My experience with a Detroit Locker...
03-07-2010, 09:48 PM
#1
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My experience with a Detroit Locker... OK so ive been driving around for a while with my new ford 9" & my detroit locker. I didnt want a posi or a spool. I wanted somthing that could take abuse & keep going.
Ford 9" w/locker, 325 gears, & 3600 stall.
Going from park, to drive, or to reverse, half of the time it will bang into gear like somthings wrong with the tranny. Other times, it will not.
When you make a sharp turn, if your not on the gas, or on the gas very lightly, it will unlock and you will hear a clicking noise like a slow moving wonderwheel. If you give it more gas on a sharp turn, it will lock & make the inside wheel hop & vibrate the whole car. On wider turns, this will not happen & you wont notice anything as long as your on the gas.
When your cruising, when you let off the gas, you will feel it pop & unlock. When you give it gas right after that, you will feel it bang & lock again. Thats the worst part IMO. When your cruising & give it a decent amount of throttle, the car will dart left or right slightly for a second.
Parallel parking, you will just hear poping & clicking noises. Every once in a while, you will feel it bang.
When Launching, you have to make sure its locked. Just go foward a little before you launch. If it bangs, it was not locked. Usually, if you were going straight & then stopped, its locked. Its when you just turned & then stopped that its unlocked at that moment.
Definitely not smooth. If your gonna daily drive this thing, turn up the radio & dont pay attention to it. For me, its not the clicking & other noises that bothers me, its the banging that you can feel. It will somtimes make random poping noises like it has a mind of its own. But thats the price you pay for having a strong diff.
Hers's a vid on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1yM...eature=related
Ford 9" w/locker, 325 gears, & 3600 stall.
Going from park, to drive, or to reverse, half of the time it will bang into gear like somthings wrong with the tranny. Other times, it will not.
When you make a sharp turn, if your not on the gas, or on the gas very lightly, it will unlock and you will hear a clicking noise like a slow moving wonderwheel. If you give it more gas on a sharp turn, it will lock & make the inside wheel hop & vibrate the whole car. On wider turns, this will not happen & you wont notice anything as long as your on the gas.
When your cruising, when you let off the gas, you will feel it pop & unlock. When you give it gas right after that, you will feel it bang & lock again. Thats the worst part IMO. When your cruising & give it a decent amount of throttle, the car will dart left or right slightly for a second.
Parallel parking, you will just hear poping & clicking noises. Every once in a while, you will feel it bang.
When Launching, you have to make sure its locked. Just go foward a little before you launch. If it bangs, it was not locked. Usually, if you were going straight & then stopped, its locked. Its when you just turned & then stopped that its unlocked at that moment.
Definitely not smooth. If your gonna daily drive this thing, turn up the radio & dont pay attention to it. For me, its not the clicking & other noises that bothers me, its the banging that you can feel. It will somtimes make random poping noises like it has a mind of its own. But thats the price you pay for having a strong diff.
Hers's a vid on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1yM...eature=related
03-07-2010, 10:36 PM
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Are you A4 or 6 spd ? I have heard of thoes problems when running a 6 spd,
I run A4/yank 3500 for 3 years now running yank 4000 and have very very little
clicking in a very tight turn, and this is the only time I know I am running a locker.
If I make a tight turn staging I back up 6 ft then pull forward 6 ft and I am locked.
I an't no 'spert, but I will express my opinon, I ran a Detroit Locker in a 427 mustang on the strip & track for over 7 years waaayyyy back in '60s, now running a locker in
Y2K SS/7.50 rear, and building 9"/Detroit locker for spare.
As you may have guessed,
I like Detroit Lockers
Johnny
I run A4/yank 3500 for 3 years now running yank 4000 and have very very little
clicking in a very tight turn, and this is the only time I know I am running a locker.
If I make a tight turn staging I back up 6 ft then pull forward 6 ft and I am locked.
I an't no 'spert, but I will express my opinon, I ran a Detroit Locker in a 427 mustang on the strip & track for over 7 years waaayyyy back in '60s, now running a locker in
Y2K SS/7.50 rear, and building 9"/Detroit locker for spare.
As you may have guessed,
I like Detroit Lockers
Johnny
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03-08-2010, 12:23 PM
#8
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This is an exact description of how my Detroit Locker is. I was gonna do a write up but was just too lazy.
I cannot figure out why it bangs when I put it in Drive or Reverse when it was in Park. Though, with the issues that we have I know it is gonna perform at the track.
The Detroit locker is not in any way a stock feel. It almost feels like a spool lite to me. But again, I love it and do not plan on changing it.
So LastZ, do you have a whine 55mph and above when you’re on the gas? My rear will whine above 55 only when on the gas. When I let of the gas the whine goes away. I think I just recently saw a post where somebody said the noise is traveling through my Spohn TQ arm and makes since. You would think that if it were the gears they would whine speeding up and slowing down.
I cannot figure out why it bangs when I put it in Drive or Reverse when it was in Park. Though, with the issues that we have I know it is gonna perform at the track.
The Detroit locker is not in any way a stock feel. It almost feels like a spool lite to me. But again, I love it and do not plan on changing it.
So LastZ, do you have a whine 55mph and above when you’re on the gas? My rear will whine above 55 only when on the gas. When I let of the gas the whine goes away. I think I just recently saw a post where somebody said the noise is traveling through my Spohn TQ arm and makes since. You would think that if it were the gears they would whine speeding up and slowing down.
03-08-2010, 08:05 PM
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Talked to moser a bit back and they saied that. The waive trac posi that they have was super smoth and very quiet.when every day driving comes in to play and very strong. Any word about them?
03-08-2010, 10:12 PM
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This is an exact description of how my Detroit Locker is. I was gonna do a write up but was just too lazy.
I cannot figure out why it bangs when I put it in Drive or Reverse when it was in Park. Though, with the issues that we have I know it is gonna perform at the track.
The Detroit locker is not in any way a stock feel. It almost feels like a spool lite to me. But again, I love it and do not plan on changing it.
So LastZ, do you have a whine 55mph and above when you’re on the gas? My rear will whine above 55 only when on the gas. When I let of the gas the whine goes away. I think I just recently saw a post where somebody said the noise is traveling through my Spohn TQ arm and makes since. You would think that if it were the gears they would whine speeding up and slowing down.
I cannot figure out why it bangs when I put it in Drive or Reverse when it was in Park. Though, with the issues that we have I know it is gonna perform at the track.
The Detroit locker is not in any way a stock feel. It almost feels like a spool lite to me. But again, I love it and do not plan on changing it.
So LastZ, do you have a whine 55mph and above when you’re on the gas? My rear will whine above 55 only when on the gas. When I let of the gas the whine goes away. I think I just recently saw a post where somebody said the noise is traveling through my Spohn TQ arm and makes since. You would think that if it were the gears they would whine speeding up and slowing down.
03-09-2010, 11:13 AM
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Lockers aren't all that bad. With a little suspension tuning the locker works reasonably well in autocross and roadcourses.
Reasonably well that I clinched the 2nd place in season championships.
autox pokale 2006
But since then I have switched to a Trutrac. Going from reasonbly well to exceptional would be an understatement. It is a whole different car.
Reasonably well that I clinched the 2nd place in season championships.
autox pokale 2006
But since then I have switched to a Trutrac. Going from reasonbly well to exceptional would be an understatement. It is a whole different car.
03-23-2010, 07:09 PM
#17
I am running that locker in my 9" with a six speed in front, it is a complete nightmare on the street so far, loud as hell, bangs like something is gonna fall off the car when I take a corner wrong, in short I am hating this damn thing right now. I also have the whine above 55 when on the gas, off the gas it quiets right down. Glad to hear I am not the only one with that going on...
03-26-2010, 06:57 PM
#20