DD with a Spartan

C

crash813

New member
Had a bad pinion bearing in the rear so, you know, while I'm in there, I went ahead and dropped in a Spartan locker. Goes super easy and I get back together and go for a ride. I'm expected some noises and a little break-in but what I get feels like full on spool. Any slow turning and the truck is hoping and tires squeaking. At speed, no issue. Maybe a little pulling but what I expected. So I start reading as much as I can but everything is all over the place. Some report never noticing it back there, some talk about the tire chirping when turning, some talk about learning to drive with it, coast in, power thru.

Just wanting to get some straight advice with people running these. I mean, how do you really learn to drive pulling into or out of a parking space?

One caveat.... one of my rear tires has a leak so the pressures are not even. Probably quite a bit off, but will that really effect it that much?
 
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You are going to know it's back there. Those who say you have to learn how it acts and get used to it are right IMO. I feather the cluch when making u turns, parking etc., and push in the clutch when I am turning onto a street. I wouldn't want to DD my Spartan, although it is better than the spool I had. I would go with a grizzly or selectable for my DD. Just my experience and opinion.
 
I have a spartan in my 4runner. It is the 4 pinion rear end, and therefore has much deeper gears on the locker, it actually utilizes the stock side gears whereas the 2 pinion replaces them.

Anywho, I have found that at slow speeds I need to have enough speed to get me through the turn with the clutch disengaged. I do a U-turn every day when I get home in the middle of my residential street and with the clutch pedal pushed in I rarely ever get lock up, ratcheting noise audible the entire U-turn. My set-up might be slightly different than yours though, 5:29 gears with 35" tires may act different than say 4:56 gears on 31" tires.

If you have power going to the rear end then the locker wants to lock up. If it is a 4 pinion it wants to lock up twice as hard as the 2 pinion.
 
You just have to be easy on the throttle when going through slow corners. My detroit is so much more street friendly than my Aussie was (same thing as spartan). I rarely hear clanks and bangs as long as my tire pressure is equal.
 
I think it depends on lots of factors - what motor, what trans, wheelbase, tire size, surface grip, driving style, etc. I DD a Spartan and I only notice it in parking garages or accelerating on a right turn from a stop, and when I do notice it kicking in, modulating the clutch smooths it right out. Maybe I drive like a grandma.

Different tire pressures will lead to slightly different diameters, but more importantly different traction patches. I have to be careful when I'm airing up after a trail that I balance the PSI in the back tires well or I do notice the Spartan acting up more on the drive home. Two or three PSI difference is enough to be noticeable. I would make sure your tire treads are approximate and even out the PSI and see if that helps. Most tire places will fix that leak for super-cheap, you know. :)
 
Is it unlocking at all? If you jack it up and spin a wheel backward, Can you hear it ratchet?

If it is truly not unlocking, thats a different problem than just learning to live drive with it. You could have pin/spring problems?
 
Setup right now is 3.0 with AT, 4.88 (4 pinion) with old/bald/leaky 31's. Have some newer 33's sitting in the garage waiting to be balanced but wanted to take care of the bad pinion/locker before putting them on.

Is it unlocking? Not sure. Some slow turns that I give solid power through go smoothly with little bumping or squealing. Other times, the rear is kicking and chirping. I never hear it ratcheting.

Interesting on spinning the wheels backwards. Why would direction cause the locker to unlock? The gears weren't beveled differently to suggest direction bias?
 
So under what circumstances should the locker unlock?

Is in under torque, ie. power is applied through the corner or off power and turning? I seem to be getting conflicting thoughts from different posts on how and when. Also, is there a break-in period where it will get easier for the ratcheting to occur?
 
crash813 said:
Interesting on spinning the wheels backwards. Why would direction cause the locker to unlock? The gears weren't beveled differently to suggest direction bias?
Click to expand...

That's how the locker works. When you spin one wheel backwards with the other one immobilized, that looks to the locker exactly like the outside wheel wanting to spin faster in the outside of a corner, and so the locker is supposed to unlock and let that happen. If you jacked one rear wheel off the ground and couldn't spin it backwards, that would indicate that the locker isn't unlocking when you turn. Or like you said, acting like a spool :).

In short, the locker will allow one wheel to turn faster than the other unless you're giving it enough throttle that the torque overcomes the pressure of the springs holding the two plates apart. Read this (the Aussie and the Spartan are pretty much the same): http://www.aussielocker.com/how-it-works
 
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crash813 said:
So under what circumstances should the locker unlock?

Is in under torque, ie. power is applied through the corner or off power and turning? I seem to be getting conflicting thoughts from different posts on how and when. Also, is there a break-in period where it will get easier for the ratcheting to occur?
Click to expand...

with throttle input. if the rear end is being driven by the engine, it should be locked. coasting around corners will help.
as has been said, you really will have to learn to drive with it.

personally, I wouldn't want an auto locker on a DD. I would prefer a spool(if I could have a selectable), at least those are consistent.
 
Roll your window down and listen as you turn. Will hear the clicking. I can't hear mine with the windows up and radio on, but can if the windows are down.
 
Well, so apparently the unit isn't unlocking. Went back through all the install steps, because, lets face it, its pretty simple. FRACK!!! Apparently, unlike the LockRight and Aussie which this thing is almost an exact copy, for the Spartan, you have to remove the Thrust Washers. :doh: Well, guess thats that.... will spend Saturday pulling the third again. Ugh.
 
crash813 said:
Well, so apparently the unit isn't unlocking. Went back through all the install steps, because, lets face it, its pretty simple. FRACK!!! Apparently, unlike the LockRight and Aussie which this thing is almost an exact copy, for the Spartan, you have to remove the Thrust Washers. :doh: Well, guess thats that.... will spend Saturday pulling the third again. Ugh.
Click to expand...

You didn't read the install directions first, did you? :D
 
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