[headers]

Originally Posted by dwaraka

HI Headers,

The Maroon Gypsy struck in th picture is mine. I recollect, Khan_Sultan got struck in similar position and got himself pulled up. He put a tow rope on my gypsy and pulled it out with great ease.

I remember Khan_Sultan mentioning why he removed the Sway Bar. He is all into off roading in his Gypsy and removing the sway bar allowed greater articulation. Going over rock with one wheel over will still have the body line levelled out upright. This position gives driver more safer stature.

I have found such positions on my gypsy more scary during off roading.

Dwarak

Hi,

I do agree that the removal of sway bars increase articulation. BUT on highspeed and on turns, it is NOT SAFE..

safe offroading..

cheers
vikram

[khan_sultan]

Here is a quick update after driving the ghat and hair pin bends section from Salem to Yercaud:

• During the drive up the hills, there is significant driving style alteration required as the lockers tend to kick the vehicle straight rather than turn as expected. However, once you know how much 'straight kick' is being given by the lockers, you can adjust accordingly

• The 'mechanical jerks' at the hairpin bends while going up are very pronounced and even with 'momentum and gentle foot on the pedal' approach one can sense the 'mechanical jerks'.

• Due to the above 2 scenarios, one needed a slightly 'larger' turning radius than one would expect at the hairpin bends.

• The above things were less pronounced while coming down.

Cheers,

[DirtyDan]

Good post, very informative. You are helping me greatly with my decisions on how to do this up here in "switchback" country.

[khan_sultan]

Am updating this thread after a long time. This is to give a sort of an update on how the locker is holding up and there have been 2 terrains which I had not done after the locker install.

The good part:

• The traction by the lockers justifies it price and getting it installed. At the TG-Halli OTR, previously I had to kind of do it in momentum (the way up) and even in the rocks etc it had to be done in slight momentum in TG-Halli terrain. Also, I can clearly remember tyre spin earlier in that terrain.

• This time in TG-halli OTR, i was able to 'crawl' (again in relative terms) up the trial and no need for gaining momentum.

• In slush at Sarjapur OTR: This was the first time I was venturing into whatever slush/muck after the lockers.
  • The traction that lockers gave was again amazing in that terrain. the fact that I was stuck and was even able to move a bit front/back was just due to lockers.

See this set of pictures.


If the right front was not digging in (along with the leaf/suspension) I am sure I could have made out from this situation:



Now the bad part:

• The stress/torque on the t-case put by the locker is huge. This means that the t-case beadings need to be strengthened. I have broken a beading and is currently a weak link.

All this while the lockers have been giving me +ve traction and my tyres have been letting me down. I have MRF Zigma GP tyres. You can't get more stupid than that man. Just for the lockers sake I may need to out in better tyres.

After all, what will lockers do if the tyres don't hold up?

[headers]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

You can't get more stupid than that man. Just for the lockers sake I may need to out in better tyres.

After all, what will lockers do if the tyres don't hold up?

He he, I did not say it.

Guess its time to invest in some good tyres. Why not try the 7.00 x 16 NDMS. It is amazing in slush!

[-GT-]

K_S:
Extremely valuable information for people wanting to install such lockers.
-GT-

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by headers

He he, I did not say it.

Guess its time to invest in some good tyres. Why not try the 7.00 x 16 NDMS. It is amazing in slush!

On the way, as we speak -- investment/payment done. This time it's proper Mud Terrain Tyres :-)

[devil_in_flesh]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

On the way, as we speak -- investment/payment done. This time it's proper Mud Terrain Tyres :-)

Please keep us updated about your tyre upgradation. Eagerly awaiting a test report with the new tyres.

[Motocoorg]

Khan saab..Good on you, thrz no stopping you now

you are going to get the real good taste of that lockers now. Have fun..

Planning to get those lock rites on the front on mine, only because I can keep it unlocked by the hubs on the road..will post how that goes..well.. if it happens soon( credit card says I can do without it).

[khan_sultan]

An update after the Munnar OTR done with Maxxis Trepador Mud Terrain Tyres:

Now I am able to feel & realize the full power of these lockers. At no stage did i feel or sense loss of traction due to the brilliant combination of lockers + tyres.

The Gypsy is truly unstoppable now. The ease with which it crawled and effortlessly went over terrain without tyre slipping is commendable.

Now I am very happy and fully satisfied with almost ALL the mechanical aspects of my Gypsy.

Time to move on to the 'body work & look' aspects of the Gypsy now.

PS: My drive involved some ~150kms of ghat section and the points mentioned in post above about Ghat sections driving with Lockers hold true.

If I were driving daily in Ghat sections, I would NOT prefer lockers. The 'mechanical jerks' and need to have a 'larger turning radius' is just tooo much to handle.


Cheers,

[siddartha]

so the road speed did actually reduce. but in 2h it shouldnt right ?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by siddartha

so the road speed did actually reduce. but in 2h it shouldnt right ?

Yes. the top speed has reduced -- but that's because of the 'crawler gearset' and NOT because of the 'lockers'.

Even in 2H it has 12% reduction in gear ratio (87% reduction in 4WD-L). So the in-gear acceleration becomes wicked at the cost of reduced top speed (assuming same size tyres)

Cheers,

[siddartha]

obviously i am talking abt the new crawler gear set sir , "NOT" the lockers ,but in 2h how does it make a difference?since there is no change in the main gearbox and the final drive on the rear differential.
and oh sorry , is this the lockers thread and not the crawler gear thread?

[LKCRUISERS]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

On the way, as we speak -- investment/payment done. This time it's proper Mud Terrain Tyres :-)

Wow, this is the most amount of litrature that I have ever read about the lock rites besides the little book that comes with it. The Australians call it the lock wrongs, as it is not popular for its agricultural design.

I installed a set in the front as well as the back of my BJ 75 Land Cruiser in 1993 and I still have them on. The front with the lightest bite it is still difficult to steer but mangable only off road where there is slippage. Tarmac the CV will pop open. When it unlocks on tarmac you will hear it and the loud clunk is normal.

The Thrust washer can be set to maxium or minimum bite on the lockers giving it a bit more civilized behaviour. The maximum bite is 0.75mm and the min is 1.5mm.

Your tire diameter and the grip will also matter, as the Lockers run constantly locked, and good gripping tires or tall tires will have the torque to unlock in corners. Also it is a good idea to look at your final drive ratio, the higher the ratio it is less likely to unlock.

If you are running normal tires, on gravel you can do some tight donuts without straining any of your intermals. Also on road you will waste your rear tires at a rate. Droping the air pressure down will help you with windy roads.

I am running a lock rite in my competition truck with 4.56 final drive. I have not seen any other locker to go through so much abuse. (I have broken an ARB locker) You have to be a hardcore off roader to tolerate road manners of lock rite as it is the only locking system that rarely fail in the trail.

Cheers

[khan_sultan]

Ok, after a long long time, am updating this thread with an update. The lockers are running perfectly fine and recently there have been very very simple terrains where the power of lockers/traction has been evident.

Here are some pictures that clearly shows what lockers can do. This would have been impossible if there were no lockers & one wheel is in the air. We did try such thing with stock gyspy (open diff) and no way it even went little up there. it just spun and spun







If someone is modifying there 4x4 for off-roading, I would put LSD/Lockers as one of the top most mods that people should do. Not many things can beat traction in an off-road trail.