Club 80-90 Forums

I'm just in the planning and sorcing of parts stage but will let you all know how I get on hoping to get it all hooked up befor the conny farm trip. But as for needing them I think it's as someone pointed out it depends what you want to do with or in your van eg groups of vans willing to pull you out or more solo sorts of trips when a diff lock mite help you out of that hole
Failaing that get a winch if the lain has something to winch off

At the Devon meet last summer we had a good demonstration of just how much difference it makes if you don't have at least a rear diff lock. So much so that Clive was muttering about rear diff locks being a minimum requirement for Syncronauts events.

In the Picos in October 2011 my VC failed open but my rear diff lock got me just about everywhere that everyone else did (including further than our paid guide!).

So although I'm still very much a novice Syndro owner I'd say that a rear diff lock at least would be a good investment. But as lloydy says - not before you've got your VC sorted. To see how to test it there's a good video from Syncrosimon on You Tube as well as lots of info on the Wiki and various other places.

well. i reckon first things first. i am going to get the VC sorted. Then if i find myself looking at some crazy ass off road action i will head down the locker road.

Running slicks?

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and to syncro vans. I am currently looking at buying a syncro 14 or 16 if I can find one, I have seen one but I has no front diff locker. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was reasonably straight forward to add one (if I can get hold of one), but fitting a rear one was more tricky? Is this correct or did i imagine it, or would i just be wiser to wait and buy one which has both. Any advice would be welcome.

If the vc is stuffed then it wont be putting drive to the front.. (vc is in front diff housing so prop will spin..)
tyres also make a huge difference.. if its running road tyres then it wont be much better than a 2wd either. Ordinary mud and snow tyres can work bepending o what they are..
difflocks only needed if going to be traversing very poor conditions or very uneven surfaces..
a rear locker will make it more capable in most rough conditions..
advisable to have the box refreshed at the same time as difflock instalation especially if you are planning o using it off road..

converting a single locker to twin locker would cost about £500-£600 if you dont mind getting your hands dirty and then you can recoup a fair bit of money by selling your non locking diff to an american