catalina34
New member
Yesterday a few of us from the forum had an install day at a member's house. We did several things on our trucks including tranny cooler install, replacing heater lines, throttle cable adjustment, 4wd trouble shooting, and the Aussie locker install.
We had the luxury of air tools which makes any job easier. The locker install took about three hours, but we stopped to bs, for refreshments, and for lunch. None of us had done an Aussie install before, although the awesome dude whose house we were at had done other lunch box installs before.
We used the instructions provided by Aussie maybe twice very briefly because the install is very straight forward, and again we had someone familiar with assembly and dis assembly of a diff. The most challenging part is figuring out how to put the springs in, and once we figured that out it was very easy.
After bolting everything back up and filling the diff with 80w90 gear oil we took her out for a test drive.
Once we pulled onto the street we heard a clanking with every revolution of the tire. We all had the oh **** look on our faces. I pulled over to check over things, and it turned out to be a big rock stuck between the treads of my MT's. After pulling the rock out we hit the road again making a number of tight turns both with power and without power.
Needless to say the locker exceeded all expectations. It was virtually seamless and you would never would know it was there unless you were really, really listening going around tight corners with a good amount of throttle input. After doing lots of reading about lunch box lockers I thought I wouldn't be able to apply any power around a tight corner without it locking up and hearing a big bang. I never got a bang, and it didn't lock up unless I provided a good bit more throttle than I would normally use to go around a corner.
In other words, driving normally, you would never know it's there. The gentleman who had assembled and used lock rights before said that the manners of the Aussie were much better (quieter, more seamless).
I think this has been the best mod I have done so far especially for the price ($260). I can't wait to try it out when I go wheeling again and in the snow. I have no doubt that driven responsibly the Aussie will be just fine in the snow and undoubtedly awesome off road. I will update this in the future when I encounter new terrain.
Edit: Just read this review which sounds eerily similar to mine: Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading and 4x4 website in the world.
Edit: We finally got some snow and I said I would come back and give an update on snow handling. It appears the positive reviews I read regarding snow performance were accurate. I was super excited to finally try out the Aussie and the MT's in the snow. As soon as I woke up I threw on some clothes and headed out for some snow fun. I took it easy initially to get acclimated to the driving characteristics of the truck. I drove around for a while both in 2wd and 4wd on unplowed roads and partially plowed roads. Then I found a big parking lot covered in snow to have some fun.
In two wheel drive I was able to spin both rear tires if I punched it. However, even abruptly getting on the throttle around a tight turn I wasn't able to rotate the rear. The VSC/TRAC system simply wouldn't allow me to rotate. This is both good and bad. It made my attempt at parking lot shenanigans look stupid. Even full throttle and full steering lock couldn't get the tail to rotate. On the plus side I felt very confident in 2wd with the locker. However, when it was as slick as it was I wouldn't be in 2wd normally anyways. When the truck was in 4wd it's handling characteristics were impeccable. It felt just like stock, only more capable. If I punched it hard on a slick surface I could feel both rears spinning very very briefly and then the torque would transfer to the front wheels and she would confidently accelerate forward. I climbed some very steep unplowed roads and not even for a second did she want to step out.
Finally, I ended up taking my family sledding on a local hill. My wife is terrified of driving in the snow so I wanted her to practice in the 4Runner as she had never driven a 4wd in the snow before. After doing some practice emergency stops in an empty lot we drove around some unplowed residential areas and then home on the sloppy main roads. Needless to say she felt soooo much more confident driving in the snow and felt incredibly comfortable in the 4Runner. I think this was really the ultimate test of the lockers drive ability and it passed with flying colors.
We had the luxury of air tools which makes any job easier. The locker install took about three hours, but we stopped to bs, for refreshments, and for lunch. None of us had done an Aussie install before, although the awesome dude whose house we were at had done other lunch box installs before.
We used the instructions provided by Aussie maybe twice very briefly because the install is very straight forward, and again we had someone familiar with assembly and dis assembly of a diff. The most challenging part is figuring out how to put the springs in, and once we figured that out it was very easy.
After bolting everything back up and filling the diff with 80w90 gear oil we took her out for a test drive.
Once we pulled onto the street we heard a clanking with every revolution of the tire. We all had the oh **** look on our faces. I pulled over to check over things, and it turned out to be a big rock stuck between the treads of my MT's. After pulling the rock out we hit the road again making a number of tight turns both with power and without power.
Needless to say the locker exceeded all expectations. It was virtually seamless and you would never would know it was there unless you were really, really listening going around tight corners with a good amount of throttle input. After doing lots of reading about lunch box lockers I thought I wouldn't be able to apply any power around a tight corner without it locking up and hearing a big bang. I never got a bang, and it didn't lock up unless I provided a good bit more throttle than I would normally use to go around a corner.
In other words, driving normally, you would never know it's there. The gentleman who had assembled and used lock rights before said that the manners of the Aussie were much better (quieter, more seamless).
I think this has been the best mod I have done so far especially for the price ($260). I can't wait to try it out when I go wheeling again and in the snow. I have no doubt that driven responsibly the Aussie will be just fine in the snow and undoubtedly awesome off road. I will update this in the future when I encounter new terrain.
Edit: Just read this review which sounds eerily similar to mine: Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading and 4x4 website in the world.
Edit: We finally got some snow and I said I would come back and give an update on snow handling. It appears the positive reviews I read regarding snow performance were accurate. I was super excited to finally try out the Aussie and the MT's in the snow. As soon as I woke up I threw on some clothes and headed out for some snow fun. I took it easy initially to get acclimated to the driving characteristics of the truck. I drove around for a while both in 2wd and 4wd on unplowed roads and partially plowed roads. Then I found a big parking lot covered in snow to have some fun.
In two wheel drive I was able to spin both rear tires if I punched it. However, even abruptly getting on the throttle around a tight turn I wasn't able to rotate the rear. The VSC/TRAC system simply wouldn't allow me to rotate. This is both good and bad. It made my attempt at parking lot shenanigans look stupid. Even full throttle and full steering lock couldn't get the tail to rotate. On the plus side I felt very confident in 2wd with the locker. However, when it was as slick as it was I wouldn't be in 2wd normally anyways. When the truck was in 4wd it's handling characteristics were impeccable. It felt just like stock, only more capable. If I punched it hard on a slick surface I could feel both rears spinning very very briefly and then the torque would transfer to the front wheels and she would confidently accelerate forward. I climbed some very steep unplowed roads and not even for a second did she want to step out.
Finally, I ended up taking my family sledding on a local hill. My wife is terrified of driving in the snow so I wanted her to practice in the 4Runner as she had never driven a 4wd in the snow before. After doing some practice emergency stops in an empty lot we drove around some unplowed residential areas and then home on the sloppy main roads. Needless to say she felt soooo much more confident driving in the snow and felt incredibly comfortable in the 4Runner. I think this was really the ultimate test of the lockers drive ability and it passed with flying colors.
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