Manioca35

Forgive me for being a noob on this, but here goes:

My 01 has the center diff lock. Do I really need to get an arb or similar? What's the difference? Is what I have useless for anything serious?

jacksonpt

I believe the center diff lock has to do with how power is distributed between the front and rear axles. When it is enganged, you are in full time 4wd. When it is disengaged, you are in standard 2wd.

A locker (like the ARB) is specific to one axle - meaning it controls a pair of wheels. When engaged both wheel on that axle turn at the same speed. This prevents one wheel from spinning freely (taking all the power) while the other wheel sits there not moving.

Does that make any sense?

calrockx

I think of it as when i push in the 4wd button, it's All Wheel Drive. when i push in the center lock button also, that's 4 Wheel Drive. AWD is for on road, like in snow and ice. 4WD is to be used only off-road.

Robinhood150

Not quite. Didn't you just say something about accuracy in another thread?

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

When you push the 4WD button on the transfer lever, and the transfer lever is set at H2/H4, you are engaging 4WD Hi-Range with the center diff in the open (unlocked) position. You can use this mode while on hard/paved surfaces without binding the driveline.

When you shift the transfer lever to H4L, you are still in Hi-Range 4WD but the center diff is locked. With the transfer lever in L4L, you are in Low-Range 4WD with a locked center diff. In both cases (H4L & L4L), it is not advisable to use this while on hard/paved surfaces as it will result in driveline bind, thereby increasing wear & tear of the front diff, transfer case, CVs, and tires.

HTH.

Mad Chemist

To answer his specific question about whether he needs a locker or not- depends on what you're looking to do. Don't let anyone convince you that you "have" to do anything on this board. It just makes alot of the members feel better about all the money they spent on their own mods they "had to have." Anywho, I think that with the center diff locked, you can still get one wheel on either the front or rear axle to break loose independent of the other, although you'll always have power going to both the front and rear. So, picture a situation where one side of your vehicle is in a muddy ditch (both right side tires in the mud). I think that even with the center diff locked, you'd still be stuck (both right side tires spinning away). A rear locker would likely be able to get you out of that situation by giving power to the left rear tire sitting on solid ground.

WATRD

There's an amazing amount of speculation and misinformation in this thread.

Commonly when you hear people speak of "lockers", they mean locking the differentials in the axles themselves, not in the transfer case. A center locking differential when locked, forces an equal amount of power to the front and rear axles. When unlocked, it's an "open" system, meaning it send the power to the axle that has the least traction, unless there is a traction control system on top of it. The idea behind having a center "differential" that unlocks is that it is safe to use the four-wheel drive system on hard surfaces. No binding between the front and rear will occur. On vehicles, like the Tacoma without center lockers, you can get binding in the drivetrain if torque cannot be released by wheel spin.

In order of traction;

2wd open axle
2wd locked axle
4wd open axle open center
4wd open axle locked center
4wd locked axle locked center

Locking your center puts you on even footing with a Tacoma where the center is always locked. You will still need lockers in the axle(s) to turn that beast into an offroad machine.

From Edmunds;

"Center locking differential and/or low-range gearing: Both of these features enhance vehicle control in extremely hilly or slippery situations. A center locking differential locks 50 percent of the engine's power to the front axle(s) and 50 percent to the rear axle(s), so as to optimize motive traction"

From Autotrader;

"Center-Locking Differential
On all-wheel drive vehicles, a third differential in addition to those for the front and rear axles. This third differential allows the front and rear wheels to turn at different speeds as needed for cornering on dry pavement. On slippery surfaces, it sends equal power to both axles, either automatically or manually depending on the system, for greater traction. "