If you are one of those adrenaline junkies who take the path less traveled instead of the frequented one, to ensure the safety of your 4X4 vehicle, you need locking differentials. Commonly known as diff lockers, these tools are installed on the front and rear wheels so that these can circulate power to the wheels while traversing through the adverse terrains. The differentials give power with the least resistance and useful if the wheels lose traction in mud, dirt, gravel, or sand. Even if one wheel has no traction, the other with minimal traction can spin ineffectively to avoid any accident.
Here are its benefits:
The lockers enhance the capabilities of the vehicle by providing the driver an ability to unlock or lock differentials accordingly while capturing the entire torque available and distribute that to both sides of the axle.
The Diff lockers help drivers maintain momentum while driving off-road to navigate safely without losing control over traction. This is helpful whether you are a casual traveler or towing on any slippery surface.
Lockers help the driver to stop the differential to spin the right and left wheel of the axle without depending on each other so that both the wheels can spin uniformly irrespective of traction.
Placements Of Differential Lockers
There are three places of the 4X4 where you can install diff lockers –
Center Differential Lockers –Installed between the front and the rear differentials in the 4WD vehicles and all-wheel drives, the center differentials split power equally to front and rear, not each side of the axles. The center differential locker will help driving to the rear and front axles.
Front Differential Lockers –If the vehicle has LSD (Limited Slip Differential), go for a front differential locker only. These are efficient in climbing uphill, moving over a rock ledge, or passing a muddy hole.
Rear Differential Lockers –The most popular options used in having open differentials vehicles in diverse off-road situations, the rear diff lockers will most affordable and efficient in keeping good flex and grips on the surface.
The best option, however, is to install lockers on both front and rear axles to get superior steering ability even if the weight is on the front axle.
Selectable Lockers
You will have manuals control over a selectable locker as it lets you decide when to unlock and lock the differentials to alleviate stress on the drivetrain components of the vehicle. Check out the ELockers that utilize electrical magnets, Pro Lockers that use compressed air, and the Air Locker that uses an onboard compressor to supply air.
The advantages of selectable diff lockers include quiet operation, instant traction, manual turning on and off, reduced wear on components of the vehicle, compressed on-board air supply with an air locking mechanism, and the ability to lock one or both axles easily while running lockers.
The cons are that these tend to get more expensive than automatic ones and you have to spend money on maintenance of wiring and air-lines.
Automatic Lockers
Apparently, the automatic lockers keep the differentials locked always unless you apply enough cornering force for releasing the lock from the differentials. These diff lockers help the wheel to take a faster turn than the differential action speed but prevent the wheel from turning slower than the differential and the engine’s rotational speed or traction. If the engine is driving it, the wheels cannot stop but are forced to turn faster while cornering.
The advantages include automated locking and unlocking of differentials, affordability, and no need for wires or air-lines as these are completely mechanical.
There are a few disadvantages such as these can get noisy, affect the drive characteristics, increase wear on the components and you will not have any control over locking mechanism or steer until disengagement.
So, what makes the lockers so indispensable? When you add lockers, they circulate equal drive to both the wheels on the axis. No matter how the traction or terrain changes? This is applicable to both automatic and selectable diff lockers to the front and rear as they help your vehicle overcome obstacles on the path with the least or zero wheelspin.
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