Posted by Russ/Wyo on Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 2:56PM :
In Reply to: Re: Lock-right lockers posted by Doc Dave on Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 2:38PM :
If you gas it hard going around a corner, the rear tires will squeal pretty good because the locker is engaged. The rear will break loose on slippery surfaces easier, so you have to be a little bit more cautious. Mostly, I don't notice much difference on dry paved roads.
Lockers in the front differential are a whole different story though. They really make a huge difference in driving effort when the front differential is engaged, so I usually rely on 2-wheel drive as much as possible (which is most of the time with the rear locker). You can run in low range, 4-wheel drive with the front hubs unlocked to allow easier steering while rock crawling at extra slow speeds, but you have to get out and engage the hubs whenever you need 4X4. A better method, which I have on my '67 Scout is to have a twin stick transfer case that allows the front and rear drives to operate independantly. You can then put the front differential in neutral most of the time while the rear is in 4-low, then simply engage the front differential when needed by moving one lever. The caution here is that it's possible to put the front in high or low range 4X4 while the rear is in low or high range 4X4, which stresses the drive train very badly on hard surfaces. Another advantage of the twin stick transfer case is being able to run with the front differential only with the rear differential in neutral - useful when you break a rear axle or driveshaft and you need to get back to camp.