Scott in Bellingham Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 woulding what a locked diff would do up front thinkun for offroad, whose done it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I seem to remember a thread in the off-road section on this recently -- the consensus is that it would be very hard to steer, but work otherwise. Locking the rear has much less effect on steering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 locked diff up front - would that have to be welded or is there another way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 In the wheeling world, its best to have your front locked and your rear open if you had to pick only one. This is for technical, low speed crawling or obsticles. Pros: The tires with the most weight over them, has the most traction & pull you over obsticles. Cons: Steering is going to be a ***************. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 thats what a buddy of mine told me , he has air lockers front and rear and locks the front whenever theres snow , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 In the wheeling world, its best to have your front locked and your rear open if you had to pick only one. This is for technical, low speed crawling or obsticles. Pros: The tires with the most weight over them, has the most traction & pull you over obsticles. Cons: Steering is going to be a ***************. it's a matter of preference. I prefer rigs with a locked rear, as the end with the least weight over it tends to lift a wheel first, and therefore needs the locker first. also, when hillclimbing, all the weight transfers to the back, so having both fronts spinning just doesn't help enough. but, I've never driven a rig with manual lockers front and rear to try different setups independent of other factors (we've got a couple jeep guys in our club that swear by locked fronts....but it's hard to say if a different suspension setup might be responsible for what I'm feeling). when it comes down to it, we all drive our rigs on the street (not necessarily daily....but non of them are trailer queens), and are too cheap for manual lockers.....so pretty much all of us have locked rears (no...not me, yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Ya know, there is a thread on here somewhere about front LSDs... the Legacy/impreza LSDs that you can buy aftermarket (clutch type, viscous type) are available and will fit in the EA gearbox... Apparently the EJ 5mts and EA5mts have the same front diff... -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 i would like one of those if it didn't require removing the transmission and there was better feedback on reliability. i'm not interested in something that isn't worthy of a daily driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 The way I see it, if youre taking the trans apart to weld the front diff, thats cool as long as its never going to be street driven, I could see possible issues with that... But if it could be a multi purpose vehicle, then a good quality LSD would be the thing to swap in, although they are not cheap, I think i read the cheapest one was over 400 bucks which is why I will probably just run welded rear diffs and open fronts, until I build the subframe for my Brat, and run a T case, then I can have a rear LSD in the front and a welded rear -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 im not speaking out of experience since I have never had a locked diff (on a non RC car anyway) but I know that on the EA series vehicles, some people have had ok luck with dual e-brake handles so they can put some resistance on the spinning front tire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 also, when hillclimbing, all the weight transfers to the back, so having both fronts spinning just doesn't help enough. Spinning is bad. Crawling is the name of the game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4_Welder Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 My wife's Wagoneer has a Detroit locker up front and an open rear diff- I really dislike that setup. It's impossible to steer under power in mud and snow, since both tires want to go the same speed. It just plows straight. Ideal setup is a good automatic locker in the rear, with a selectable in the front. I don't think ARB has one for a Subaru though- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Scott.. I recently welded up a diff on a FWD XT. Care was taken in the process and it was welded properly (tig welded with a similar alloy). I don't have any results as to running an open 4wd with it obviously cause it doesnt have one. I can tell you that its not as bad as one might think driving with a locked front end. Traction is way better, and believe it or not it doesnt complain too much when you drive it on the street. on another note though... TWO HANDS ON THE WHEEL. even with power steering even the smallest rock in your way jerks the wheel one way or another. It does tend to have understeer problems in tight hairpin corners, but it didnt seem any worse to me than driving in a normal 4wd suby locked in 4wd. -Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 woah - awesome! man, did you create a thread, notes, or share more about that somewhere? i'd love to see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 woah - awesome! man, did you create a thread, notes, or share more about that somewhere? i'd love to see that. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=96347 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 , and believe it or not it doesnt complain too much when you drive it on the street. on another note though... TWO HANDS ON THE WHEEL. -Mike Thank You Mike tell me more about the on streetableness and also what rims tires you runnin ? and thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 The car gets its tires changed depending on conditions alot. Sometimes its running stock 13" alloys with herculies 170/70r13 somethingerather tires.. other times its running 15" redrilled toyota rims, with winterforce snow tires mounted on them. (205/60r15 studs removed, excellent for rallying and still street legal) Tirewear is increased if your doing a lot of city driving. If your highway driving I dont think it makes a darn bit of difference. Oversteer isnt really noticable if your driving on the same streets everyone else is. Riding passenger, I havent observed any turns where he had to stop and back up and make it a 3 pointer. There is actually BETTER turning if your going in reverse on dirt,(probably because the inside tire will be turning faster than it should, kicking the trailing end out.) but its not like we use that maneuver all the time so who cares. I would not recommend going with tires any larger than the 205/60R15 on street. Unless you have an EJ in there, your simply going to run out of horsepower on low speed tight turns, and the drivetrain will get angry at you. If your going on dirt only, low gear equipped, Id say sure, try an all terrain and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 In the wheeling world, its best to have your front locked and your rear open if you had to pick only one. This is for technical, low speed crawling or obsticles. Pros: The tires with the most weight over them, has the most traction & pull you over obsticles. Cons: Steering is going to be a ***************. You are assuming that the front's have more weight on them. Which for most empty pickups and SUV's is true. But for something with a more equal weight balance (like some subaru's, especially wagons with a bunch of stuff in the back , I'd think that the rear would have equal weight, especially going up a hill as the weight transfers to the back. Oddly, my friend's 1980 scount has exactly 50/50 weight balance... not sure how, as it has a 800lb V8 in the front, but it is a 5,000 lb truck too... He has the locker in the rear, and an open front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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