Detroit soft lockers

hi berek.
i have a detroit soft locker in back and air locker in front.
i have a 80s cruiser. In this combination works very well .

Derek
I have Locka's fitted to both front and rear of my base 80 series and they work great although I'm not really too keen on the rears. I still prefer them to Toyota's not so flash LSD though. I didn't want air lockers for the same reason but might eventually put one in rear. Performance wise I have no reason to change rear as yet though and front are the ducks nuts.

Hi Derek.... what are soft lockers..... are they like LSD? I have lockright in the back only of my '88 75 series troopie. I am wrapt in them .... don't need to use 4wd half the time now! cheers Royce

Hi Royce. Firstly, thank you for your reply. A Detroit soft locker is apparently a more refined version of their earlier model difflock and engages and disengages more quietly and gently hence the name 'softlocker'. And no, it is not a LSD and works on a slightly different principle. The Detroit Locker is normally in the 'locked' position and un-locks to allow you to turn corners etc. It should really be known as the Detroit Un-locker. Hope this helps you.
Safe driving, Derek.

Kb. I bought my Lockrite about 2 years ago from an off road company in Adelaide for $600+freight and installed it myself. It takes a few hours to do and you would need some mechanical background and tools to do it. Having said that, it's not too difficult a job. I bought the Lockrite because it was far cheaper than the Detroit. The Lockrite inserts into your existing carrier housing whilst the Detroit replaces it totally. The Detroit looks stronger but is also much more expensive. I have had no trouble with Lockrite and wouldn't be without it. When it is engaged however, it does clunk and bang. I spent the extra money and went for the Detroit when I decided to fit a locker to the rear diff because I was advised that they were quieter and smoother. This was of importance to me as the rear diff is working everywhere I go, whilst the front diff only works when I select 4wd. Now that it's fitted, I wonder if I should have fitted an air locker. It has changed the handling of the car and I'm not sure I like. If you decide to fit only one locker, put it in the front diff and get the Lockrite. If you have any more questions , post them here and I'll help you out. Copulater, Derek.

Awephius. Your description of how your Suzi now handles on the road is very similar to what happens to my Cruiser. If a stranger was to drive my car they would think they'd snapped an axle. You're also right, in that by changing your driving style you can overcome a lot of the strange things that happen. The beauty of these things over the airlocker, is that when you're climbing a difficult hill you don't have to worry about pushing buttons - it all happens automatically. I'm still pretty happy with how the thing performs in general, but if I had my time over again, I would probably fit the air locker. Thanks for your feed back.