ARB Air locker vs Quaife LSD with Jimny TC

Hi all

First post, please forgive me waffling on or asking this in the wrong place.

I have a low mileage 2016 SZ4 Gen3. I'm wanting to spend 3 months each year in Morocco touring. Im aiming for that go anywhere ability to get to remote areas whilst remaining low weight. Wife not keen on the camping side so we will only carry lightweight camping gear for emergency use, staying in hotels where convenient. We will mostly be alone.

Ive had 4x4 experience in South Africa years ago, done a few 4x4 days in the UK but Im by no means experienced.

I had the car 1 year before changing anything. Then it started........

The present set up is:

50mm OME lift
OME castor correction bushes
OME Steering damper
Uprated Panhard rods, adjustable.
Day to day tyres: Standard Jimny GEN4 steel rims with 195/80/15 Dunlop Grandtrek AT20
Touring / Offroad Tyres Falken Wildpeak AT3WA 215/75/15 on alloy SZ4 rims.
Rear seats removed and Dog conversion done in the rear.
under body protection, Diffs, Fuel tank, Radius arms, rear shocks.
Snorkel and diff breathers.
underbody anti corrosion done by specialist.

I purchased uprated roof bars and roof rack but Im likely to abandon this. The rear storage now exceeds what the Jimny can carry weight wise and im following the advice of avoiding weight on the roof unless necessary. Also reduces potential issue of theft from the roof.

Im wanting to add lockers front and rear. More for peace of mind when travelling alone in remote morocco but also to enable slower controlled situations over rock also for steep inclines of sand where all wheels slip where the Jimny TC actually hinders progress due to the braking nature of the BLSD.

So that's the background. The question is:

ARB lockers front and rear
Quaife LSD front and rear.
A combination of the above, if so which way around.

With my Gen 3 jimny having the traction control (does it differ from the Gen4?), does this plus the Quaife LSD (I understand they complement each other well due to the way they operate) put the offroad performance similar to the ARB lockers. 

the less complicated installation and ongoing maintenance of the Quaife LSD is attractive, as is the onroad performance and always on nature but how much is it inferior in difficult situations, in my case this would be soft sand inclines and other times rock climbing rather than mud.

The second upgrade is whether for my circumstances its worth going to 29 or 30 inch Tyres and doing the gearing.

If I can only afford one or the other which would your prioritise ?

I would be very happy for advice.

Thanks
Andrew







 

Welcome to the forum. The cost of the arb set up is not cheap as there needs to be a compressor on board as well as the actual diffs. I'm also aware that some people in America are not entirely impressed with the current quality/reliability of some elements of the sealing and pressure systems.

The quaife on the other hand coupled with the gen3 active traction aids are relatively simple and comparatively affordable. These are on my wishlist when I get my hands on the credit cards.

Given a choice between traction and clearance I would take traction and adjust my line over obstacles.

Many thanks for your reply. Do you have a recommendation of someone to install ? any idea of cost. Not something I can tackle. Thanks andrew

Hello and welcome Andrew.

I would never go the compressor way (ARB)

On my OME lifted Gen 4 I will go with Taniguchi LSDs.

Check them out 1st .

Kind regards from Portugal,

Filipe

My setup is rear quaife and welded front diff. It's very good but has some compromises when using 4wd on firmer ground. A selectable locker like an ARB in the front would make it perfect.
The quaife in the rear makes the car drive better all the time, 2 or 4wd, on or off-road. It will allow you to go further in 2wd and further in 4wd without any other intervention and no draw backs. For the use you describe I'd say it's a no-brainer.
You will rarely need to use the locker in the front but when you do it gives a big increase in traction without the compromised manoeuvrability you get with a rear locker. This is especially noticeable on technical climbs.

Interesting topic.

Personally, while I love the idea of ATB diffs and Traction Control, the reality is I don't think it will dramatically change or improve your setup.

On slippery surfaces at speed, such as snow, ice, wet grass. The ATB diffs should reduce single wheel spin up. But it won't make the TCS kick in any quicker, sooner or at lower wheel speeds or cross differential speeds. And I'm not convinced you will really be able to truly notice the ATBs over the traction control intervention.

So I would say full lockers will make a bigger difference for technical low speed use. Although figuring out a way to disable the stability control on the Jimny may also be a good idea for sand use, as fully locked on sand may not always be the best either.

If the 3rd Gen is the same as the 4th Gen, it is the stability control not the traction control that is the issue on sand or higher speed loose surfaces.


Rational for the decision on the diffs it long and complex. But to highlight what I've played about with:


This vehicle has ATB front and rear and no TCS. You really have to 'drive' it to get the diffs to work. Slow and gentle and it'll still cross axle like an open diff. It also won't really get you out of a cross axle situation if you are already stationary. You need to be rolling.

I do believe that higher speed, power sliding and drifting the ATBs would be a great option. But they were less effective on slow technical terrain than I thought they would be. I've driven this vehicle in dry conditions on this terrain too.

This Land Rover:


Also has ATB diffs front and rear but also has traction control. I've driven over the same terrain as the 90 pick up above. But here you can clearly see you still need to spin the wheels to make the traction control work, the diffs couldn't make all the wheels spin at this lower speed.

Also this Land Rover's traction control feels very much like the traction control in my 4th Gen Jimny. So I feel ATBs in the Jimny would result in much the same experience.

In theory the ATBs should or could reduce brake pad wear. But I honestly think the slow technical stuff isn't their forte. I do admit I've not done any high speed driving with the ATBs on loose surfaces, although I did own a Subaru Impreza Turbo with limited slip diffs and it was very impressive on loose surfaces, snow and drifting on wet roads.

For the Jimny I think I'd actually go ATB diff in the rear, as it would be fully automatic and need no driver input, it would also work on the road all the time in 2wd as well as when off road in low range and then go for a full locker on the front axle. This setup should work well across many different terrains and uses. But I'd stress again, disabling the Stability Control may be a must for high speed sand use.