Posted by Mike Hernke (mo) [162.158.75.235] on Friday, July 14, 2017 at 07:20:24 :
In Reply to: Decision Point: Lock-Right in Differential? posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.221.211] on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 14:32:52 :
I have had a lock-rite, ARB,detroit locker, and factory electric lockers in a jeep and I have over time found I prefer the detroit over the others. The lockrite and detroit operate the same way but the detroit is much stronger. In the back of anything with a reasonable wheel base they are pretty transparent on the road. In the front you can always use locking hubs. The big disadvantage to ARB or any other selectable locker is that when locked they are locked. No biggie in back but in front they make steering nearly impossible so you leave it off until you are already in a bind and then it may be too late. With an auto locker it is always there. I think the true best of all world would be a detroit locker with a selector to open.
One other thing to remember when discussing lockers is that an open differential splits torque 50/50 at all times. This gets confused but think of it this way when a wheel lifts it cant send any torque to the wheel in the air so no torque can go to the wheel on the ground. Still 50/50. A locker can send 100% of torque to either axle. A limited slip is a clutch mechanism between axles and when a wheel is completely lifted it allows a certain amount of torque bias so you get some torque to the wheel on the ground. There are many limited slip designs and some have a fixed bias and some are velocity sensing and can bias more torque the higher the axle speed differential. On new suvs and even farm tractors you will see claims that they can send 70% of power to any wheel that is a limited slip device. Also sometimes brakes are used individually to put a load on the spinning wheel. With this system only 50% of engine power makes it to the wheel with traction and the other 50% is turned to heat in a brake rotor. For situations other than a wheel off the ground it isnt necassary to have 100% of power to one wheel and lockers arent truly necassary.
Follow Ups: