Hey, I was talking to Lokka (In Australia, they are the parent company for Aussie Lockers, etc...) and it turns out they are willing to do an experiment to gauge interest in Nissan products.
They have carried lockers for Xterra, Titan, Armada, Pathfinders, Frontiers, etc for a decade or so, but in the USA, saw little to no interest.
They are willing to do a 2 week sale on ALL Nissan products to see if it was their USA distributor who was simply not pursuing the market, or, if it really is just jeepers here.
I know these lockers from the jeeps and Toys, etc, and they are truly different in the way they work, and, no one I know at least has broken one.
They install in an easy driveway project (No gear lash or other complicated stuff, they essentially drop in w/o taking out the gears or changing carriers, etc)
They only have FRONT LOCKERS for us from what I can tell, but, its the fronts that every one has trouble finding.
These work by allowing differentiation to occur easily and quickly...so you don't get the chirping and so forth you get with other autolockers.
Essentially, they are always locked, and never unlock, BUT, if the road, etc, is making one tire go FASTER (The outside tire on a turn), it LETS that one go faster, but, is still driving the slower/inside tire.
So if going in a straight line, both sides are locked and turning at the same speed.
If you take a turn, about the force needed to click a pen is all it takes to free wheel the faster side, and it just lets it...and you corner as normal.
For part time 4WD rigs, of course the front diff is out of the drive train in 2wd anyway.
So there's no dash switch, no compressor/OBA required, no wiring, its automatic.
Off road, a front locker adds more performance than a rear locker can, because on an IFS rig especially, its the FRONT that tends to slip.
When an open diff slips a front tire, the OTHER tire is idled, and you are in RWD.
When climbing for example, the rears have the best traction due to weight transfer, and additional wheel travel/articulation....and are less likely to slip.
As a locker ONLY helps when a wheel slips, by making the other tire keep driving the rig instead of standing by w/o helping, a locker helps most on the axle that is most likely to slip. (If you never slip, a locker will not ever help, and you don't need one)
So for an IFS rig with less wheel travel up front, and, the weight transferred to the rear when climbing, the front is where the locker will help the most.
TRADITIONALLY, a front locked rig is too hard to steer compared to a rear locked rig, so the dogma was to lock the rear if only doing ONE end (But to always lock both ends for BEST performance)
With the ability to allow differentiation though, the Lokka is easier to steer than other locked fronts, as the outer tire CAN go faster than the inside tire...and the inside tire is still being driven by the gears. (There are no conditions where neither side gets power, it's always locked)
If you use an ARB for example, if you try to make a sharp turn when the front is locked, you tend to plow ahead (understeer) because the two sides are forced to turn at the same speed, even though the outer tire has a longer arc to follow, so there HAS TO be slippage to allow that w/o breakage...and that skidding is what causes the understeer.
You can of course unlock the ARB, and have an open diff, and, if its slippery, you are essentially in RWD because the open diff will do what open diffs do, which is to steer easily, but not pull you anymore when one side slips.
With the Lokka, you would be steering with both front tires, but still pulling with the inside one.
As far as traction goes, that's the same as with both sides locked in a turn, but only one side having traction (Or there would not be slippage in the first place, etc).
So, straight ahead, locked = locked, and the ARB and Lokka would be exactly the same. In a turn, the Lokka would still allow a locked turn because it can still differentiate, but the ARB would turn much wider due to understeer unless you unlock it or, if you have a manual hub, freewheel one side manually to allow differentiation.
Again, its the ground/road itself that would make the outer tire go faster and cause differentiation...if the ground is covered in ice for example, and is not giving enough traction to rotate the tire faster, it stays locked.
So, for $299 delivered (USA, UK and Canada) - you can lock your front diff.
I am pasting what they sent me after the conversation to tell you how to get the deal:
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Gear to Goannawhere will be offering a special release sale price across the entire Nissan small to medium model range which includes the Xterras, Frontiers, Navaras, Pathfinders, Terranos, 720's etc.
This will cover a huge range of our Nissan Lokka diff lock models and a huge range of vehicle applications including most 2 pinion and many 4 pinion differentials. We don't do everything but most are covered.
The Sale Price for all Lokka Differential Lockers will be $299US including free delivery to USA, UK, Canada.
Other countries will have different freight costs so I cant list all of those but the same discount has been applied to everyone so it doesn't matter if you are Japan, Canada or Mexico the discount still applies.
To purchase you need to go to the
www.lokka.com site.
Use the Lokka Wizard and enter your vehicle search details.
If you can't work it for your vehicle use the Inquiry form and send your request to us and we will send back a payment request for the right model - but quote the Voucher Code !!
Before checkout there is a page that will ask for a Voucher Code
The Voucher code is Xterra13You must use that to get the discount
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Spread the word, as its only for TWO WEEKS!
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