Front diff?? Open or limited?

but in my opinion for what we pay and what it is it should have an option to lock it like you can lock the rear differential.That would make a huge difference in traction of the Machine.I never figured out why they had their heads burried upp their arse when they disigned the front differential.Just my opinion though other opinions may vary
 
my '04 has a differential lock pedal for intermittent use and a lock cable for holding it in. It is located near the seat bulkhead.


Sorry misread, you did say the rear has it ..LOL Monday's are getting worse
 
It's definitely an open front diff. A Limit Slip would be an improvement, slight improvement. As Mark said, it should have a selectable locking front diff, just like the rear.

My Rhino is locked in the rear all the time. Front is selectable lock. Compared to an RTV, you simply can't believe where it will go. Doesn't care if a tire is off the ground. Will actually teeter totter on one front, one rear and still move.

No reason Kubota couldn't have done this. The driveline is certainly strong enough to handle it. :)
 
I wouldn't want a locked rear all the time. Had it on ATV's and friends have Rhinos. They tear the crap out of your lawn and are harder to make sharp turns.
 
bczoom said:
I wouldn't want a locked rear all the time. Had it on ATV's and friends have Rhinos. They tear the crap out of your lawn and are harder to make sharp turns.
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It's common sense to have this on a "work" machine. One can leave it locked on if one is around a situation where one needs lots of traction. Or even kick in the 4 wheel; but then as you point out BC it surely does tear up not just delicate places; but often causes major damage to a customer's property especially if one has a hired hand using it to do work and we all pretty much know the damage those idiots can do. We all can't and don't use our machines for play. God bless.....Dennis
 
bczoom said:
I wouldn't want a locked rear all the time. Had it on ATV's and friends have Rhinos. They tear the crap out of your lawn and are harder to make sharp turns.
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Yep, I agree. I prefer a locker on both ends.

With that said, I'm in the steep timber 90% of the time. My RTV rear is locked 90% of the time.
 
ovrszd said:
With that said, I'm in the steep timber 90% of the time. My RTV rear is locked 90% of the time.
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Never thought of 90%. Do you use the diff lock on the way down the hills? I haven't but always use 4WD coming down to keep from sliding.

I use the diff lock when I want to climb but it doesn't "quite" warrant slapping it into 4WD. (or if I'm going to cross an ice covered creek with expectations of breaking through in which case, 4WD, diff lock and hand throttle cranked up so I have absolutely everything rocking-and-rolling if I need to punch out after sinking).
 
bczoom said:
Never thought of 90%. Do you use the diff lock on the way down the hills? I haven't but always use 4WD coming down to keep from sliding.

I use the diff lock when I want to climb but it doesn't "quite" warrant slapping it into 4WD. (or if I'm going to cross an ice covered creek with expectations of breaking through in which case, 4WD, diff lock and hand throttle cranked up so I have absolutely everything rocking-and-rolling if I need to punch out after sinking).
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Rather than need the locker and not have it on I engage it when entering the timber and leave it engaged. I then use 4wd if additional traction is required.

The RTV carries most of it's weight on the rear axle. So on uneven terrain, more gain in traction is achieved with the rear locker than with 4wd.

For that reason a front locker would be the next logical gain in traction. If on uneven terrain with rear locker and 4wd engaged and traction is lost it's caused by traction weight removed from one front tire and it spins easily. At that point the other front tire is doing nothing to help you. And you are now basically in 2wd. Same thing if you have 4wd engaged without engaging rear locker.

The RTV is never truly 4wd. At best it's 3wd. :)
 
Any way you look at it the dront differential desidn sucks bad.Piss poor engeneering IMO for a Machine like this.A locked front would make this machine 1000% better IMO.If it had a locked front or selectable front lock the machine would be unstoppable in most cases....
 
Mark.Sibole said:
Any way you look at it the dront differential desidn sucks bad.Piss poor engeneering IMO for a Machine like this.A locked front would make this machine 1000% better IMO.If it had a locked front or selectable front lock the machine would be unstoppable in most cases....
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I agree. Selectable front would be the best situation. When a front axle is locked it becomes hard to steer and "pushes" real bad when turning. Selectable would get you out of that tight spot and not hinder maneuverability when disengaged.

I also wish the front had more flex. On my 08 with leaf spring rear all of the flex has to come from the front. So it has a front tire off the ground a LOT.
 
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