Aussie locker in the rear is a good option that is also inexpensive. Anyone have problems in the snow with an Aussie or lock rite in the front?
difference between locking and non locking in deep snow
- Thread starter haryv
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Aussie locker in the rear is a good option that is also inexpensive. Anyone have problems in the snow with an Aussie or lock rite in the front?
Actually I never post except when I've been drinking. I'm also old and dimwitted, cuz it still makes sense to me :]
I made sense to me too and I don't drink. (What does that mean?) Anyway, with open diffs, you have torque available at BOTH wheels equal to the coefficient of friction at the wheel with the LEAST traction. That means, if the wheel that is spinning requires only 100 Ft. Lbs. of torque to make it spin, you have the same amount of torque being applied to the wheel that has traction. One easy way to increase torque at the wheel with traction is to have the best tire (meaning traction) all the way around. It's a compounding benefit; you have more traction at the wheel on the slippery stuff, and an equal increase of available torque at the other wheel on the same axle.
No problems here.
Good to hear. I plan on installing an Aussie in the front as soon as it gets here. The snow storm in Portland really screwed up UPS deliveries.
rover67
SILVER Star
i like the locker in deep snow hands down. on icy hwys it can be kind-of a handfull if it's not in 4wd though. with the rear locker the back tends to slide rather than just one tire spinning if it's in 2wd.
my siped mud tires do ok in the icy and beat the pants off of the at's i used to have in the deeper stuff.
my siped mud tires do ok in the icy and beat the pants off of the at's i used to have in the deeper stuff.
BTW, for the deep snow.. The best tire in the world was a Dick Cepek Radial Fun Country (the big uns). They absolutely dominated in the deep stuff. You might as well have had tracks on..
Agreed. I ran those Cepek's on my classic Bronco when I lived in UT and they were absolutely amazing in the deep, soft stuff. Packed snow or ice, not so good.
As for lockers and snow........the only time I've had trouble is when on an angle (such as a side hill). With the lockers engaged, I tended to start sliding downhill while attempting to traverse a side slope.
rover67
SILVER Star
yup, going through that right now, 3inches if ice, slush, packsnow on every road in town. Locker in 2WD=not so good-Locker in 4WD=anything goes. I was pulling people out of the plow-piles all day long
Interesting, I had been thinking about putting a spool in the rear but hadn't yet due to cost and dry road considerations (turning) I have felt that -- pulling to the side, in others vehicles when locked in and especially sideways on a hill it can be extremely disconcerting. I really haven't had trouble in the snow, just thought a locker would make it better. but now not sure that the advantages in the few situations it would be useful would overweigh all the other issues.
to the OP i run 235/75 15 BFG AT/KO and have never gotten stuck in snow. in fact the only time i have gotten stuck was on a dirt pile when i dropped the wheels on the other side of a peak and high centered the vehicle. they dig well and in dirt and mud if you air down they move very well.they feel equally sticky on ice which is saying quite a bit. check tirerack.com they have a chart that you can see how others rate the AT tires from all mfgs in the various environments (rain snow dry ect)
last year i had to drive down into a ditch to pull out a yukon denali with those big steamroller 20" that slid off the road and couldn't pull himself (even in 4L and locked) back onto the road. i drug him backward and then pulled him right back onto the interstate with no problem. BFG AT's are awesome tires!
Blue77FJ40
SILVER Star
Yes, Cepek must have bought the rights to the tread design, as it used to be produced in normal widthed tires by Armstrong as Norseman Radials. I always ran this tire until Cepek started making them in the ridiculous widths (for me).
Yeppers
Triples
I was talking to a guy with a 4runner who wanted to take out his front Aussie cause he couldn't steer in 4 wheel drive in the snow. He would turn the steering wheel and the truck would go in whatever direction it was already going in.
I would tend to agree... but have not the experience -
Anyone on here regularly drive on snow or ice IN 4 WHEEL DRIVE AND with a FRONT Aussie locker?? I am not talking about a quick shot of 4 wheel drive to get you up your driveway - I'm talking packed snow logging road up hill down hill and curvy this way and sharply curvy that way ... for hours...
???
I would tend to agree... but have not the experience -
Anyone on here regularly drive on snow or ice IN 4 WHEEL DRIVE AND with a FRONT Aussie locker?? I am not talking about a quick shot of 4 wheel drive to get you up your driveway - I'm talking packed snow logging road up hill down hill and curvy this way and sharply curvy that way ... for hours...
???
I've got an aussie up front only and for our trip down to see family this year we basically had to wheel out of town about 40 miles due to the snow we recently (not normal) got. There are hills, curves, and straights where I live. The streets were covered and the highways were a mix of powder, ice, and packed snow. I have some other handling issues I'll be dealing with but running the front locked did not keep me from turning where I wanted to go and did not cause me to plow one direction.
I'm inclined to think that the locker in the 4runner was not installed correctly, maybe it was tighter than the spec on the instructions. I wonder if his tires were in good shape or if the rear had more tread got more traction and pushed it straight. How's the alignment on the 4runner. Does it have slop in the steering?
A front locker would rather go straight but from my experience did not keep my rig from turning. When one of my big tires caught some softer stuff on the side of the road the locker helped me drive out of it instead of getting sucked into it. Now for ice I'm not sure it matters what car/truck you drive, you have to slow down and be careful.
