Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

INFO REMOVED BY POSTER.

Seems this subject material I posted is of lesser value that I first thought and already covered in other threads.

It's been discussed a number of times over the past few years. The lastest thread.
http://www.delica.ca/forum/mitsubishi-f ... ght=locker

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We are in the 1% minority of Delica owners who are interested in diff lockers. That's why it won't be sticky.

It's pretty straight forward. Only one option for a locker: ARB and only one application = Montero/L400. People either put one in or do not.

The thread I linked has all the info you need on buying the correct one. The rear is easy. Either you have the small or large diff. As for the front, you'll need to pull the casing and axles from a NA V6 Montero SR model, otherwise the 'stated' ARB application won't fit in our stock L400 front diffs.

The LSD in the L400's are tight and work very well. The benefit for a front locker on this platform is not much because of the lack of articulation IFS.

If you SAS'd it, then I could see a front locker but in my 20 years of offroading, I have rarely (can count on one hand) come across a situation where I absolutely needed a front diff locker.

99.9% of the time, a good rear locker is all you need but that's running offtopic.

Here in canuckland, there are 6 L300's and 2 L400's that I know of that have the rear ARB locker in and I haven't had feedback that it made the difference in $1,600 additional cost of the stock LSD shimmed up.

I completely disagree with getting a rear locker over the front if you already have LSD in the rear or rear factory locker option. By locking the front you gain more benefits vs time and money spent converting the front to a solid axle. (read half price)

The main reason IFS is undesirable is the fact that if one tire lifts in the air (the IFS wave, happens all the time) the grounded tire looses all traction due to the open differential putting all power to the tire in the air. With an open diff without momentum you stop, with a locker, you just crawl right up n' over which is much safer and with careful driving and also saves your CV joints etc. So although IFS may not get the full benefit of the leverage action of solid axles to the opposite tires etc., a locker in the front at half the price gets you more than half of the way there with far less modification. Which by the way, will be fine for 80% of wheelers out there. Not to mention the benefits in mud, snow, sand etc. Besides,the Poor man's e-brake locker trick works ok if you don't abuse your LSD clutch in the city!

Its always an on-going debate with many perspectives, so thats one angle if you're already going to buy an ARB setup..


If you have the cash, obviously lock both!

Oh, and just to add to what Jesse said.. Is it really worth the cost for what you are doing with your van?

I've been on some of the hardest trails in the world and careful driving with open diffs was just fine. (in a fj40, but still)

unless you go front and rear lockers, without a doubt a locker in the rear/open front is the best combo.

it's physics. most times when you 'think' you need a front locker is to pull uphill. In this case, if the rear is locked, most of the weight is on the rear wheels pushing uphill that give it most traction. I learned it during a wheeling course a long time ago and it is the consensus among general wheelers.

Locking the front puts an extreme amount of stress on the front axle which is inherantly weaker then the rear axle, ie. smaller R&P, smaller shafts, axle CV-joints, and hubs. All these things become factors with the increased work the frontend must do to make up for the lack of traction in the rear compounded when you are turning.

I had an XJ locked front and rear for 11 years and only used the front locker 3 times and even then I could have taken a different line with only the rear locked.

The money on a front locker is much better spent either locking the rear or putting into better gearing/tires,recovery gear,etc..

With that said, it would be nice to see a lifted L400 locked front and rear on the trails.

Firstly: costs are not a concern for me.
Second: I currently have a Rear LSD and Front Mechanical Locker in my Xterra. On the trail this combo kicks tail and has rivalled some fully locked vehicles I 'wheel' with.

My front locker (a Grizzly from Randy's R&P in Seattle. WA) is not a selectable type, but will release to prevent axle breakage through an interestering RAMP design inside the carrier. The front end pulls left and right slightly with no warning when locked depending on traction conditions and that takes some getting used to the first few times it happens.

I am sure we all know selectable lockers like an ARB or Eaton's E-Locker behave like an open diff when disengaged and that certainly makes driving on slick roads a bit more civilized compared to how the Grizzly behaves.

Now a pair of ARB's in an IFS rig would nearly climb trees.......I also like the sound of the compressed air releasing when they are disengaged after the hard climb.....There's an Xterra in Moab video on YouTube...sweet!

From here I am not going to debate the pros and cons of lockers. I am just going to 'git-er-dun' when I am ready. I simply can't have a basic 4x4 when I write for a 4x4 magazine.....thats just wrong! Who knows I might do dual lockers. I will talk to my contacts at ARB and Randy's and go from there. They are the pros afterall.

Looking forward to it

Big bird, have you thought about putting in a set of D44's or some solid toy axels? shafts are one ton chev thick, lockers are plentiful and its not that hard of a mod if you have some steel working skills. only down side is the birfs but you can go with chromoly ones or long fields...

I have been down the Dana route already with my Xterra and it certainly changed the game for off-roading. Yota axles are okay with smurf or burf upgrades but the cost of hacking out the IFS and installing radius arms or 4-link and coil overs (my preferred SAS options) is difficult to justify. I don't wheel as much as I used to mainly due to dwindling trails in Alberta. And the trails we do have are quite passable with a stock 4x4....there are exceptions of course.....Lockers are in my Deli's future, its just a matter of when......