I was just wondering if someone could give me a definition of what exactly the Rear Locking Differential does. Thanks!

A run of the mill rear differential has spider gears allowing one wheel to travel further when going around a corner. Also. On slippery surfaces the wheel with least resistance will spin.(not very good) A locking dif locks both wheels so they both spin all the time. Lets say you on a road. One rear wheel is on a patch of ice, The other wheel isnt. The wheel thats on the ice will spin and you wont go anywhere. A locking dif both wheels will spin so off you go.

Hey good question and Zed got it right. I was asking the same question to Toyota as well and they just said "it improves my offroad performance" also if you look in your truck manual they state that you shouldn't go over 5 mph when it is locked. Thats a load of bull. I contacted a Toyota Mechanic and asked him: "what will happen if I have the rear wheel differential lock engaged and go offroading with it?" "Larry" said that nothing bad will happen. Although he did add one caveat to that. As long as one of your tires can slip when making high speed corners then all is good. He also recommended that I do not use this for normal driving on the pavement. The hardball will not allow for one tire to slip which could potentially snap the ring and pinion gears or at the very least snap the diff lock pin and have it tumble around in the "pumkin". I dive with it engaged when I am driving offroad. I had it up to 50 while cornering. Nothing happened. I was on a dirt/gravel road. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your guys' replies. I always thought it was that it would somehow convert my Prerunner into a FWD and lock the back wheels so you could get out of a ditch or something.

Do me a favor....Don't ever repeat that outside of this forum. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

Bump

LMFAO!!!!! Reminds me of an experience I had one day down at the muffler shop. I had my '71 chevelle up on the rack weldin the joints on my new flowmaster system and this goofball comes in there drivin a mustang GT with a BRA on it and starts askin me all kinds of questions about my car. (it has a stroker small block, 383, about 450hp with a muncie 4 speed. The engine has a gear driven cam, so it makes a distinct noise) ANYWAY, the guy asked me all kinds of questions about the 4 speed and how the shifter worked etc, then, when I finally started it up and backed it off the rack, he wanted to know if that whinning sound was my high stall torque converter. LMFAO!!!! All this of course AFTER he'd been braggin to me about how he was a machinest and an accomplished drag racer etc etc. LOL. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />