to have them like I had when I lived in Oz....

Any word on pricing?

red90 wrote:

uninformed wrote:...... just remember these use to sell world wide.

Well, sort of.... They never made a real dent as there seemed to be a crazy markup by the time they crossed the ocean. Hopefully the new guys will be able to fix that problem.

I'd love to have them like I had when I lived in Oz....

Any word on pricing?

Mal said he could never compete with the low prices that ARBs sell for in the US. He said he sold heaps of axles OS but very few lockers.

MR told a mate that they will be more expensive than MD lockers were.

well the USA isnt the rest of the world....although alot of the seppos like to think so....they did sell a fair few in the east and europe....considering total sales of MD lockers and how many went overseas they were still a seller.

he would never compete against arb for price in the USA....its a shame he didnt do some stuff for the ford 9 inch....

Serg

as there seemed to be a crazy markup by the time they crossed the ocean

No wonder...

well guys , I have to be the first , I've placed my order for front Maxi Drive locker with upgraded CV's axles and flanges from MR earlier in the week . They had a brand new Unit in the shop and I took this opportunity and went for it.

disco_owner wrote:well guys , I have to be the first , I've placed my order for front Maxi Drive locker with upgraded CV's axles and flanges from MR earlier in the week . They had a brand new Unit in the shop and I took this opportunity and went for it.

So is this NOS MD or the first of MR's production???

uninformed wrote:well the USA isnt the rest of the world....although alot of the seppos like to think so....they did sell a fair few in the east and europe....considering total sales of MD lockers and how many went overseas they were still a seller.

he would never compete against arb for price in the USA....its a shame he didnt do some stuff for the ford 9 inch....

Serg

However I would imagine the recreational 4x4 market in the US is larger than the ROW combined???

ISUZUROVER wrote:Mal said he could never compete with the low prices that ARBs sell for in the US. He said he sold heaps of axles OS but very few lockers.

This is what I did not understand. When I was in Australia, they were competitively priced. ARB+halfshafts+drive members was around the same price as a Rover style Maxi-Drive. And cheaper if you stopped by Mal's shop yourself..... He really just needed a good distributor. Perhaps they did not exist a few years ago, but I think you can find one now.

I'm just not a fan of the ARB. Installed one on Saturday in a friend's Disco. I'm not enthralled with the way they are designed.

ISUZUROVER wrote:However I would imagine the recreational 4x4 market in the US is larger than the ROW combined???

Possibly, but I doubt that holds for the Rover crowd. The big Rover market is in the UK.

ISUZUROVER wrote: So is this NOS MD or the first of MR's production???

I'm not quite sure to be honest, I suspect it could be a NOS MD locker , not a Post MR production

Preumably it must be a NOS MD if they are only looking at doing the rear sals to start with?

red90 wrote:

ISUZUROVER wrote:Mal said he could never compete with the low prices that ARBs sell for in the US. He said he sold heaps of axles OS but very few lockers.

This is what I did not understand. When I was in Australia, they were competitively priced. ARB+halfshafts+drive members was around the same price as a Rover style Maxi-Drive. And cheaper if you stopped by Mal's shop yourself..... He really just needed a good distributor. Perhaps they did not exist a few years ago, but I think you can find one now.

I'm just not a fan of the ARB. Installed one on Saturday in a friend's Disco. I'm not enthralled with the way they are designed.

it comes down to volume of sales and what the market will allow you to sell a product at.....i know that Mal was making very little on his lockers, but made better on his axles.

when the dollar is right guys here buy there ARB's from the USA and ship them over, total is still cheaper than buying here....... hey produce on such a large scale that there buying power keeps costs down and they can afford to invest in the machinary to mass produce accuartely at a cheaper cost....

MD was 3 people, ocassionaly 4, Mal, Paula, Barry + 1.....Barry is still making all the MD axles and drive flanges.

my comment re the ford 9 was that this diff is used in so many applications, if he had built axles, hemispheres lockers etc he may have been able to produce on a larger scale to break into the USA market.....but did he want to....didnt bother him.

just remember this is a guy that had been there done that before alot of us were born......he had built his first rear steer rig with cutting brakes in the 60's

Serg

Micka wrote:

Simo63 wrote:

cookiesa wrote:I know TJM pulled their lockers from the market due to "quality" issues.

Yeah and probably due to "attitude issues" as well ... have you ever called Jack Macnamara and tried to hold a civil discussion with the man???? Not possible.

Very possible. Have done it on several occasions.

6.5 rangie wrote:x2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

NOT POSSIBLE!
Poor bloke is stuck in a giant muffled bubble too by the sounds of it