Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I dare say this question has been answered before....1985 Narrow Track 1300cc 5speed, enquiring as to whether the front and rear diff centres are inter-changeable.
Wish to take rear Lock-Rite and put into the front and then weld the rear centre.
I know there are a lot of negatives as per this mod, however for now its cheaper than the outlay for a new air locker, and then the money can be spent in other areas.

I believe the answer is yes, but you need to do some swapping of the spider gears?

One simple way to find out would be to check if there are front and rear models of the lock-rite available, or if it is one unit for front and rear - that would answer your question right?

I believe the locker unit is the same both ends, but as gerg said, cant just swap without swapping the gears the axles slide thru..splines are different.. but I think welded rear with lock rite front is great idea

Cheers guys, i spoke to al "kermit" Duncan today and he said the same thing, the carrier will need to be swapped as the axle diameters differ. Thanks again for the quick reply, we're doing it this week, along with everything else.
Cheers again

You will be ok IF,

Being an 85 1.3 It was originaly fitted with a four pin front hemisphere

And if the lockright you have in the rear is of the type that uses the original side gears as couplers.

You will use the front hemisphere with the front side gears which gives the correct spline count ,

i dont mean to hijack the thrad but what is the nagatives to running lock rites in the front and rear, i remember someone telling me breifly but i forgot. cheers

lock right in front will only take effect when hubs are locked (eg offroad)
when locked you'll find the car won't turn as easily. traction increase will be awesome though.

lr in the rear will have effect 100% of the time except when going around corners on high traction surfaces (eg street). the traction and the turning causes the outer wheel to overrun the inner and unlocks the lr. the change from lock to unlock back to lock will be slightly noticeable and you'll need to adjust your driving accordingly.

welded rear is the same exept when going around corners, the outer cannot overrun the inner wheel and one will slip traction and chirp. increases tyre wear but not difficult to live with.

N*A*M wrote:welded rear is the same exept when going around corners, the outer cannot overrun the inner wheel and one will slip traction and chirp. increases tyre wear but not difficult to live with.

Don't forget that welding up the rear diff is way cheaper (cost is welding wire, plus diff gear oil)...

greyzook wrote:i dont mean to hijack the thrad but what is the nagatives to running lock rites in the front and rear, i remember someone telling me breifly but i forgot. cheers

I have a front lockright (powertrax..not the shitty ones) and its great. It is impossible to get it to unlock on a high traction surface like concrete or bitumen but on loose gravel and sand etc its fine...i can hardly notice it on the beach and when on the trails if it wont unlock, just give it a bit of gas and steer and it will unlock. I had one in the rear (the shitty lockright) but it shat itself so i got it welded again

whats wrong with the "other" lock rites, are they weak? what did you pay for your powertrax?

i say just weld the back. i love it and it was cheap.

the aussie dollar is strong so order powertrax lockright from america for USD$180