Rear lockers on gen 4 ?

Hi guys,

Ive seen a gen 4 with lockers on, and it performed amazingly well.



I know very little about lockers, i get what they do, but have no idea about the following

1. How they would be engaged. Would you have a switch in cabin, or a manual knob on the rear wheels?

2. Are there any available for the gen 4 at this point that we know of.

3. How would they affect, and work along side the jimnys BLSD.

4. What do we think would be the complexity of fitting them, and expense of fitting them be.

I'm sure others have interest in this subject, but not heard much talked about it.

Hope someone can advise.

Thanks.

There's a few basic types.

Air locking. These are what people traditionally think of, they are manually controlled by the driver via a switch in the car. They are a normal open diff when you don't need them and they physically lock both wheels together when you do need them. They require a source of compressed air to work which makes them quite expensive to buy, this air also needs to be connected to the diff making them more involved to fit. They are very good though.

Mechanical unlocking. This type remain locked up all the time but when cornering on tarmac use some kind of proprietary system of cams or pawls to allow for the different rotation of the wheels. They are loud in operation as the tyres force the diff to unlock which also causes additional wear and tear. They are however fit and forget and therefore less expensive and simpler to install.

Mechanical slipping. There's two main types clutch and gear. Both force some percentage of drive to each wheel but never actually lock fully. Helical gear ones are my personal favourite. They are both fit and forget and operate silently and don't cause too much additional wear but they do require more skill to get the best out of off road.

I don't know how many are available for the gen4 but they won't be too hard to to reengineer if there are some minor changes between the gens. Thing is though it is quite a skill to set up a new diff properly which generally makes it easier to pay someone else to do it unless you're really quite competent.

Oh and as for the ghost locker, if you have a real locker the computer won't see a problem on the back axle as both wheels are turning at the same speed as one of the fronts so all it will do is fiddle brake the front axle to keep those turning equally.

I'm preparing to purchase an e-locker in a couple of weeks. There is some info on this forum thread . The last post links to a Japanese website doing an installation and some videos of use but they are Chinese made lockers. They do have one for a JB74. Can't answer the availability question concerning air lockers.

Lambert wrote: Oh and as for the ghost locker, if you have a real locker the computer won't see a problem on the back axle as both wheels are turning at the same speed as one of the fronts so all it will do is fiddle brake the front axle to keep those turning equally.

Actually that is not quite strictly true. Because of the Jimny not having a central diff in the transfer box both front and rear prop shafts are going to turn. Therefore so is one wheel on each axle. Locking the rear diff means both rear wheels are turning regardless of if they have traction. At the front axle it not being locked if only one side has traction the opposite side will be spinning at twice the speed of the rear wheels so the ghost locker is then going to brake that spinning wheel and force drive across the axle to the none spinning wheel until it sees all 4 wheels reaching the same speed. At this point you're either under way again or looking for a recovery option.

The Quaife ATB works in unison with electronic ABS systems.......

On paper (never seen it personally) the torque biasing of the ATB will move drive from the slipping wheel to the gripping wheel and the ABS will lock a slipping wheel, giving grip to any wheel with grip. It should work pretty seamlessly.

Have a look at reviews of the Quaife ATB when fitted to cars with an ABS controlled traction system.

I run the Quaife unit in a gen3 and it gives so much more than just an aid off road..... it completely alters the drive of the car and gives you "Lift off oversteer" as a chassis characteristic. Making the car much more fun to drive quickly and improving handling beyond expectations.....

It has been a massive improvement in general terms..... just apply a little throttle as you enter a corner and so long as power is fed in, you're line stays tight.

My jimny can out drive most cars on tight and twisty B roads, they shoot right past me on the straights but I crawl all over them in the twisty bits... and you wouldn't think a Jimny would do it..... watching the faces of RangeRover drivers as my 3k banger goes past is never going to stop being funny...

sniper