Drivetrain

Semi-Float:
The most common type of rear axle is a semi-floating axle. In some applications, the Air Locker that is selected will be determined by which axle is used in the vehicle. This is most common in 80 series Toyota LCs, Ford ¾ ton vans and GM ½ ton or ¾ ton pickups.

The semi-float design has the weight of the vehicle riding on the axle shaft. The axle shaft is support by wheel bearings and all of the vehicle load rides on the shaft and the wheel bearing. The axle shaft is retained by c-clips inside the differential or a bearing retainer at the flange side of the shaft.

Full Float:
The full-float design has the vehicle weight riding on a wheel hub and bearing system. The axle shaft doesn’t bear any of the vehicle weight. This is considered a far more heavy-duty system than a semi-float system.

The axle shaft is usually retained by a ring of bolts that connects the axle shaft to the wheel hub. In some situations, generally aftermarket, a drive flange is used to connect the axle to the wheel hub and a simple cap is used to seal it.

Air Lockers are wired so that you must turn the rear on before you can turn the front on. This is a safety precaution which has been done so that people don’t accidentally switch their front locker on when it’s not required. A locked front diff will change the way a vehicle steers compared to having it unlocked.

When the compressor is turned on and the locker engages, check the orientation of the solenoids and where the air fitting is installed. If they are in line from one another the solenoid is being bypassed and allowing direct air pressure to the locker. The air output fitting will need to be moved to the port 90 degrees offset from the air input.

Tires, their tread pattern and construction are one of the most important factors to the performance for your 4WD. Your tires are the final piece of the puzzle in transferring the engine’s energy to the track so that the car can move forward. Tires, however, are only able to move the car forward if it least one tire can gain traction to the track surface and that tire is also receiving enough drive (torque) from its respective differential.

The fact is, you will never be able to control the traction of the track surface, but you can control the type of tires, the footprint of your tires (air pressure) and whether your tires receive drive or not. All these things will hugely improve the likeliness of finding and maintaining traction. If there is no traction on the surface, you can have 4 wheels spinning and little to no forward momentum. So the first steps to improving traction are: A good set of all-terrain or mud-terrain tires Always adjusting your tire pressure appropriate for the terrain of which you are driving on Reducing tire pressure (letting air out) increases the surface area that the tire has in contact with the ground; more tire on the ground means better load distribution and more track surface to get traction from. This is most important when driving on sand. The benefits of low tire pressure can also be seen when navigating rocky terrain, where the tires have an increased ability to shape themselves around objects on the track, helping us gain more traction.