D40 Front Lokka

[Leprechaun]

If the hubs are unlocked and the 2wd engaged then the diff is not turning so why would it be any different on the bitumen than it is now? Lokka in the front and ARB in the rear, best of both worlds. Only problem will be negotiating mega tight turns whilst offroad, which is where it will click etc.
Also I called them, the warranty only covers the component and does not cover damage to the diff. So if the diff is too weak as ARB suggest then could cause problems.

D40's dont have hubs, the diff is always turning.

 

[siringo]

I'm no expert and I may be wrong here, but they'd have hubs, they just aren't engaged all the time. I'm guessing that's what turning that little 4WD dial does, it locks the hubs in and that's when you're in 4WD. So until your hubs are locked in, your diff may be spinning, but it won't be getting any feedback from the wheels until the hubs are in.

From what I know most of the auto lockers make some clicking sound. And a locked front end is always harder to steer than normal.

I'll be fitting a winch before a front locker. Lockers are great, but a winch is better.

 

[Old.Tony]

I'm looking at the manual and it looks like there's no mechanism to disengage the front wheels from the axles. The end of the axle directly engages the hub which in this case is the carrier for the bearings, disc rotor and wheel studs.

If you have a manual, look in "Front Axle" - FAX.PDF, page 5. Item 2 in the exploded drawing is the wheel hub assembly and there's nothing complex about it. Page 6 shows the wheel hub itself and reading through to the end of the document reveals nothing that indicates anything other than a solid transfer of motive power from the axle through the spider gears into the hub.

Looks like a permanently locked device - but please note that this is from a 2005 European model manual which MOSTLY follows what we have in our trucks. I think we need to talk to someone inside Nissan to get us some more appropriate, accurate manuals.

 

[siringo]

Tony are you saying that the 4WD is permanantly engaged. That sounds a bit weird.

 

[Old.Tony]

Not in the least. The transfer case doesn't engage, so the front diff isn't driven by the engine until you want it to - but the front hubs don't LOOK like they disengage from the axle/diffs - ever.

It means our front diffs are always turning over. Might explain the higher fuel consumption of the D40 over the D22.

 

[siringo]

Ahh, that makes good sense, hence the 4Hi and 4Lo selection on the 4WD dial. So there's no drive to the front axles (unless engaged) that would add to full consumption, only the drag of the diff and so on.

Similar to a GXL Landcruiser.

My old L300 Mitsy had auto hubs. I replaced them with manual locking hubs. That would get around the 'auto locker always on' problem and dragging the diff around as well would it not?

 

[ONLOCK]

Yes it would but unfortunatly we dont even have auto hubs to upgrade them to manual hubs, even still with no drive on the front wheels in 2wd there shouldnt be an issue

 

[Old.Tony]

Yeah it sure would, but the 6x114.3 stud pattern doesn't even allow for a heavy duty bearing to be used in the hub, let alone auto hubs. I wouldn't take the hubs off an L300 (I had one of those as well, it was not too bad a car) because I don't think the engaging mechanism is overly strong and our Navaras are twice the weight and significantly more powerful than the 2.0L 4cyl petrol Mitsu motor.

Would I change hubs? Maybe. You'd be best to change the rear drums as well, perhaps to discs - I don't understand why the D40 has rear drums and the R51 has discs except that the D40 is being marketed as a tradie (which at $60K is ********).

The new caravan we were looking at had a bigger stud pattern, I think it was used by Ford. Are there auto hubs that would fit made by Ford/Holden?

 

[siringo]

Yes it would but unfortunatly we dont even have auto hubs to upgrade them to manual hubs..

Ahh yes of course. A SAS would fix all these problems.

$40K for the D40 and what, maybe $15K for a SAS and engineering, you'd end up with a bloody good 4WD for under $60K.

 

[Leprechaun]

Ahh yes of course. A SAS would fix all these problems.

$40K for the D40 and what, maybe $15K for a SAS and engineering, you'd end up with a bloody good 4WD for under $60K.

No you wouldn't because they are too looooooong and too looooooooow.

 

[siringo]

Nonsense ;-) With solid front and rear diffs you could lift the thing to the heavens, fit 35's and have half a mile of clean air under your diffs.

 

[BravoBrad]

Ahh yes of course. A SAS would fix all these problems.

$40K for the D40 and what, maybe $15K for a SAS and engineering, you'd end up with a bloody good 4WD for under $60K.

I don't think I can justify 15k, just to get me some manual hubs

 

[ONLOCK]

Spend your 15k on a patrol

 

[siringo]

I don't think I can justify 15k, just to get me some manual hubs

Come on, where's your sense of adventure!

Spend your 15k on a patrol

If I had $15K to SAS a Nav, I'd already have a Patrol and a Cruiser and 100,000 shares in Google.

 

[Escapee]

Sweet so now that lokka is available all we need is an engineer to design and build us some free wheeling hubs at a reasonable price. There would have to be a good market for it cause it would save everyone a stack of fuel. I'm surprised there's no manual option out there.

 

[boostinlux]

This might be another good alternative, the harrop ELocker that way you can select it when its required ..

HARROP | 4wd

 

[nathand22]

This might be another good alternative, the harrop ELocker that way you can select it when its required ..

HARROP | 4wd

I didnt even realise that they made a front e-locker, new about the one for the rear.
Just had a look but cant find a price. do you know how much they are asking for one?
i am waiting for my lokka to arrive but if the e-locker is reasonably priced i may hold off installing the lokka.

 

[boostinlux]

I didnt even realise that they made a front e-locker, new about the one for the rear.
Just had a look but cant find a price. do you know how much they are asking for one?
i am waiting for my lokka to arrive but if the e-locker is reasonably priced i may hold off installing the lokka.

Yeah i gave a bloke from Harrop in victoria a ring and he said that the e-locker for the front of the D-40 has only been avaiable for a week or so and they retail for $1500

 

[nathand22]

Thanks boostinlux, $1500 isnt in the budget at the moment, i will install the auto lokka and see how that goes since i have already paid for it. Thats not to say wont end up with a set of e-lokkers

Nath

 

[ONLOCK]

Ooo e locker sounds good