im not gonna weld my rear diff
- its our daily driver.

p"s - you can also do this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4MiEywNBWU&feature=player_embedded#!

Found this on the [color:"blue"] Lincoln Locker [/color] A Lincoln Locker is a homemade spool created by welding the OEM carrier so that the spider gears no longer turn. This is known as a "Lincoln Locker" by adopting the name of a popular brand of welding equipment made by Lincoln. This method can vary anywhere from relatively strong to weak and brittle depending on the strength of the carrier being used and the quality of the welds and where the welds are placed. In many cases welds thought to be strong are not and break under the stress. Lincoln Lockers merely replace the minimal cost of a mini spool which has the same net results in traction but can be removed later and the spider gears put back in place.





[color:"blue"] Fozzy Locker [/color]
Fozzy locker is a twist to the standard Lincoln Locker. Apparently made popular by a guy named Fozzy. The Fozzy Locker is a cheap, removable version of the "Lincoln Locker" where the teeth of the side gears of the spider gear set are partially filled by welding material.

Some people who have created a Fozzy locker weld up the valley between 2 adjacent teeth on the side gears as pictured to the right. Welds are done 180? apart. Both side gears are done this way. The valley between the teeth are then fill until flush with the top of the teeth and ground flat. Some people say there are a couple advantages to the fozzy Locker. By only doing the two valleys it allows the side gears to still rotate partially before locking. The gears that are being welded are the same gears that are replaced when a drop in a "lunch box locker" so if it doesn't work out as you hoped or if you damage a side gear, it can be replaced by one of several drop-in lockers such as a Lock Rite or a Detroit EZ Locker. Ultimately this type of locker will not ratchet (disengage) around corners as a an automatic locker would would and can be hard on the stock open carrier especially when a wheel spins and hits the weld placing a large amount of shock on the stock carrier.

You do not want to lincon lock a daily driver, on icy roads you will never stay strait, your tires will hop on every corner and your tires will ware out fast. If you lincon lock the front you would have to unlock at least 1 hub every time you want to turn and I don't think the CV axles would hold up very well. I tried to stiffen up the factory rear limited slip by putting a spacer under each spring. I don't have it installed in the Kia yet but when I do I will post the results.

Dennis

How about a rear out of a tracker/sidekick they are drop out 3rd 5x5.5 lug pattern and come stock with 5.12's also they have plenty of aftermarket support? This is something I plan on doing to mine in the future then match it up with a custom samurai solid front.

They break axles VERY easily with 31's at the normal Suzuki weight, let alone our vehicles with an extra 300-400lb and better 1st/low gearing (our 35:1 vs their 28:1).

I had thought of using the Suzuki drop out centers for the front and rear and getting the rear drive pinions re-splined to suit our 28 spline axles. No idea about how practical it would be...

[quoteI tried to stiffen up the factory rear limited slip by putting a spacer under each spring. I don't have it installed in the Kia yet but when I do I will post the results. [/quote]
1 now-this sounds interesting! plz post some pictures.
2 as for the lincoln weld, well-its funny - here we call it a "zika" weld-simply because its the name of a large welding equipment company. but as i said-i cant weld the diff, mainly cause my wife drives our kia- and as far as i know.....she is not into drifting.
3 a suzuki rear axle would be nice of course-but the ratios are not even close

This is the ratio for the manual trans SWB and for the LWB auto trans (41:8), the SWB auto trans ratio is about 4.8, don't know the exact figure.

Has this topic already been discussed?
HOW TO: Kia Sportage Gears in 84-85 Rear w/ LSD!

LSD from 1984 -1985 GSL or GSLE 3rd member
Gears from 1996-2001 Sportage 3rd member
Placed into Kia Sportage rear axle.

Rear LSD Swap in

Don't intend to beat a dead horse.

It has a little bit, but thanks for the great post. This will help us go the opposite direction. Find the Mazda rear end and plug in the LSD into the front end of the Sportage. Then you would have traction aids for both ends.

Logansportage <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

You need to be carefull on what LSD you get from a Mazda/S2000, some are designed to engage at very high RPMs, not good for a 4WD. I almost bought one cheep on ebay and after reading about it I'm glad I didn't. My boys friend had a Miata with the rear LS and you could feel it engage if you gave it a little juice going around a corner, thats the one I want in my front dif but they seem to be spendy, I think it was the Torsen LSD. I have the extra dif for when I find one though.

Dennis