But in my day, there just weren't none.
So the only way I could lock up my
`Cruiser was ter exchange the axles
or weld the spider gears in my open
differentials." "So, what der you suppose
I did?" asked Gaffer in an obviously
rhetorical question because he didn't
give me any time to answer. "I welded
them suckers up solid. I was married
at the time and there weren't any
way that woman was goin' to let me
spend a pile of money on axles and
lockers. Yer got to watch out fer them
wimen!", exclaimed Gaffer with both
of his eyebrows drawn down to a point
making him look like he only had one
eyebrow that extended across his whole
head, part of which was singed.
"But yer know what?" asked the old
goat. "That woman just out-cheaped
herself. I could disengage the front hubs
for regular drivin' and steerin', but them
poor rear tires got drug and scrubbed
something awful. We was replacing tires
every time we turned around."
Being concerned with the costs involved
with buying and installing aftermarket
differentials, I asked the old man how
well the welded differentials performed
off road.
"Well, I'll tell yer. Them Lincoln lockers
were sometimes good and sometimes
bad. For climbing steep, rock ledges like
"The Stairs", them were a dream come
true an I walked right up! But when
I got onto flat, slickrock surfaces with
all four tires on the ground, I had ter
unlock one of my front hubs ter steer
and the rear chirped and squeaked
all the while. Don't be cheap like my
ex-wife. Lincoln lockers are good on
dirt and sand but they is hard to use on
slickrock an' on the highway."
"I ended up taking them welded
differentials out an' installin' a Ford nine
inch rear end with a Detroit Locker and
puttin'one of them there Truetracs back
in my front end. Now this were a right
righteous arrangement except for the
really gnarly rock climbing spots where
yer just had to have all four tires locked
`an turnin'."
"I used this arrangement fer years, an'
was happy with it except fer them times
when Manybroncos conquered obstacles
that I just couldn't do. Them challenges,
no surprise, were ones where a front tire
would catch air and the torque transfer
dropped to zero on the front axle until I
applied some brake action."
"One thing for yer to be aware of,"
cautioned the old man. "If yer put a
Detroit type locker in yer front axle,
yer will have to undo a hub to let
yer steer just like I had to do with
welded diffs. This is a bit inconvenient
as ol Manybroncos frequently
demonstrated. He spent a lot of time
in three wheel drive.
"Then one day," continued Gaffer with
a gleam in his good eye, "I learnt that
some outfit in Oz (Australia) was
makin, air lockers fer `Cruisers. By then,
I was married to my second wife an'
that marriage were still new enough
for her ter let me buy one of them new
fangled lockers. So I jumped on that
opportunity like a bird on a beetle an'
ARB Air Locker in a Toyota 9.5" differential. The actuating air line is clearly visible.
TOYOTA TRAILS
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