locked front diff

[JonnoD]

Hi all,
I am curious has anyone owned or driven a 4wd with a constantly locked (welded/spool ect) front diff.
Cheers Jonno

[MudRunnerTD]

it would be horrible and simply Undrivable. you would have Zero Steering on bitumen and hard surfaces. Terrible idea! Dont do it.

[deanfurley]

it would be horrible and simply Undrivable. you would have Zero Steering on bitumen and hard surfaces. Terrible idea! Dont do it.

Agreed. i'd be surprised it it last more than an hour before breaking something.

[taslucas]

A guy around here has a shorty mav and he welded the front diff. It's only a bush hack and goes nowhere near bitumen but gets flogged hard and has held up to a lot of driving.

[JonnoD]

It wouldn't matter on the road as mine is part time 4wd. I wasnt going to do it just curious to see if anyone has

[Bloodyaussie]

Jonno you should not be left alone to your own thoughts mate.... have you started welding the brace kit yet?

[nissannewby]

it would be horrible and simply Undrivable. you would have Zero Steering on bitumen and hard surfaces. Terrible idea! Dont do it.

Only when the hubs are locked

[JonnoD]

Lol thanks bloodyaussie. I haven't had time to scratch my arse of late but I will get on to it asap

[Patrolling Paddy]

Would be a poor choice. Don't know if it would be 'undriveable' but it sure would be a handful and would promote breakages.
All diff locks are locked so wouldn't be hugely different to a welded center, however a selectable can be turned off to give you steering control and an auto locker will 'release' when road forces exceed the input forces (back off to turn).
A welded center wouldn't allow steering without constant effort and the torsional forces back into the axles and diff center will cause damage. Could be a short term fix but I wouldn't think it would be a long term solution.

[JonnoD]

I get all that. I am just interested in hearing from someone with real worl experience.

[Patrolling Paddy]

Sorry my bad

[bigkevlittletruck]

I've driven a hiluxwith a locked front diff. Seriously heavy steering very hard to turn in sand or mud just wants to go straight. But they will climb a gnarly hill in a straight line. Regards Kevin

[liftlid]

I get all that. I am just interested in hearing from someone with real worl experience.

Everybody is telling you what will happen if you do it, why not try and see for yourself? We would all be interested to see how long the 100 series diff can last and if it's any better than the 80 series hopefully it is, and yes I have real world experience driving locked 4x4's and fixing toyota's!

[MudRunnerTD]

I've never driven a GQ with a front diff lock........ :(