Lokka lockers.

[FatGuts]

Is anyone using Lockrite Lokkas in the rear of a Hilux?

My brother in law's gutlux has just spat the pinion & we have to rebuild it & was wondering if there were any reliability issues with the axles, crownwheel & pinions.

It is a 2.8 no turbo with 32" mudders, its not a super mega rock crawler, more of a touring rig.

I am also interested in if the guys that have them are happy with their operation (noise, clunkyness etc)?

I understand the operation of them so I dont need to know about that, just looking for reliability issues in service in this particular vehicle.

I have searched but the first 5 pages didnt have anything with hiluxes in them.

Thanks in advance ,

FG.

[tna racing]

personly i wouldnt run a lock right lokka in the rear. we have one in the front and it clunks on full lock but other than that it's great. this is in a patrol. i would put a good lsd in the back of that hilux

[FatGuts]

Like what? The LSD is not bad but struggles a bit with the bigger tyres so the locker was next. ARB lockers are too deer & detroit lockers can be savage.

Why wouldnt you run it in the rear?

[FatGuts]

I just had a look at your location, I was actually born in Yallourn in 71.

I still have family living in the Haunted Hills, Moe, morwell & Traralgon.

Small world is gettin smaller with the internet.

[tna racing]

I just had a look at your location, I was actually born in Yallourn in 71.

I still have family living in the Haunted Hills, Moe, morwell & Traralgon.

Small world is gettin smaller with the internet.

may i ask wat your name's are pm if u want

[tna racing]

Like what? The LSD is not bad but struggles a bit with the bigger tyres so the locker was next. ARB lockers are too deer & detroit lockers can be savage.

Why wouldnt you run it in the rear?

just the is that it recks the springs in the lokka 2

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

Like what? The LSD is not bad but struggles a bit with the bigger tyres so the locker was next. ARB lockers are too deer & detroit lockers can be savage.

Why wouldnt you run it in the rear?

Not if purchased new since about 1994 when TrakTech bought out the Series IV, and since then they've made even greater improvements with the advent of the Soflocker! That has NO MORE effect on your driving than that you'd get from a good quality LSD! There are a fair few people out there who had to see the old diff centre to be convinced that the Soflocker was fitted, and I know of a couple of otherwise discerning drivers who don't even know that they have a soflocker; PLUS lots of people who make similar comments to the one highlighted earlier, who have been absolutely GOB-SMACKED to find out how hard it is to pick the vehicle that's been fitted with the Detroit Locker, when given the opportunity to drive 2 otherwise identical vehicles!!

And if you think that earlier Detroits can be savage, all I can say is hold on to your hat and watch out for the Lokka! They are 'rather agricultural' by comparison; but many people drive them and find that the effect on driving isn't too hard to put up with!

I'd guess that the comment is based solely on either uninformed hearsay, or its from experiencing the early Series III's!

PS, I've run Lokka's in the past, but went back to the Detroit Locker, still run them!

[GeeYouFaw]

What's the price difference like between the 'Lokka' and the detroit locker?

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

The Detroit Locker (actually a Soflocker, if it has the SL in the Traktech or LDS part no)s are about $1200, but worth every cent!

As for the Lokka, in my experience, they may be cheap to purchase (about $500) and install, but that's just where the costs begin, and they don't stop until you pull it out!

[Faavil]

personly i wouldnt run a lock right lokka in the rear. we have one in the front and it clunks on full lock but other than that it's great. this is in a patrol. i would put a good lsd in the back of that hilux

although I have only had limited experience by comparison, I agree-they seem bullet-proof. I have a Lokka in the front and love it-an ARB Air in the back though. Check out "Boof's Lux" (http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/shed/index.php?id=72) or email "Boof". I have the same diff-lock set up as him, and he seems far more experienced than me (and has a top rig too I must say!). The Detroit sounds interesting as well.

[Faavil]

The Detroit Locker (actually a Soflocker, if it has the SL in the Traktech or LDS part no)s are about $1200, but worth every cent!

As for the Lokka, in my experience, they may be cheap to purchase (about $500) and install, but that's just where the costs begin, and they don't stop until you pull it out!

Ok, I am prepared to listen... I do believe I did my research-the positive comments and anecdotes I found regarding the Lokka far outwayed the negative ones which were mainly to do with noise and minimal steering loss (read-minimal)...but...one can't know it all . So please do tell what have you experienced, so I can perhaps have an idea of what I can do to prepare (or re-pair as it were)...:confused:

(Don't you just hate it when you've made a choice that you felt was the right one and someone who clearly has more experience says, nah shouldna done that! Oh well you live and learn...)

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

Not saying you shouldn't have done that at all; just saying that have you seen/heard the downside of the cheapie lokkas??

I tried them, admittedly as an early Detroit user, and found that they were pretty much on par with the really early Detroits! There is absolutely NO denying that they work, and that as lockers they make massive improvements to your 4WD capability. BUT, they do have some fairly pronounced engage/disengage noises and lurches etc. And after a relatively short while, I discovered the differences between the early Detroits and the Lokka's!

When the Lokka does it's bang and lurch thing, it seems that frequently overstresses the little springs and pins that are designed to enable the engage/disengage action. If the overstressing occurs at the right moment, the halves jump a tooth or two in relation to each other, and since there is still a cross piece in between them, originally in a carefully fitted hole, the halves are now REALLY forced apart and those poor little springs and pins are screwed sideways between the sections as the diff centre locks up suddenly and often when it is least expected and certainly not desired! This sometimes manages to cause breakages only to the installed components, more often causing additional and expensive collateral damage in the drivetrain of the vehicle!

I thought that my driving style may have contributed a little to my first Lokka failure, but while undertaking the fairly expensive repair process and increasingly traumatic 'interaction come confrontation' that highlighted some of the other issues with this supplier, I discovered that most of the people who would admit to buying and fitting these things at that stage had encountered the same issues and failures!! No one really praised them! More failures on my truck convinced me that I had nothing to do with the failures per se, it was part of the design features they just don't tell you!! Digging further, I spent some time chasing down every other purchaser I could identify in the local area and discovered a high percentage of similar issues, a percentage that very quickly became a 100% failure rate, both of the equipment and of the supplier! I got out and went back to Detroit, installing a couple of the relatively new (then) Series IV's.

MAGIC by comparison, so smooth as to be virtually undetectable unless you (the driver) do something that is not normally considered 'Good Driving!' Most reasonable drivers find them not intrusive at all, and the only time you hear/feel them bang or lurch is when the diff gently reminds you to watch your driving! NOTHING LIKE the old Series III's and the Ford 9" units! Then the Series IV SofLockers hit the streets! Detroit Lockers with the addition of a spring/clutch arrangement that damps down the engage/disengage to a barely detectable level. Less impact on your daily driving than you'd get from a good LSD! My Series IV's got a couple of upgrades to bring them up to the latest design, and I was VERY IMPRESSED! These things are SMOOOOOTH AS!

Me old Mum (she's now 82! But still out on the back tracks and fire trails!) was getting the Pathfinder into a few situations where it was running out of a little traction. Things like 1 front wheel in the air climbing rocky steps and it just wouldn't quite make it. Needed a more flexible foot/leg than the athritis had left her, she couldn't do the left foot braking bit and couldn't quite get the right foot to do both. Didn't tell her what I did when I took the car for a day, but she now goes a helluva lot further in that Pathfinder than anyone else's Pathie!! She still doesn't know why!! Lots of others who either don't know, can't tell, or had to be convinced that the fitting HAD been done!

So when people ask for experiences and thoughts on these things, I watch the 'Lokka Lovers' team go in to bat, and then check out the almost obligatory 'Air Locker' mob do their routine (it brings to mind a Hare Krishna street team running into a gaggle of Missionaries from Utah!) Then as it settles into the ideological debate, I try to remind everybody that 'cheap' usually is! And that when Air Lockers are locked there is no stress relief and when they aren't locked they are open! And finally there is a reason that all these various Lockers and Air Lockers etc are out there today; they've been trying to catch up with the original and the best since about WW II, but the improvements and the design innovations still keep coming, so they are left with nothing but a catch up game!


Sorry it's so long, but you did ask!! And how could I miss such an opportunity? Now watch the various teams come out to play, and tell me my street analogy isn't true! The only thing missing is the yellow robes and the white shirts and ties!

Cheers!

[yowie]

So when people ask for experiences and thoughts on these things, I watch the 'Lokka Lovers' team go in to bat, and then check out the almost obligatory 'Air Locker' mob do their routine (it brings to mind a Hare Krishna street team running into a gaggle of Missionaries from Utah!)

PMSL :D:D

[BLU-125]

"So when people ask for experiences and thoughts on these things, I watch the 'Lokka Lovers' team go in to bat, and then check out the almost obligatory 'Air Locker' mob do their routine (it brings to mind a Hare Krishna street team running into a gaggle of Missionaries from Utah!)"

So I take that Peter represents the "Detroit Devotees"...........Imagine a Catholic group meeting the above mentioned two groups.

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

"So when people ask for experiences and thoughts on these things, I watch the 'Lokka Lovers' team go in to bat, and then check out the almost obligatory 'Air Locker' mob do their routine (it brings to mind a Hare Krishna street team running into a gaggle of Missionaries from Utah!)"

So I take that Peter represents the "Detroit Devotees"...........Imagine a Catholic group meeting the above mentioned two groups.

METHODIST thanks BLU!!

No Booze, dancing, or playing cards! :mad:

Sex & Drugs'r OK tho'! :D