Lincoln lockers and road driving

[Rollie715]

I'm thinking of welding up the rear diff, but still expect to use the Soob as a daily driver. I've heard of people setting up the rear axle so they can quickly remove and reinstall a single axle through the use of quick disconnect pins in place of the stock axle pins. So in day to day use, it runs around with only one axle installed in the rear. Then occasionally when a little "3 wheelin" is needed it can be engaged to help in those mild offroad conditions. If heavy "4 wheelin" is needed, I assume you crawl under the car and install the missing axle and off you go with a locked rear end.

 

A question I have for you that are doing this or have seen it done is How does this system work? Is it practical? Is it fairly easy to remove and reinstall the axle?

 

My second question on this is how much road driving can you do with both axles in place? I've seen a lot of Toyotas running around on the street with the rear welded and they definitely screech the tires on the dry pavement when they turn. How would a Subaru hold up under these conditions?

 

Rollie

[Sweet82]

I'm thinking of welding up the rear diff, but still expect to use the Soob as a daily driver. I've heard of people setting up the rear axle so they can quickly remove and reinstall a single axle through the use of quick disconnect pins in place of the stock axle pins. So in day to day use, it runs around with only one axle installed in the rear. Then occasionally when a little "3 wheelin" is needed it can be engaged to help in those mild offroad conditions. If heavy "4 wheelin" is needed, I assume you crawl under the car and install the missing axle and off you go with a locked rear end.

 

A question I have for you that are doing this or have seen it done is How does this system work? Is it practical? Is it fairly easy to remove and reinstall the axle?

 

My second question on this is how much road driving can you do with both axles in place? I've seen a lot of Toyotas running around on the street with the rear welded and they definitely screech the tires on the dry pavement when they turn. How would a Subaru hold up under these conditions?

 

Rollie

 

Quickly is a relative term...I'd think your looking at 15-20 minutes best case.

 

Quick disconnect pins also go by the name of nails.

 

If your going to weld your diff, you should reinforce your diff hanger at the same time.

Both 3 wheeling and 4 wheeling will be hard on an unreinforced diff hanger.

 

Three wheeling will cause you to drift towards the missing axle side during climbs.

Four wheeling with a welded diff can give you unexpected results on snowy streets.

 

Practical is also a relative term?...I'd say it would depend on how much you enjoy doing axle swaps.

If you do remove an axle, I'd tell you to mark them with nail polish or junkyard marker so

when you reinstall you'll know exactly where your splines need to be.

They can look correct but still be in the wrong position.

 

If you remember to take your corners gradually and don't mind your tires "barking" you can drive with a fully welded diff.

 

Probably not the best thing for the car.

The three wheel option is probably the better way to go...

 

My .02

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer--Welded!

84 GL Mad Max--not welded.

01 Forester--Limited.

[Numbchux]

Glenn's right on the money there ^

 

for me, it was definately not practical, and probably never will be (or not anytime in the near future), the vast majority of the wheeling I do does not require a locked rear end, and rarely takes long enough to justify installing, and removing an axle. so I went with an LSD, not nearly as strong as a locker, but it'll give you an extra push, that sometimes can be enough, and is much more predictable in everyday driving (especially in the snow)

[Rooinater]

in my opinion... a welded rearend for a subaru is the only way to go, if you plan to follow all the hard corp subies or the modified yotas and jeeps. otherwise unless your as good of a driver as eric and ken from the hatch patrol... forget the lsd.

 

if you plan on light duty wheeling as your main focus lsd is definately the way to go.

 

little roo for a long time had the welded rearend. a lot of the times on light duty wheeling trips i'd be to lazy to pull the axle back out, and i'd drive around with it in the rear, and the tranny in fwd. don't drive it in 4wheeldrive and both axles in, on the street! it does put un-do amount of stress on the welds and the axles. be mindful while driving, take as wide of turns as possible, and if you can place the outer tire where there's gravel or sand or dirt on the road, it'll help let the tire slip. but it's best to remove the axle though. go get a roll pin punch set from harbor freight (like 6 dollars) it's an easy process.

 

generally on the rearend, for some reason one axle comes out easier. remove lower shock bolt, jack up rear end (before you jack make sure the pin on the diff is in a position to be popped out. if not rock car back and forth till it can). tap the pins out, pull the axle out. you might have to fight the axle a little. drop the car and hook up the shock. your good to go. after some practice it get's really quick. use the roll pins, no point in risking throwing out a nail...

 

weld it good and solid, another trick i've seen some of the yotas using is a plate inside and weld everything together. that's my next plan on little roo. i've broke the welds a couple times in the last year. i'm doing that cause the welds have broken a couple times and there's not that much left of the spiders...

 

also make sure that fenders are trimmed well. if the tire jams into the fender it could break the axle or the weld... killed a couple axle joints that way.

 

long, sorry, but weld it, and just remove the axle whenever possible while driving on the street.