>"Lockers" in the 4wd arena are usually an air actuated axle lock,
>limited slip becomes no slip(POSI) when it's engaged. If the axles were
>always locked, they would wear the gears and tires out on hard pavement,
>mostly during turns. Thats why 4wds have limited slip axles for the
>street and usually, but not always, some sort of locker for off road.
>Alan S.
>
>From: Thomas Wood <twood1@pheaa.org>
>Dumb question time. I have 97 v6 4x4 with the LSD axels. I keep hearing
>talk of "lockers". What is the difference between limited slip and
There are no dumb questions. (Iīm not saying there arenīt dumb people!)
Alanīs mostly right. I would hazard a guess that most lockers sold today are
Detroit lockers. These use two surfaces with notches and ridges, that are held
in contact by a big spring. They allow slip when enough torque is applied
(as on
dry pavement). Doesnīt do great things for the ride. The ultimate "locker" is
whatīs called a spool - the two axles are welded together, with no differential
slip at all. Drag racers use them in a straight line, but theyīre not
streetable.
We Dakota owners canīt use a Detroit locker on the front diff though, because
the diff (at least since ī89) spins all the time. If they ever make one, I
hope to
put an ARB AirLocker in my front diff....
A conventional limited slip differential is a regular differential, with a
clutch pack
thatīs engaged by centrifugal force whenever one wheel spins more than the
other. They will spin a little bit before they "catch". Thatīs not
desirable when
youīre doing serious rock crawling off-road. You really want torque NOW --
with NO slip. There are a few exotic diffs out there, the Torsen, as used
in the
HMMV (AM General Hummer), and the Quaife diff (aftermarket Porsches and a
few other applications). Most of these use worm gears to get torque to go
one way, but not the other. I donīt think these would work up front either,
as youīd get torque steer.
The air locker is a conventional diff most of the time, but when you apply
compressed air, it locks the two axles together. Flick a switch for whichever
mode you want.
Jim
ī93 4x4 V8
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