New Aussielocker question!

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Freewheel

Freewheel

Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Threads
42
Messages
1,044
Location
Vancouver BC
Hi All,
installed the Aussie a couple of days ago, and got to drive it around town all day today. The install manual says that there may be a "clink or clunk" sound from time to time until the breakin period is through (200 km). I have to say that it's making a lot of noises, but more importantly , it's binding up a lot. Tight turning in parking lots makes the truck buck and jump - it feels like things are getting damaged. The locker had the minimum allowable shaft to axle gear spacing (.006") and the inter cam gear spacing was in the middle of the range at .159" The install went easily and my diff was in perfect shape.

So the question is... will this thing mellow out quite a bit? This is my daily driver and I don't really want to be lurching around all the time. I had a Limited slip diff in an old Blazer that occasionally lurched or kicked going around a corner and I sort of expected the same from the Aussie, especially since so many mudders have them in their daily drivers.. The main reason for getting the Aussie is for snow and ice traction on steep BC logging roads. However, the reality is that maybe 15% of my winter driving is like that!
Opinions? will it settle down or is it always going to make my truck feel like there's something bad happening in the rear end??
Thanks
 
Not really weird ..

Auto Locker it's a totaly diferent beast than LSD .. ( that it's pretty much more smooth ). I never have the enough touch to drive my 60 series with rear auto locker ( had LR / EZ and Detroit ) so I ended with a ARB ..

About your question .. fact is in a tight turn the locker mustn " disengage " and allow the outer wheel ( driven the longer and wider turn ) turn faster than the inner and there you got the smooth part of the locker ..

If your locker never disengage .. something it's bad.

Question .. when you are taking those usually turns in the city and in the middle of the traffic you are doing slow and with the foot out of your skiny pedal ?
 
Check yer tire pressure. Tires sharing an axle (both rear) should be dern near identical, like 1-2 lbs diff.

Also, anytime you power through a turn, the locker will fight unlocking, adding to those bucking feelings. Add in the quirks introduced from wider tires, manual tranny, etc. and barring install errors, that's what you're gonna get.
 
tire pressure difference and to much power through the corners are things you really want to avoid with those lockers in.

We got the lockers on our LJ70 last week, and never had a problem with it
 
try coasting through tight turns in neutral, it could be the springs arent doing there job, that is usually the part that wears and causes those symptoms. is this an older aussie? I remember them swapping their springs out for better ones at one point.
 
Mine will do that when I pull into a parking spot if i leave it in gear. I just start the turn, put it in neutral and roll into the spot.

I've never had any problem with it while driving on the road though.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm expecting chirps if I'm powering onto a main street from a side street - (no way to do that gently sometimes, depending on traffic). I'm trying to be gentle in parking lots - I'll try the neutral roll into a spot as Bluecruiser suggests.

The tire pressures are all equal and the locker is a couple of months old -(fantastic service from Torqmasters, by the way)
the tires are 10.5 wide and the tranny is a 5 speed (apparently manual trannies create more clunking)

I'm pretty sure it's installed properly, all the clearances checked out and the test procedure went OK although everything was pretty stiff - I had to yank pretty hard to get the opposite tire to disengage.

I'm only 1/4 of the way through the break-in stage - but I'm wondering how much will change, I'm not sure what exactly "breaks in"
Feel free to chime in with more experiences and I'll update as I drive it more - It'll get a run from Vancouver to Squamish tomorrow and maybe even some gravelly steep climbing!
 
x2 on the coast in the turn, simply pushing in the clutch will do the trick. mine will jerk the truck apart if i don't power in the straight and push in the clutch in the turn. i park in a parking garage every day and it works perfect. driving with a locker is an art you just have to learn your truck. a heavier oil in the rear, what aussie locker suggests will mellow out the clicking noises.

good luck
 
I have an automatic in my FJ60 with Aussie lockers in front and rear. The only time if feel the rear locker on paved roads is when I use more than lite power on the corners. The only time I hear noise is with the windows down and making tight turns on pavement. I didn't feel or notice any difference in how the locker worked from the first mile to the 1000st mile.
 
well, I got it out for a longer drive yesterday, with a rescue call thrown in for good measure. (I volunteer with Mountain Search and Rescue) The highway driving was mainly fine - fewer peculiar noises, a little bit of wobble and sway on powered uphill turns but nothing that felt really obnoxious. The rescue call was a fast run up steep paved roads to where the gravel fire road started. On 2 of the corners the truck bucked enough to worry me a bit. (it jumped sideways about a foot) I don't know how to get around the problem of hard climbing and turning at the same time - unlike parking lot manouvres, there's no really gentle way to deal with an uphill turn when you're at 3000 rpm (diesel - so that's approaching redline...)

Once I was in the gravel, AMAZING! - a steep logging road that 2WD vehicles just can't do- at least not without a heck of a lot of gravel being thrown around. I left the front 4WD disengaged just to see what would happen and it shot straight up the trail like it was in 4WD. It's nice also to have the more effective steering from not having the front and back diffs binding up.

So, I still have mixed feelings, but at least I know the thing is awesome offroad - I just have to come to terms with it's road performance!
Any other comments welcomed...
 
powertraxx no slip is about the same... You cannot come into a turn at low speed under power on a hard surface... Pavement bad, concrete worse. I'm in the habit of pushing the clutch in on low speed turns on hard groud. Off road not an issue...it will certainly aid in traction. If you get on the power to hard and trun righ or left sharp its going to chirp.

The bad manners are low speed turns...especailly if have a hard left and then a righ on concrete at low speed. Truck will buck and you'll hear the poping noises.... I agree its not a good thing. As I said.... I'm generally on the clutch in those situations.
 
Freewheel said:
I don't know how to get around the problem of hard climbing and turning at the same time - unlike parking lot manouvres, there's no really gentle way to deal with an uphill turn when you're at 3000 rpm (diesel - so that's approaching redline...)...
Click to expand...

The same issue that convince me to left the auto lockers behind and go with the selectable locker route .. you have no choice .. in a long hill with tight turns ..

Did you can imagine how much stress in your axles at this time ?
 
I set mine up twice, once loose, and once tight, and it behaved just like you describe yours behaving with both setups.. I thinks it's just part of having one. mine bucks a ton in parking lots so I just coast through most everything.
 
snip<<<you have no choice .. in a long hill with tight turns ..

Did you can imagine how much stress in your axles at this time ?>>>

Yeah exactly what I'm imagining... I put the truck in neutral for a turn today going fairly fast and the locker wouldn't release - it kept bucking the whole way through the turn. The stress to the drivetrain feels awfull - it's almost worse than running 4WD on pavement because it's not consistent - sometimes it freewheels fine and other times it binds right up and releases with what feels like a lot of shock to the system.

still making up my mind - but I'm searching on ARB lockers right now...
 
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