Auburn pro series limited slip differantial

[Elbert]

Offroad I drive generally with the front hubs locked and 4wd disengaged, and then engage 4wd when needed, of course the rear is engaged all the time. Roma I don't know why you should have any impact really when in 2wd and front hubs engaged.. I think Auburn use to make a non-pro version and recently they only offer the "pro" version of their lsd for the LC. I think I'm right or read where the pro version is more aggressive than the older non-pro version. (I have a dual shifter setup for my transfer case from valley hybrids, which I'm added some longer shifter arms to make shifting easier). This dual shifter makes moving from 4wd to 2wd and from low to high range easier and smoother than stock setup.

I have an Aussie locker in the front (now at present time) and I've driven many hours/days off-road. With the front hubs locked and 4wd off...its like driving normally, with hubs locked and 4wd on....steering hard corners or moving slow become an issue and so you have to turn 4wd to make hard turns at times, unless you are on soft-ground.

Again I'm saying the LSD offers limited use as a traction aid off-road especially at slow to crawl speeds. You certainly do not want wheel spin on the rocks nor wheel hopping (of course it happens but best to be under control). Also if a tire gets off the ground....an LSD is done.

LSD is just a poor choice off-road.... I'm not down on it but want to point out what it does and does not do, as the units are fairly expensive. When I had both Auburn units in my 60 and things were locked and 4wd on...I went wherever I could, I don't recall any real negative impact to the steering, certainly not comparable to mechanical or selectable lockers impact.

If you want an LSD, then Auburn is about your only choice. For many of the things I do off-road...an LSD does not help and a locker like the aussie or powertraxx or ARB is the better choice. The "cool" part about an ARB is that when you turn it off the rear end behaves like an open carrier and so no bad manners...the mechanical locker never turns off in the rear and so you have some compromises with regard to some bad manners on the street, once you understand the mechanical lockers behavior it becomes a non-issue for the most part.

Need to go ride with someone so you feel & see the impact and operation of a locker vs the LSD. Offroad a locker will allow you to climb something you have no chance with an LSD..if you want those types of traction aids....then thats where you have to go.

I'm not inferring my 60 is some kind of rock-crawling machine...its not, but I went from an LSD to a locker for a reason....pure capability enhancer.

As I noted previously....the smaller the tire the more feedback and impact from a locker....tire size really has an impact...the smaller the tire...the more impact is felt from the locker or LSD..(my view & my experience) , as the tires grow larger the aggressive nature of the traction aid is muted to some degree (thats what's I've noticed from having both on 31 then 33 and then 35inch tires).

 

[roma042987]

Mine may certainly and probably actually is the older auburn unit. I'm installing a full float in the back of my 40 next week and just waiting on the cable conversion for the used to be elocker third. I'd much rather have another cable locker up front if I had another elocker third but for now the I'll put up with the auburn.

 

[ScottT]

When the hubs are unlocked the auburn lsd should have absolutely no effect on your steering. When in 4wd with the hubs locked the steering will jerk back and forth with each time the locker engages. This can tend to slide you downhill (into a rut) if you don't turn the wheel up a bit. If the terrain is mild you can just let it seek its own path by holding the wheel losely. When I wheeled with one of tlca clubs, my 60 with auburn lsd would outclimb most of the other lc's in the club on loose rock with no muss and no fuss. No big run at the hill. With that said, arb's or cable lockers would be my choice for off road. The same steering problems would be magnified with a fully locked front axle compared to the lsd but you can leave it unlocked and engage it on demand.

 

[Code Red]

Just to confuse the issue, let me offer a differing opinion.

For everything except rock, and highway driving an LSD is better.

I have a 2015 76 series, but keep in mind that it's almost exactly the same length, height, width, wheelbase, and track width as a 60 series. Mine has Auburn Pro series front and rear, and spends about twice as much time off road as it does on the road.

I grew up rock crawling in the Southeast back when Tellico was still open. Now the 76 and I live in Dubai so the driving is almost all sand.

The LSD does NOT need wheel spin to work. Or if it does the amount needed is so small that you cannot detect it visually or by feel.

It makes a huge difference in sand, mud, loose dirt, gravel, and on rocks. Not as good as a locker on rocks, but much much much better the an open diff. It won't help you if a wheel is off the ground, or if you only have one wheel with traction, but that really doesn't happen much unless you are rock crawling. You can also fool it into pulling with the e-brake or a little left foot braking.

They do change the way it drives on the road. Lots of under steer, and a delay to turn in so that it loads up the rubber and then happens all at once. Takes about a week to get used to then you don't notice it any more. Probably less of an issue with front hubs, but I have drive flanges,so unlocking is not an option.

I could have had lockers for the same money. The shipping to Dubai was almost enough to cover the price difference. But with the LSD, I have reasonable road manners, will never break an axle, will never lose a cable, air hose, or wire, and they operate transparently. It just goes places it shouldn't be able to.

With Auburns you will have to do the clutch pack in the rear every 3-4 years. The front will last forever if you unlock the hubs.

I have had air lockers, detroits, and auburns. I like the auburns best out of the three for Offroad. The selectables were better on road. The detroits were horrific in a daily driver. Especially if there is any chance of snow or ice.

This is just my experience. Others may be different and just as valid.

 

[Landpimp]

or look at it like this......

in 1999 or so......the Lexus LX470 got a LSD in the rear and the Land Cruiser got a E-Locker(like ARB but Electric) that says much about how they each perform

I have had an ARB locker since 1989(in a 4runner) my 60,40,45 all have them in the rear end, my 80 had front and rear. Never has any grief.

 

[ander42b]

Up date:

Since November here is what I have experienced since the change from the stock open differantial to the Aurburn limited slip diff.

1) The on the road manners have been nice. No lurching when take off from a stop light. (I'm really enjoying the Vortec 5.3. Lots of power 2.3 times more then the original 2F when it was brand new).

2) when going around on conners on regular city streets under normal throttle as well as hard throttle response (fun stuff) it feels like the regular Toyota stock open diff.

3) going down the freeway at +75 MPH going around conners and straight ways feels normal like the stock open Toyota diff.

4) going down dirt roads that are hard packed I feel the same as the stack Toyota diff.

5) on fire roads with some lose rock, gravel, mud and snow I feel the rear tires bite into the ground. The cruiser takes on like a small vibration or lurching of the cruiser forward. The lurch or the vibration does NOT feels violent or is going to tear the cruiser rear axle apart. Only had about three times this winter where I went wheeling to the piont I used the unit. So much for this El Niño winter. What a major let down.


But I do have a question that I can not solve with all of the research I have done. How does the damm thing work. All the literature I read over says stupid clutches or presure plates enguage when there is wheel spin. This is too vague for me. I'm kind of a numbers guys so anyone can chime in on:

1) How muck when spin is required for the clutches to engage..........2 revolutions or 40,000 ??????

2) how much pressure is required to engage the clutches?????

3) how much torque energy shocks the axle that is slow or stopped from the spinning axle when the clutches engages ???



Thanks Jason

 

[brian]

the clutches are always engaged, so this answers #1 and takes #s 2 and 3 out of the question.
if i recall correctly, auburn uses cone clutches vs flat clutches, this gives a slightly larger surface area to bite.
also i believe they do something with the center pin to try an increase the pressure on the clutches during hard acceleration.

 

[Elbert]

you are going to have to get that type of information from the vendor.

LSD's have been around a long time in the muscle car version... They are "invisible" for 90% of the driving..as far as impact.

you will have to go study the Auburn web site for whatever info is there with respect to exactly how much force or torque or wheel spin is required....the answer is probally going to be "it varies".. LSD - Limited Slip Differential...which means...its not 100% locked and its not designed to be that way. Basically LSD was deigned for the street hot rod crowd...so you would have traction from both tires when you accelerated fast from a dead stop...rather than just one tire going up in smoke.

You'll find very few LSD"s off road....but as I stated they work for mild stuff ok, and do require wheel spin to actually make any difference. As previously noted I had two Auburns in my truck a few years ago. I found the shortcomings on a few trips off-road when fellow off-roaders had traction on places where I had none or where I had to take a certain obstacle too fast because I could not climb it due to lack of traction. The key words about taking the obstacle "too fast" is what leads one to further damage....becasue to get traction with the LSD one had to be running in a certain forward motion...which given the circumstances off road is many times not the thing you want to do. Plowing across sand dunes, down gravel roads, and mud holes....as also noted previously is not really the key part here. THe key part here is traction at low speed at crawl speed...thats where the locker rules....either mechanical or selectable (air,electric,cable)... thats where the locker rules of course its also going to be good at the other things too, but some of the bad manners for mechanical lockers on the street make it a pain in the @ss for some people. IF you are not driving where crawl speed in important.....then lockers may not be relevant to your world.


I'm not saying an LSD is a bad thing at all....its good for light duty stuff

Light duty off road stuff a LSD is fine, as long as its not hard rock, and one of the tires is not off the ground and you have some speed and able to generate some wheel spin. Yes I'm I'm sure it works in a minor way when the tires are moving....but the tires have to be moving at some speed for LSD to work and its more than a crawl. You dont' want wheel spin of any type of hard rock or rocks, you dont' want teh truck to be boucing from wheel spin....etc

There is a reason that various forms of lockers dominate off-road.... a locker is not a LSD and vice versa.. the mechanical lockers that engage automatically take some time getting use too and can get very annoying...but the trade off is their off road performance. And you have to use good judgement on what you install in a full time FWD model truck and how you operate 4wd otherwise in a part time truck when on the road in snow/icy conditions with respect to the front axle.