Schump

I have a 1992 v6 4wd yota truck, and spinning the inside tire in snow or mud or rain or whenever i leave my shop to go home on dry roads is getting old.
a hallmate in college at Virginia Tech had a sweet FJ40 and he got a locker diff for only $250 and said it was better than most in that you didn't have to measure lash and re-shim the diff once installed. granted, this was 11 years ago, but anyone have any reccomendations on brands for aftermarket locker diffs?
keep in mind, i'm in mid gearbox rebuild and then going to add a turbo and intercooler to my 16v A2 jetta, so my truck is still my daily driver!
also, any estimate as to how long it would take or any special tools needed?
(I have about $2500 or so in my overstuffed Crapsman box, oldest mechanic at our shop has a Snap Off freight train of a box f'ing stuffed w/ tools he doesn't mostly need cause he's too damned slow of a mechanic....granted, he's a good mechanic, but most good mechanics i know routinely turn MORE than 20 hrs/week!)

I'm quite mechanically inclined, 3000 hrs machine shop experience, rustored my 1973 914 2.0 and built race cars from scratch and did all dyno tuning for VT's Formula SAE cars 1995-1998. must've been born in a garage or something...1st time i remember spinning a wrench was re-ringing my go kart at age ~13.
feel free to post urls or #'s to where I can get a locker. as soon as I sort out my electrical situation (and buy a prob. nikon DSLR-got a xmas bonus and check from the rents for part of it) i'm going to work on getting more than 2WD out of my 4WD.
thanks!
Dave 'the parts pimp/whore' Schumpert

Jay351

Im pretty sure if you want to buy an LSD you will need to get sombody who is experienced in gears to set it up for you. There are only a few lockers that don't require any gear adjustments but I dont think they will work very well in your application. If you can keep an eye out for a JDM truck being parted out, they usually had factory LSD differentials.

Schump

aren't the only LSD's expensive as all hell, like what it cost for my centreforce clutch new from summit and the installation at the shop in mammoth, CA i worked at (i was planning on doing it myself tuesday, but managed to shatter my femur and crack my pelvis-bad street moto wreck caused by Ass Clown i was riding w/ who ducked me going into 100 degree lefty after i made him PROMISE no passing in corners, only on straightaways, mmmmmk?)
ARB air lockers are nearly $1000, right.
would a locker just not cooperate w/ pavement in corners?
my friend put it in his FJ and he still drove it on the street, but i don't think he was too worried about how he handled the pavement, that thing was the best Land Rover copy ever and it mauls all dirt in its path right off the freighter.
JDM...good idea! i know there's an importer near me...better look em up and make a call then.
that or steal the LSD out of pops' TRD Tundra!

Jay351

Well, if you plan on spending ALOT of time off road then a locked would be a good idea, but It doenst seem like the case. You can get a detroit LSD for a pretty good price, but it will need to be set up by a profesional.
Since its your DD an auto locker would probibly just piss you off, a full on selectible locker like ARB or an e-locker will not be usable on the street (full spool) So I would look into a LSD. iirc you can swap in the LSD from a toyota supra (older) but I would wait for sombody else to chime in on that one.

Targetnut

see if you can find a factory LSD in the junkyard. If not a street worthy LSD ain't going to be cheap. I'd recomend a detroit truetrac. But they are over $400 and you'll need carrier bearings. If your gears and pinion bearing are OK then you can leave the pinion in place. Pull the third member and yank the diff. swap over the ring gear to the new diff, press on the carrier bearings reinstall the diff and set the backlash and preload. Then reinstall the third member and you are under way. it's good to have a spanner wrench to set the lash and preload. check out the proceedure in the FSM.

one good thing about the truetrac is that it does not require special lubricant.

Schump

MO FO!
2 hrs after getting him on the alignment rack, still f'ing tie rods are frozen to the TRE's and there's no help in sight...had to cut the castle nut off thinking removing it from the steering knuckle and putting a new nut and vice grips on the end of it, the extra torque would let it twist... no matter HOW tight i make the vice grips on the center of the tie rod, no dice.
now to order another TRE from WorldSMACK! for tomorrow-the air hammer put too many dents in it, and a few threads got nicked with the cutoff wheel whilst removing the f'ing castle nut
oh well, i'm done venting...but any suggestions besides torching the poo out of it, more PB blaster, and cross my fingers?

as far as diffs go, i see the one my friend put in his old cruiser-a Loc Right.
still cheap i see.
is the detroit tru trac at all a limited slip or a locker? they're like $385, and the LSD's $619
is it not advisable to put a tru track in your daily driver mule?
the way downey describes it, it sounds kosher so long as the cockpit spacer isn't a complete morooon.
thankx for the help...just need to put together a build sheet and i think a locker/LSD is the next mod my yotabanger needs.
then wider steelies and bigger muds and BJ spacers and rr shackles and stuff.
on 29x9.50s he's pretty capable, but it would be more fun (eventually) on some 33x12.50's or so. by then i'll prob. toss the torque missing 12v heads for the 24v camry heads that bolt on...
all in due time...
but traction would be helpful first!

aviator

When I had my allignment done they had to torch the tierods for a while to get them to free up, this was after i'd soaked the whole thing twice daily for a week with various rust busting lubricants...
Got 'er done though...
as for the LSD thing for my money you can't beat factory parts when it comes to toyota (for most things)

Targetnut

The truetrac is a type of limited slip that does not use a clutch pack. It uses a system of gears that provide a certain amount of torque bias.
Here is a link to the eaton website
DetroitTruetrac

It works very well for daily driving but has it's limitations. It has the ability to direct torque to the wheel that is not slipping only as long as the slipping wheel still has some traction. If you lift a wheel off the ground it loses it's ability to send the torque to the other wheel. And the manufacturers says not to exceed 32" tire diameter.

I have one in my truck which is a 2WD with the low profile high grip tires I have I had issues with the rear axle wrapping up the leaf springs and chattering when pulling out hard. I fixed this by making some torque arms for the rear suspension. Overall the performance of the diff is very good. especially for spirited driving. with the tire and supension setup I have though it is not very good to drive in the snow.