Hey everyone

i want to buy a new honda but i was wondering if you can take the front diff apart one the hondas and make a locking diff. i dont know if you guys have seen or heard about this but on a truck or rear wheel drive car you can take the diff apart and weild it to make a locking diff i was wondering if you can do this with a honda 680 or 500 please reply Thank You very much

 

and why would you do this.....i know guys who install lockers and now there taking them out

 

I think you would really hate it. The steering effort is great, when the 2 fronts are locked together.
But there is nothing to weld, and its a good system, same as on range rovers, of a cam style torque sensing diff. And as long as both front tires have some traction, the one that needs power will get it. This is why the trick of using the front brake (so called honda diff lock by many) works. If the front end gets air born...like going over a log, and the one tire in front(in the air) just wildly spins,then use the front brake, which adds resistance to the one in the air, and will then transfer torque to the one which has traction. This does work, but does require some practice.
If you want better locking than that...look into the detroit gearless locker, big bucks...but it works great, plus it allows for some ease of steering. A cheaper route is to replace the diff with a spool, and I can assure you, unless its alway on slippery surfaces....youll hate it.

 

The diferential does not have typical spider and side gears. They have a series of 2 different types of 'dogs' that float around on side gears with no teath, rather ramps. If the differential is taken apart, these 'dogs' are installed in pairs per type next to each other. If you want to lock the differential solid, reinstall these 'dogs' by alternating them. Both front wheels will drive at the same time, where when they are paired up, they will slip to an extent. Seriously though, you will not like the solid locked front end for normal driving. They steer like a truck with no power steering and tend to pull if the front tires are not the same size or the toe in is not correct.
If you were to use the quad for a mud run, I would suggest doing this, then removing the differential and making it normal again for typical use. Anyway that is the cheapest form of a locker, just takes time to remove, disassemble and put back together again.

----- Gimpster -----

 

For $30 you can buy a spool locker from highlifter. I installed one in the front of my Foreman450 and it works great, true 4wd no slip. Steering effort at low speeds is more difficult but that is not an issue once your moving. The traction on the trail is far worth it. I have a Warn 424 as well which helps negate some of the steering effort required when in 2wd, buts its still stiffer then stock.

Basically, if your not in the thick of things like Mud Riding or rock crawling then the factory limited slip will probably work out fine for you.