Thread: Diff lockers... Worth it?

Had a couple of trips where I've become straddled and lost traction with a wheel in the air.

80series has the factory centre diff but open front and rear.

Question I have, Is it work getting diff locks fitted. Modifications so far include: snorkel 2inch lift in coils, front bar/winch, recovery points front and rear and a decent set of tyres. Use the truck for work but dont push it's 4wd abilities there unless it's dumped a bit of snow. Do use it most weekends for trips away.

Anyone been down this road? Been spending a lot of time of you tube and wondering....

You've got all the recovery gear so personally I wouldn't bother sinking in more money you'll never get back unless you don't care and really want them.

Main reason I waited until I found a triple locked 80 series.

Originally Posted by Nibblet

You've got all the recovery gear so personally I wouldn't bother sinking in more money you'll never get back unless you don't care and really want them.

Main reason I waited until I found a triple locked 80 series.

Good advice.
Bloody hens teeth those, must have been waiting a while

Originally Posted by 223nut

Good advice.
Bloody hens teeth those, must have been waiting a while

Strangely not.
Managed to pick one up for $9000 in the end too. Wasn't perfect but went well, only issues were user error caused and was nice when I sold it.

My 2 cents having had a tripple locked 80 and a lsd front and rear in a ln106 lux is if you want a locker put an auto locker in the rear,I wouldnt retrofit a factory electric it will cost you more and be less reliable.
95% of the time having the rear locked will do what you need and usually the other 5% of locking the front just gets you deeper in the shit.

Replaced a LSD rear end with an ARB air locker - best thing ever. Some days you just don't want to give it a bootful to get the free spinning wheel some help.
Having the ability to crawl over an obstacle, and not having to get out the winch is worth it, especially if it's chucking it down.
As for a front locker too - did not see the need, and talking to those who had done it, it was often troublesome, especially when you wanted to turn a corner with the locker engaged.

Also dont forget ye oldy left foot braking techniques!
Is yours 4 wheel disk braked? rear lsd?
Often if only slightly crossaxled you can carry on/get out by keeping the two wheels spinning and applying the foot brake.
This works because Toyota LSDs squeeze up the clutchpack inside the diff harder the more torque is being put threw it, so if one wheel is fully off the ground it only has spring pressure on the clutch pack and does nearly nothing but putting your foot on the brake while keeping some power on/wheelspin up does two things, it loads up the diff with torque making the clutch pack tighten up and supply drive to the wheel with traction but also and this is the bit that is cool as it works even with fully open diffs.
Disk brakes especially do not hold a stationary disk with as much force as a rotating one(why often the handbrake is a small drum brake inside the disk) so applying the foot brake while spinning wheels puts a lot of torque across the diff to the non spinning wheel that altho being braked also is not being held back as efficiently as the other side so you move forward....try it it works.
Its not as good as difflocks of course but can get you unstuck a lot of the time.

I spend my day driving around in a 10ton 4wd with all the bells n whistles difflock wise on a simple dial.
1st place 2wd 1 wheel spin = stuck
2nd place 4wd 1front one back spin =stuck
3rd place rear locked 1 front both back spin = stuck
4th all spin together = bogged big time
THE fourth option is mainly used in heavy worked/rutted ground as it smooths the ride as front cant drop as held by rear and vice versa.
90% of time rear locted up will get me through crap by locking it up and gunning it BEFORE hitting wet spot
cant really see full lockup being super handy unless doing loads of river work to smooth out boulders
oh yeah other time I use full lock up is when I want to go hands free or step out and step on fence for truck to drive over on its own,as it keeps on going in straight line.
hope that helps .

Cheers for the advice guys.

Having spent a bit more time on ou tube and reading reviews, rear locker seems to be where it is at.

Vc drum brake on the back discs up front, have tried the left foot braking, it helps in places but sometimes you just know it ain't going to work...

Cams on to it with the left foot braking.
I've always found it to work better cadence style.

My 105 series had ARB airlockers in the front and rear. Bloody fantastic things, and I would put them in my 100 series if I could justify the money. I didn't use them often, but when I did they got me out of the sh*t and saved me a long walk home. In the three winters I owned it we were doing quite a lot of new planting in the high country, so I was putting chains on all four corners and towing 1-1.5 tonne trailer around in very steep tussock country loaded with tree seedlings. Diff locks were amazing for this. They do tend to encourage you to push a little bit further if you aren't careful, but I never really got caught out properly. I only got properly bogged once all locked in and that was trying to be a good samaritan and trying to snatch an old guys safari out of an estuary which he'd bogged to its door sills, it was soft as a chocolate pudding and even the tractor that came to pull him out had a hell of a job getting that safari out. I got myself out with a spade and a few manuka bushes to drive on.

If getting stranded with one wheel in the air is your main drama, try less air pressure and a bit more momentum to carry you over the obstacle/hump/hole. Do you still have sway bars? If so look into sway bar disconnects as more wheel travel would potentially overcome this, and disconnects would be waaay cheaper too.
If looking at auto lockers I would go for one in the front first as long as you have free wheeling hubs as it has no effect on road handling and drivability, but it can have an adverse effect on steering when engaged, (mine does) but disengaging one free wheeling hub can over come this.
With a rear auto locker, if you like to power around corners on the open road that can cause the auto locker to engage and encourage the vehicle to want to go straight ahead.
Having said that, driving through corners without being 'under power' the auto locker shouldn't engage. So adjusting your driving style may be enough to counter this

Cheers Roktoy, 80series is full time 4wd so can't disconnect a front hub but I like that idea. Would opt for a manual locker rather than auto. Leaning towards rear rather than front for steering issues. Hadnt thought about sway bars.... Something else to think about