mercdude wrote:
Locked differential: with one tire in the air and the other on an obstacle, you wouldn't spin the air/non traction tire any more than the other tire can rotate over (i.e. climb over) the obstacle. Which, assuming the other tire is slowly crawling over the obstacle in a controlled fashion, means the air tire is only slightly rotating (in perfect alignment with the obstacle wheel) until it comes down and both tires get traction again - basically no/very little 'shock' load to the diff.
That's essentially correct. There will always be a momentary difference in side-to-side rotational speed when the 'air' wheel hits the ground, but it will be less than with an open axle. However, it will not be negligible and still needs to be factored in, though not necessarily to the same extent.
But remember that we're only talking about shock loadings in this instance, not constant ones - and that we're discussing this in relation to an aluminium housing, not iron. There's still constant loading (stress) on the housing when the wheels are turning, and while a shock loading is where you're most likely going to see failure, all of this plays into the possibility of failure.
One other thing to consider: stress on the CV joints. I'm not knowledgeable enough re: the KJ's tolerances in that regard to comment extensively, but the power from the diff is also going through the CVs, which are being subjected to wheel stresses as well. This isn't the rabbit hole I'd like to go down right now, but keep it in mind as another link in the chain.
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With open diff: tire hits obstacle, power is transferred to the air/non traction tire and it spins hard. To overcome the obstacle you compensate with throttle to get the rear to push the tire over the obstacle. When finally clearing the obstacle, air tire finds traction again (ie. sudden grip and stop of the non obstacle tire) and differential transfers power back/forth between axles.
Yep. More:
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In that situation, I can see why locked diffs offer better load balancing - it prevents the casing from hard torquing inside the housing (if you wheel it smartly). That said, with enough force I'd bet a D30a with locker will crack too, no problem.
Don't think of it as load balancing as such - it's more like load distribution as the rotational forces are the same, just directed differently. I understand how it could be perceived as load balancing, but as there's no interleaving of stress loading and relief (just load forces sent in one direction or two) between both sides, load balancing is a somewhat misleading term IMHO.
casm wrote:
So why couldn't you run two basic switches in series? The first is your 'normal' toggle button, which (instead of turning on the e-locker) only energizes the second toggle button. That one then energizes the e-locker. Basically you'd just chain the 12v power from: 12v supply>safety switch>switch>e-locker vs. 12v supply>switch>e-locker. Basically, it just adds a second locker button to the equation and in my mind prevents you from accidentally triggering it while at speed. I/my family is way too clumsy to keep from something hitting a button anywhere remotely accessible.
Ah, OK, I see what you're aiming for now. Somehow I think I was picturing it differently. Yep, that would work. The only consideration I can think of is that you'd have to find somewhere to mount two switches rather than one, but if you can find the acreage there's no reason I can see why that shouldn't be doable.
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Though... I have seen some toyota factory G80 switches that require you to push in and then turn. That's probably the best, but I have no idea how to mount or wire that up to a basic power supply.
Not familiar with those switches, but, taking a guess: when the switch is popped out, the +12VDC feed to it is completely broken. When pushed in and rotated, contacts rotate into place that pass +12VDC on to whichever output pin goes to the device controlled by the switch. This actually sounds remarkably similar to how the ignition switch on our riding mower works.
Caveat: if this switch is in a vehicle new enough to have a BCM, all that may go out the window since the BCM may just look for the switch to make contact when rotated, then handle the actual control of the device in question. I mention this because it means that the switch may not be rated for the amperage necessary to drive that device directly, so scavenging & reusing one in a KJ may be an electrical fire waiting to happen.
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Ox lockers are very spendy by comparison to even ARB and Eaton.
Agreed. Having said that, while I've never run them myself the people I've spoken to who have run them have been very happy with them. Still, the cost is a difficult pill to swallow.
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I was JUST about to pull the trigger on a rear locker until I found out that eaton doesn't offer a rear. So, in that case I might just rebuild the trac lok and call it a day (and always wonder what-if).
Depending on how squirrelly it is on-road and how hard you intend to push it off-road, the rear locker may make sense. Otherwise, you have a good point regarding rebuilding the Trac-Lok.
Your call on how to proceed. Unfortunately, with the D30A up front and the C8.25 in the rear, options aren't the greatest for our vehicles.