kevyg

Howdy pardners! So I've been reading a lot of threads here and on jeep sites about the aussie locker or other auto lockers being dangerous on icy trails, mainly because if both tires get power and spin, the truck will start to slide toward the lower side of the trail, or understeer at best, which could be dangerous. A lot of people only run 2wd in the snow/ice if they have the auto locker up front.
Their argument is that in icy conditions an open diff would be better up front because the tire that isn't getting the power is able to keep traction/position by not spinning, and keep the truck moving in the right direction. Like a rudder I suppose. That all makes total sense to me!
Wait the question is yet to come...

My plan for my 1990 4runner dd is to install manual hubs and an aussie up front. That way I can unlock the hubs and city/hwy drive with no ride quality change whatsoever. Then, lock the front hubs and engage when i need it. <<<There are some really great reasons on the lokka website for running front over rear if you're doing one locker. Agree/disagree?
http://www.lokka.com/site/faq >>>
HERE'S THE QUESTION:
If i run the setup described, and find myself on that slippery hillside trail, could i simply lock one front hub only, to get drive up front, and yet leave one wheel free to track? I don't think it would be bad for the locker because its designed to allow one wheel to go faster, which basically is the same as loading one side only. The real question then is which side to lock? The side lower or higher? Closer to the outside or the inside of a turn?
What do you think?

JasonYota

iTrader: (1)

Welcome from Alabama.
I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on this also

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

i am running front and rear aussies..

locked up front tends to keep pulling straight even with the wheels turned, when i was stationed in alaska, it would have sucked.


haven't tried the unlock one hub thing...a lot of people think it is a crock of stinky stuff to unlock a hub like that.

To do it over i would have put a selectable upfront IE- ARB or E-locker

a quick glance at that website doesn't show anything about unlocking one hub in the front and being good to go.

kevyg

Thanks for responding

I just posted the FAQ because I wondered peoples thoughts about choosing a front over a rear. Yeah, nothing about unlocking one side. Are there some threads here about unlocking one side?

After thinking about it some more, you wouldn't even need to have manual hubs… you just interrupt the signal to the ADD, leaving the driver's side axle disengaged. The passenger side would get drive regardless with the auto-locker.

Canyonboy

so ADD disconnects the Aussie locker from left drive shaft in 2WD with auto locking hubs? some posts disagree. it would be a nice solution to gain a part-time front locker. am i missing something?

I have a gen 3 with the Torsen center diff. I guess I don't understand exactly what 4WD does with the the ADD, front and center diffs. I thought 4WD justs activates the ADD so the the front half axles are joined. In other words, the front driver shaft, and front half axles are always turning.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Personally I think the nature of ice is your gonna slide. Run chains and have a winch if wheeling. Stay home if roads are iced. If your off camber on ice the benefits of an open dif front is marginal at best. The traction co-efficient is so low that regardless once you slide chances are you've already broken traction on the other wheel. Locked front and rear will benefit you more for wheeling the rest of the year unless you exclusively wheeling on ice. Then have studs out in your tires or chains. Either lockers or open is gonna give marginal traction gains.

kevyg

I think the gen 3 ADD disconnects the passenger axle, as the front driveshaft changed sides in the redesign. On the 2nd gen (and i assume the 3rd as well) the halfshafts (or c/v axles if you prefer) are never UN-locked from the wheel hub. So there are no real "auto-locking" hubs… because they're never unlocked, not to say that they're not called that (i just think it's misleading). That means when a front wheel turns, that c/v turns. So to keep from spinning the front drive shaft incidentally while rolling in 2wd, which would happen with an open diff and both wheels spinning same direction (for example: driving forward toyota developed a mechanism to separate a stub shaft on one side, effectively disconnecting one c/v from the front diff. Then the side that isn't disconnected just spins the spider gears and the stub shaft (in the opposite direction- open differential). And that allows the front driveshaft to be still. Thanks for the response

Which brings up another question for the Lokka...

With only a front auto-locker installed, while driving in 2wd, the c/v that isn't disengaged via ADD is spinning the Lokka, which replaced the side gears and spiders. The pin goes through the Lokka, holding it one-to-one with the carrier (which is bolted to the ring gear which is geared to the pinion, which is bolted to front driveshaft) So in this case, driving in 2wd, does the lokka spin the front driveshaft? I say yes.. as soon as it comes I will know for sure

kevyg

Right on That makes sense to me. I just saw a lot of different posts about the negatives of locking out on ice, which gave me the idea/question. thanks!!

Canyonboy

That agrees with other posts. If so, then seems like it is easier to add the ARB rather than the Aussie and the manual hub(s). Or just stick the Aussie in the rear. Unfortunate, though, that would've been a great solution for a front locker if no manual hubs necessary.

deesmckee_ak

I agree with muddpigg, I have lived in Alaska my whole life, snow, ice, freezing, thawing, freezing again. If you are on sheer ice and there is any slope to one direction or the other, even a very slight one, you ARE going to slide whether all 4, 2, 3, 9 or however many tires you have are spinning or not. I have seen trucks come to a stop and THEN slide sideways into the ditch (begin sarcasm font) because the driver farted the wrong direction. (end sarcasm font)

I'm not saying that the ideas here won't help, but if you're on sheer ice, they won't help much. Chains, studs or winter tires are going to be the answer if you want traction on the icy trails, and of course, bring plenty of recovery gear.