Aussie locker in snow and ice?
- Thread starter Izeloz
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I put an Aussie locker in the rear of my '93 last spring so this has been my first winter to try it out on ice and snow. I had serious concerns about it's behaviors before the snow fell since the 80 is my wife's daily driver. When the snow first fell, I was fortunate because my wife had just had our twins and wasn't really leaving the house so I had several days to drive the 80 and "test" things out. I was slamming the throttle mid corner, doing donuts, yada yada. Overall I've been very pleased with how it behaves. I have had no concerns with my wife driving it.
As has been said, you can get it to lock up when you try to, but under normal driving you really can't tell its there. The bigger factor for me has been that my '93 has a semi-float rear end and therefore has rear drum brakes. The lack of ABS is more noticeable on the ice than the presence of the locker. One other thing I noticed......a couple weeks before Christmas we had a serious snow storm and road conditions were really bad. My brother was in town and blew a tire on his Tahoe. He couldn't use his spare so I drove down to help him and take the damaged tire to get replaced. There were MANY slideoffs and accidents on the snow convered freeways including a rolled semitruck. By the time we were all done and I was driving home the lanes of the freeway were mostly snow free but very wet with mounds of slush/snow piled between the lanes. Made for "interesting" lane changes. In one instance while changing lanes I felt a "clunk" when crossing the piles of slush between lanes and then had about 3 seconds of a shudder/shake in the steering wheel. After checking things out once I got home and not finding anything amiss in the front end, the only explanation I can think of is that the rear lost traction while crossing lanes and the locker engaged momentarily. The force of the locker engaging transferred energy to the front end causing the wheel to shake. Like I said, it was only for a few seconds and nothing that made the truck feel out of control. That is about the only unpredictable behavior I have experienced with the rear Aussie locker in my truck.
As has been said, you can get it to lock up when you try to, but under normal driving you really can't tell its there. The bigger factor for me has been that my '93 has a semi-float rear end and therefore has rear drum brakes. The lack of ABS is more noticeable on the ice than the presence of the locker. One other thing I noticed......a couple weeks before Christmas we had a serious snow storm and road conditions were really bad. My brother was in town and blew a tire on his Tahoe. He couldn't use his spare so I drove down to help him and take the damaged tire to get replaced. There were MANY slideoffs and accidents on the snow convered freeways including a rolled semitruck. By the time we were all done and I was driving home the lanes of the freeway were mostly snow free but very wet with mounds of slush/snow piled between the lanes. Made for "interesting" lane changes. In one instance while changing lanes I felt a "clunk" when crossing the piles of slush between lanes and then had about 3 seconds of a shudder/shake in the steering wheel. After checking things out once I got home and not finding anything amiss in the front end, the only explanation I can think of is that the rear lost traction while crossing lanes and the locker engaged momentarily. The force of the locker engaging transferred energy to the front end causing the wheel to shake. Like I said, it was only for a few seconds and nothing that made the truck feel out of control. That is about the only unpredictable behavior I have experienced with the rear Aussie locker in my truck.
a limited slip allows some wheel slippage before the clutches engage both axles. Pretty much no issues on the pavement and in turns , as the cltuch pack allows slippage during tight turns. No real impact a road speed.
A locker engages both tires from a dead stop ...forward and backward at all times. They tend to ratchet or allow minor slippage in turns. No real impact at road speed.
LSD...some tire spin prior to engagement
Locker...engagement at all times
An automatic trans will mask some of the bad behavior of a locker on the pavement. I would not install a mechanical locker in the front differential of a full time 4wd vehicle, unless the truck was purely for off-road and not driven on the pavement.
A locker engages both tires from a dead stop ...forward and backward at all times. They tend to ratchet or allow minor slippage in turns. No real impact at road speed.
LSD...some tire spin prior to engagement
Locker...engagement at all times
An automatic trans will mask some of the bad behavior of a locker on the pavement. I would not install a mechanical locker in the front differential of a full time 4wd vehicle, unless the truck was purely for off-road and not driven on the pavement.
It can, yes.
If the aussie is engaging, by nature that means that one of your tires is slipping. If one of your tires is slipping, then ABS wants to engage.
If I had an aussie locker in the snow, I'd probably engage the CDL to lock the center diff (good idea if you have a VC anyway) and disable ABS.
In my understanding of the Aussie locker, it engages under acceleration. ABS is only active during braking. So when coasting or braking the Aussie is not engaged and it would allow proper braking. Also, the rear brakes work in parallel (they are both plumbed into one brake line) so if the ABS pulses the rear brakes it is pulsing both rear wheels simultaneously so it wouldn't notice the Aussie locker.
I would add that the Aussie locker responds to wheel slip which we all know however, if you do not have the centre diff locked and a rear wheel slipping engages the locker, if you regain grip this will only be for a few seconds then you actually will lose some drive to the rear. This is because the cdl feeds power to the axle with the least resistance so power will transfer to the front which due to weight transfer is slipping anyway possibly unloading the rear locker, so it unlocks. This could lead to some odd characteristics when in on/off power situations, I personaly would lock the cdl if the going is slippery enough.
Just my 2 cents
regards
Dave
Just my 2 cents
regards
Dave
You're going to get about 100 different opinions, and 90 of them will be from people who havn't experienced what you're asking about.
I had an Aussie f/r on a 62 and the rear was totally transparent, even in the conditions that you are inquiring about. If you tried desperately to hammer it in a turn and lock the rear (in an attempt to lose control), you might could, but still I doubt it.
Put that mother in there and forget all about it.
I had an Aussie f/r on a 62 and the rear was totally transparent, even in the conditions that you are inquiring about. If you tried desperately to hammer it in a turn and lock the rear (in an attempt to lose control), you might could, but still I doubt it.
Put that mother in there and forget all about it.
I don't doubt for a minute the advantage of the Aussie for traction in the situations and conditions described in previous posts. That's not my concern. What concerns me is what happens at 45 mph and above - when you are on ice or a snow packed road. I travel a lot, in the winter, on icy snow packed roads. Since Oregon doesn't salt the roads and the plows just push off what they can and sand the hills and corners, the packed snow will build up to sometimes 6" deep until it either melts or gets worn off by the traffic. This surface is rarely nice and flat and predictable. It's usually rutted and uneven and is good for increasing the "pucker factor". Sometimes I'm doing 55 to 65 mph on the snow pack in the right conditions. I've driven for years with open diffs in this kind of driving, so I know how to handle it. The thought of introducing a new challenge to this kind of driving is - not very attractive, at my age (55). At these speeds, reflexes will usually determine if you maintain control or not. Mine are pretty much set.
The Aussie has a definite advantage in simplicity and convenience, which is very attractive. But for my use, I favor selectable lockers - when I can afford them. - My .02
The Aussie has a definite advantage in simplicity and convenience, which is very attractive. But for my use, I favor selectable lockers - when I can afford them. - My .02
The hole for the cross pin is ovalized, therefore when torque is applied it pushes the inside pieces outwards and they lock with the outer pieces. The best way to describe it is: when enough torque is applied, you're locked, going straight or in a turn.
if it would snow here this year i will let you know.
i have run lockers in my 80 on 35s for years have no experience on ice however have driven in snow lots up to 6 ft deep never had any troubles