locked diff findings

[VH commodore]

i have read alot of discussion's/arguments on the subject of locked diffs. i have 2 cars with lockers, my vh and my celica heres my findings

to no surprise there is an increase in tyre wear. obviously the rear but also the front as when u turn sharply the rear wants to go straight and the front is trying to turn and causes the tyres to roll under the wheel etc...also slight increase on the turning circle because of this. any1 that says there is no increase in wear is lying! its obvious...when u turn sharp u can see skid marks from your tyres, thats rubber peoples!!

driving in the wet...to me makes it no more dangerous...if u do try to induce some oversteer and ur inexperienced i can see how it can be dangerous but thats your own fault...in saying that it is a hell of alot easier to hold it out sideways as u can predict what's going to happen and control it (i recommend keeping this activity to the track!!)

Diff lash! and annoying noises! this is annoying! unless u get your diff properly shimmed etc it will cluck around when u turn sharp with no load (eg, clutch in) the commodore is ok cuz its auto there always load on the diff but u can still hear it sometimes. once u get up to speed u dont even notice it most the time. over time i have started to notice random noises from the rear that didnt used to be there, id say my bushes are starting to flog out from the stresses.

i locked the celica diff just to see what its like and i am putting an open center diff back in this weekend as its annoying me too much and its a daily driver. the commodore diff was locked purely for traction as i was sick of spinning a wheel off the line. anyways thats just what i have found over the months of having lockers, peace!

 

[padrickz88]

For traction = fantastic
Tyre wear: on my fronts i haven't noticed any.... on the rears, well they dont last long enough :driving:
Cornering in the wet: Fine, actually better then a single UNLESS you push it, then you deserve what you get for being a dick
Cornering in dry: traction all the way

No clunking noises for me, but i do have the skipping noise if i take an extremely tight corner.... a general suburban street i can drive with no skipping most of the time


little tip, if you take alot of corner's and you want to hide the skipping, put 2 different tyre's on the back... usually 1 wheel slips a little without effort so it doesn't skip as much, obviously it depends on the tyre's

 

[vn calais manual]

my findings.


locked diffs FTW!

 

[Haydz]

thanks for the write up mate. i have been thinking about locked diff/lsd for a while now..



then i got motivated to take out the diff centre from my lsd. and im getting it fitting quite soon. so yeah.. thanks again mate.

 

[STEALTHY™]

On my findings of daily driving a locked diff car for 6 years(not months), no excess tyre wear, unless your using the car for the intended purpose of the locked diff. In which of course you'l be using your tyres.If you buy tyres, and not do a single skid, you wont use any.

I recently looked at my front tyres, and they still havn't shown any signs of wear, and they've been on the wheels over 2 years now (on a locked car for about 10,000, and 6000 on a non locked car) Rear tyres yes, its simple physics that there is wear.
My arguement is put said rear tyre next to a non locked cars tyre after the same amount of k's, and you wont be able to tell me which tyre can off the locked car.


Reputable diff builder = no backlash

 

[STEALTHY™]

thanks for the write up mate. i have been thinking about locked diff/lsd for a while now..



then i got motivated to take out the diff centre from my lsd. and im getting it fitting quite soon. so yeah.. thanks again mate.

You need to use an open wheeler housing, you cant spool an LSD housing.

 

[azkwazere]

im guessing you spooled it...

maybe you should have gone with a more "non-permanent lock" solution... say LSD or Lokka?

aZk.

 

[padrickz88]

LSD: Do a couple circle's and hen you worry if you have done damage
Spool: Never worry about the diff
Lokka: I'd get one, if i had a spare 600

 

[HDT_aero]

You need to use an open wheeler housing, you cant spool an LSD housing.

The housing is fine to use its the actual diff center that must be an open wheeler to spool an lsd housing can take an open center and therefore can end up being spooled with an standard center

 

[HDT_aero]

My experience with spools is 50/50 for and against spools do stress your suspension like a bitch and will cause you dramas in that department on the other hand you will never blow a spool ive taken out 3 axles and then spat some teeth out the housing but the spool went straight in the next diff un damaged lol

What was said in the first post is absolutly true im really at a loss to how stealthy can go around saying theres no noticable differance from a set of tyres with 10k kms on them from a spooled diff to a open wheeler im sure he probably thinks he goes around roundabouts and through servos without a single chirp too saying that you can make them last quite reasonably but I can guarantee they wont out last a set on an open wheeler driven in the same manner under the same conditions

one more note if your cars going to be driven on the streets this is not a legal option and the cops do know what to look for and will do you for it then when you remove it and take it down to the pits to get cleared the guy inspecting your car see's why you were defected and goes over your car with a fine toothed comb

But for burnout comps theres no other financially justifiable way lsd wont last too long and cost many times more than a spool and why spend big $$$ on a detroit locker to give it ****