Ask The Editors: Were There Mechanical Differentials?
The era of mechanical differentials was real.
Is there or was there such and what make & model 4×4 might that be?
Good eye! There absolutely was. While most every 4×4 with a locking differential today is going to be a fully electronic, push button affair, if we go back to the late 80s/ early 90s, we discover that ATVs began coming with advanced features that were still fully mechanical.
Without studying the exact case you came upon, we can say with absolute certainty that Suzuki offered a mechanical locking front differential similar to what you describe on the 1991-2002 King Quad 300 4×4 (LT-F4WDXM – LT-F300).
Activating it was achieved by sliding a mechanical shifter atop the gas tank that fed tension to a cable connected directly to the case. While there were others in this era (Arctic Cat, for example, used a cable-activated locking diff for several years as well), the popularity of these machines, coupled to the fact that Suzuki kept the design for so many model years has us suspecting that was the unit you happened upon.
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