Offroad-Express

Okays boys and girls, Since no factory Locka is availiable for my Daihatsu Im looking at welding the front diff and running it with only one manual hub locked most of the time and locking both in when I want full traction, im aware that US Jeep owners do this a lot and Im keen if it's the only way I can gain extra traction in my Feroza.

I know a guy who does this all the time on stockies and is happy to do the welding for me , thoughts.. pros...cons.... do i need prozac... or should I step away from the welder now

I would suggest that you try it on a spare diff first in case its shit or doesn't work, that way you can put it back to standard again if you really need to...theres a few Feroza's/Import Rockys around so parts should be cheap enough...

Is there anything on here about difflocks? http://www.warfs.org/

just a quick word about unlocking one hub when running a locked front, the wheel you unlock when your driving feels like it has a fiddle brake on it !

awesum if your wanting to turn real tight in that direction, but turn the other way ? ? ? NAH.

Jerry wrote:
Is there anything on here about difflocks? http://www.warfs.org/

Only that every Feroza owner in the world is looking for a Difflock .. none are currently in production that Im aware of... there was talk of a guy in Indonesa doing one but he was doing it for the F50's not the F300's that I have

if you were going to do that you would just keep both of the hubs in the whole time offroad (and both out on road obviously) id imagine with only one wheel in it is a prick to drive.

pete

Wouldnt you be better off using 2 manual hubs...that way when on the road your front diff isnt spinning at all.

have you considered putting a diff out of a indpendant sprung toyota under the front end, i have thought about doin it sadly i dont have the luxuary of being able to take it off the road while thework is done.

the pro's of doing this conversion are different ratio's and lokka's and cheaper parts

the con's that i can see would be you'd have to get a bit of fabrication work done and certification also you'd have to keep a record of what you did to give to who ever you may end up selling the truck to else wise if they break or replace something they'd end up with the wrong parts

don't know if it could be done just an idea i been considering

failing that suzuki diffs could be an option front and rear get them from a wreaker real cheap and then u'd beable to get lokka's for bioth ends go v6 vitara diffs tho be a little stronger than any others

meece4x4 wrote:im aware that US Jeep owners do this a lot and Im keen if it's the only way I can gain extra traction in my Feroza.

Care to ellaborate on that. Jeep front lockers are dime a dozen in US, so why would anybody do this? Secondly, free wheeling hubs basically stopped with CJs (i.e. XJ, YJ, TJ and JK don't have manual front free wheeling hubs).

don't do it.

there are clever engineer dudes out there who can take your diff head and install an air or electric or hydraulic locker into it for you.

Howat Engineering in Wellington is one

skid wrote:don't do it.

there are clever engineer dudes out there who can take your diff head and install an air or electric or hydraulic locker into it for you.

Howat Engineering in Wellington is one

true but not on my budget ...... plus wellington is about a 10 hour drive for me

Petemcc wrote:if you were going to do that you would just keep both of the hubs in the whole time offroad (and both out on road obviously) id imagine with only one wheel in it is a prick to drive.

pete

cant see it being any different from driving it off road with the open diff It has in it now, the left front spins 90% of the time leaving the right doing nothing ...... my plan was to lock only the left front (leaving the right unlocked) for most of the 4wd'ing .. when I need extra traction in a straight line only (ie stuck in a bog which up here in the far north is about 95% of the time ) then I can manualy lock the right hub thereby "diff'locking" the front and having both wheels driving.

With open diffs the drive changes from side to side depending on the resistance. Especially when cornering the drive will shift to the wheel with least resistance (outside wheel if I'm not mistaken) allowing the other to turn at a different speed.

If you weld and have one hub in, it will work ok but when you go to turn you are forcing the locked wheel to do the driving and hence it will perform differently in a left or right hand turn.

But if you can get another diff that you can do it too then why not have a play. If its not going to cost you heaps and its not likely to ruin the rest of your truck I'm all for the pioneering sense of adventure with experimentation and discovery that our society generally and especially other's that can't be bothered seem to discourage.

fweddy wrote:With open diffs the drive changes from side to side depending on the resistance. Especially when cornering the drive will shift to the wheel with least resistance (outside wheel if I'm not mistaken) allowing the other to turn at a different speed.

If you weld and have one hub in, it will work ok but when you go to turn you are forcing the locked wheel to do the driving and hence it will perform differently in a left or right hand turn.

But if you can get another diff that you can do it too then why not have a play. If its not going to cost you heaps and its not likely to ruin the rest of your truck I'm all for the pioneering sense of adventure with experimentation and discovery that our society generally and especially other's that can't be bothered seem to discourage.

thanks for that fweddy im looking at giving it a go but doing what a few of the other chaps have sugested ... find a spare diff and try it on that

... one thing I have noticed is that the turning circle in a Feroza even in 4wd is excellent (I can turn inside my Mrs 5 dr Zook in 4wd) and the fact that my rig is about as long as a Crusier or Safari is wide ...

even doubling the turning circle I prob would be able to use it with both locked in, very little of my 4wd'ing is on narrow windy tracks anyway .... most of it is down the back of the farm in the mud bogs

Why not put fiddle brakes in the front, pull on the brake on the spinning wheel to give power to the one with the grip. Talk to your cert guy but I don't think this would be a cert issue if you have a separate system for the fiddles (separate caliper and lines) wont change foot pedal.

I was discussing Nick's zook toyota hybrid(welded rears filddle fronts and lsd in front) with Rick 4WDacc, and this sounds like a better option than welded and not a wof issue if a separate system to the foot brake and e brake.

DO IT !!!

I welded my IFS surf front diff up as I was sick of being towed out of the easiest places. Since doing it I can now climb to the top of Thompsons track (the narly left hand route) . OK yes I have to do the odd three piont turn occasionally due to loss of steering but the pros far outweigh the cons. My hubs are disconected during road use as when locked on tar seal I can only travel in a straight line (extremly dangerous) but off road its magic. for the couple of hours it took me to weld the spider gears up it was well worth it. With the LSD in the rear it makes even better. - cheers Mike

not to sure but are the front and rear diffs on these trucks the same internally ? if they are could be an option to find another lsd head and swap it in

2roky wrote:not to sure but are the front and rear diffs on these trucks the same internally ? if they are could be an option to find another lsd head and swap it in

hey 2Rocky
ive spent the last few weeks trying to track down another LSD (My rear ones making a few funny noises at the moment) dam they are hard to get going to try and find another open diff and do the mods on that one ... if it all goes pear shaped then i still have the original one to fit back in

Hello Meece4x4,

Just want to know what eventually happened. Did you weld your front differential? If yes, were you happy?
or regretted you even thought about it? Tia

i was riding a suzuki atv yesterday with front diff lock (ltf 300)
man once u engage locker it just stops steering big time, imagine this would be way worse wider wheelbase

I have a question/idea

Must be a reason why it doesn't work but can't see why not

If you have electric hubs and a welded diff, couldn't you switch it on and off like a diff lock??

I know Daihatsu's don't have lecky hubs but it's just an idea

Bubba wrote:I have a question/idea

Must be a reason why it doesn't work but can't see why not

If you have electric hubs and a welded diff, couldn't you switch it on and off like a diff lock??

I know Daihatsu's don't have lecky hubs but it's just an idea

who the hell gave you permission to think

down boy, down

Then tell me why it wouldn't work smart arse

hook it up to a switch on steering wheel, i.e turn right , rh side off, turn left left side off
or other way around not clever enuff to work it out.

not a silly idea, if auto hubs can take it

I have welded my front differential last year. My feroza have trailed more than 10 times since. It has
been to easy medium and difficult trails together with other feroza members of our club. What I could say is that, the welded front performs much better than an open differential. I did it Fozzy locker style. You can see pictures
of the front side gears in the rigs section. The issue of being hard to steer is exagerated. As long as your turns are
with 60 degrees, you will be able to turn just like any normal rig. It is slightly harder but it is not a problem.
When you turn 90 degrees or more, you might have to backup a little bit. But the performance of the welded
front differential will more than compensate for a little sacrifice on turning.

It would be a different issue on a paved or cemented street. It will be extremely hard for you to turn if you
forget to unlock your hubs. A welded differential will also be a disadvantage if you join offroad races specially
if the race track requires you to do figure of 8s or full 360 turn.

If given the same chance, I will do it all over again. Here are some pictures of my Roza.