Diff Lock - 25/11/04

I've been pushing my truck into more and more tricky situations recently and as a result getting more and more stuck! What's been causing me to get stuck is loosing traction with wheels spinning in the mud or getting cross-axled. I've been looking at getting a diff lock to help keep me going but I was planning to save some money for it!

Well things never go to plan of course and at the beginning of the week the shaft bearing failed on my rear diff and all the oil sprayed out all over the bottom of the truck. Typical, just before Christmas!

Fixing the bearing involved stripping the axle down so I thought sod it I may as well get a locker fitted at the same time and save some install costs. So the Samurai was on a recovery truck again and off to Rhino Rays. I opted for a Detroit E-Z locker because they're just so much cheaper and easier to install. I did prefer the idea of a manually operated locker to avoid any strange effects on the road but unfortunately my budget doesn't stretch to that at the moment!

Ray kindly offered to take my truck home with him so that I could go and pick it up after work. I discovered the on road effect of the locker straight away because I had to turn around in the road. When you turn tightly the inside wheel drives and the outside wheel ratchets and coasts. As the wheel ratchets it makes a loud clicking sound which is a bit weird at first! Other than that I haven't noticed any other effect on the road apart from a gentle nudge sideways when going round a corner and changing from coasting to accelerating. I just can't wait to try it in the mud now!