Well i've been thinking of ways to bypass paying 700 bucks for a locker and came up with this, i know its half-assed but it seems like it would work. Any input on if this will work or if there is another cheap solution is appreciated.

well anyways I was wondering if there are any aftermarket hubs for the rear axle to unlock it. I want to weld it up but dont really wanna drive with a welded rear all the time so i was thinking, if you weld it, and could get hubs, just unlock one and leave the other locked and viola its like an open diff (sorta) the road and once youre on the trail, its locked. I know this is kind of weird idea but it should work, right?

I understand you want to "permanently lock" the differential gears. And transfer its function to the hub ? Well, if you unlock the Freewheel Hub you get no drive to that wheel. The contralateral hub keeps that wheel turning. But you get a 4x2 somehow. Not sure, really if I´d want to drive on the road with only one wheel on the axle pushing.


Or ... well, no, 1st April´s passed.

its not even tuesday:flipoff2:

the purpose for the differential in the rear axle (or front for that matter), is to allow for the "differential" speeds that the tires will move when turning corners. but putting all of your driven force on one axle with a welded carrier is a sure fire way to blow up said carrier. it will drive very wierd as well always pulling to the connected side.

you will be much better off just driving with the welded carrier and deal with the tire squealing. it isn't that bad, i did it in my toyota for a long time, and other than some minor tire wear and irritating corner squeals it was no big deal.

You cannot drive very far on one rear axle before you have an accident. If the road is wet you'll not have enough traction to move away from rest. If the road is dry the truck will pull violently in one direction upon acceleration and in the opposite direction on decelleration or when making gear changes.
I also doubt very much if you will find any brand of freewheel hub that is worth a damn on the rear axle. Some cheapskate farmers in my area weld up the front diff and use hubs for the limited road work that the trucks do. It works for them but they are operating on very soft ground all the time.
Bill.

You guys suck!!!

What ever happend to "Give it a try, and come back with a report":evil:

-Jeff

I just pulled two axles off a 1990 Disco for spares and when I turned the diff' flange on the front one nothing happened, so I dropped the swivels off.

Some fecker had run the Disco with no short halfshaft for a very long time judging by the rust on the bolts.

At least it was the front, sorry it's no help to this thread though....

Mudplugga

You guys suck!!!

What ever happend to "Give it a try, and come back with a report":evil:

-Jeff

What happened was that some of us have either by design or necessity ,ie limping home with the rear difflock engaged after snapping one rear axle, given it a try, and are reporting back that it is not a good idea.
Even constant 4wd on the Disco wouldn't smooth out the lane changiing tendencies.
Bill.

I blew my spider gears on the con. Welded it on the trail and drove it for about six months after that. It handled different but was not that bad. Tires wear out quicker though. I say just weld it.

It would appear that asking the question was actually the smart part....

thanks for all the input, i never thought about how it would pull with only 1 driven wheel and the stress it would put on it, so if i do anything ill jsut weld it and drive it like that. For now itll stay stock. Maybe someday i can afford those damn ARB's

thanks

I don't know if you can still get the MacNamarra locker, where you screw one of the axles, in to lock the diff, out for normal diff. Would be a cheaper alternative.

No John, I rang McNamara's a couple of weeks ago about that and Jeff said they only ever made 3 or 4 of those type difflock for coil sprung Rover type diffs and no longer make them for leafers either. I am putting RangeRover axle assemblies uder a friends series 3 shorty and we hoped to re use his old style McNamara series difflock with longer axle shafts to suit the Rangey width, but McNamara don't have replacement axles for their discontinued products, and that includes the several redesigns of the air operated locker.
Bill.