Detroit Lockers

Been looking around today, randomly, and this is what it says about detroit lockers...

Conventional open differentials tend to equalize the power delivered through both wheels. Thus if one wheel loses traction - "spins out" on snow, mud, sand, or gravel - it delivers very little power to the ground. The other wheel will deliver only the same very little power. Often this is not enough to keep the vehicle moving on - it's stuck.

The Detroit Locker keeps the wheels locked together (except when turning) so that together the left and right wheels, always deliver maximum traction to the ground; neither wheel can spin out.

They allow different wheel speeds in a turn by disconnecting the faster - moving wheel (usually the outside wheel - driven faster throughout the turn), driving the vehicle with the other (inside) wheel.

Click to expand...

So does this mean it stops the diff being locked when it goes around corners? And how does that work? I'm confused.


lil-landy

The Detroit locker is basically a limited slip diff. It has a clutch pack it in that allows some slip when you corner but is basically 'locked' under normal conditions.

Personally I think you would fit a 'proper' locking diff much better. Limited slip diffs (LSD) are useful in speed applications but for most other off road situtions a diff that you can physically lock and unlock give you far more control.

HTH

Thanks. And I wasn't getting ready to buy one. I don't have any money

Detroit are really good coz you don't have to fit a load of extra gubbins to the landy to have them, it's just plug and play - and they do the job they are supposed to really well. Some people say they will badly affect the handling round corners (increase the landy's propensity to go straight on) but i think that's just coz they drive too fast!

They only go on the back (although thre is a different not so strong one you can put on the front) but if you put the normal one on the front you really will struggle to go round corners!

The Detroit Locker will not permit a wheel turn more slowly than the ring gear. If your centre differential is locked and you're giving the engine some throttlr, then both of the rear wheels will turn at least as fast as the ring gear is turning. On the road, the Detroit automatically senses differentiation and unlocks in turns by letting the outside wheel turn faster than the ring gear and the inside wheel. Detroit Lockers are suitable for use only in the rear axles on full-time 4WD Land Rovers.

The Detroit Truetrac is a torque biasing limited slip differential. With a Truetrac, when one of the tyres starts spinning faster than the other due to a lack of traction, the worm gears on that side screw out and start to press against the inside of the case, which causes it to slow down (or prevents it from speeding up depending upon how you look at it) and in the process prevents the torque in the powertrain from being dissipated via the path of least resistance. Think of torque in the powertrain as electricity, it will always follow the path of least resistance. Torque will do exactly the same thing, which is why an open diff operates exactly opposite from how you would want it from functioning off road and also why a traction enhancing diff works so effectively (especially in a vehicle that originally had open diffs). Many people do not know that when an open diff looses traction and starts to over run the other side, if it has no resistance, it will spin at twice the input speed. This is why cross shafts have a hard time with aggressive off road driving i.e. they can't handle the shock loads of the torque transfer. Truetracs have a 3 to 1 torque biasing ratio. In other wordws a Truetrac can transfer about 75% of the available torque to the tire with traction. This is less than a full locking diff, which can transfer 100% but it's a damn site more than zero i.e. an open diff. There are Truetracs for the front and Truetracs for the rear. The gears in the Truetracs are cut primarily for strength and are directional. Although they allow for reverse rotation, example reversing etc, the front units must be used in the front axles and rears in rears.

i have a truetrac in the rear of my racer and its brilliant. As i use it on the road i thought it was the best option as i didnt want to fit the automatic locking version.
I will eventually get one for the front when my old rangey diff blows up. Its doing well so far though!