Chinese E-Locker

From the pictures there doesn't seem to be much of a radius transition between the flange and the body of the diff which is going to cause a significant stress accumulation as axial load increases as a function of the crown and pinion trying to separate under the increased load applied by the oversized tyres. That axial load would cause a failure in the flange which would then be partially obscured as the flange was forced round the body after failure. Not knowing the metallurgy of the steel used its not easy to say it was the inclusion of a stress riser that was ultimately to blame or whether it was a inappropriate material but it would be more normal to have the half shaft fail than the crown flange.

You are correct about stress risers when there is an insufficient radius. You are also correct that there would be an axial load on the flange. The axial load would actually be a component of a combined stress condition that could most easily be analyzed through a finite element model. It could be accomplished through hand calculations after a resolution of forces but that is best handled by someone who is very experienced in failure analysis. Again to your point, none of that can be done without knowing material properties.

I sincerely hope that I wasn't being disrespectful to Nikola's friend when I made my comment. From my experience, when a part came to our company, the first thing it (a sampling) would go through is a visual inspection. It was handled by the material engineering department rather than ours but I was familiar with their processes. That visual inspection can tell you a lot. In comparing the pictures that Nikola provided, and comparing them to the locker I installed and the picture of the TRE, I simply would have been very suspicious.

The good thing is that I am now scheduled to be heading up to the mountains in two weeks and can provide some locker feedback, hopefully bringing this thread back on topic.

My dear friends and colleagues, i wish to share with you just my experience and knowledge about jimny's... That's why i wrote chinese lockers are not good and proof it with evidence. I didn't said USA or Australian parts guaranteed quality but as per my opinion they are much better... ones i hear: " i am not rich enough to buy cheap things ".
On my car i am trying to put best parts and in past that showed me as good choice. All races i finished without some big issues untill now and i force my car up to limits. If my car with 250hp not have issues with ARB, i think normal user will not have any problem for lifetime....

And I for one hope you continue to contribute

Any news on this diff Bob?

I'm heading into the mountains in 4 days. I will check the locker then but likely only for operation (how it engages while moving forward and temporarily disengages when you reverse) unless I have reasonable opportunity to hit a trail. The main purpose for the trip is to sign papers for title transfer on the property we're buying. We did have some heavy rains yesterday so there may be some mud but it has been unusually dry over the last several weeks. I will sidetrack to a trail if we have time. We'll see.

The only thing I've done so far is trying to see the effects of the LSD. I have tried to make sharp U-turns at as fast a speed as I can (and still be safe). Hit a hard pack area with some loose gravel to see if I could break the rear end loose. All-in-all I'm fairly pleased. It performs well enough but seems to have less effect on handling in normal driving than my previous LSD did (different vehicle).

Although the testing will be somewhat limited, will update after we get back.

Here are a couple of videos that I linked to earlier. They show a Japanese group testing them out.

Just a quick post in case anyone was waiting for a current update. Ended up with a really bad stomach flu and didn't go to the mountains this last weekend. Still on the tail end of the bug but I will be trying to go to a nearby quarry or some place similar soon. That way I can at least do some minor testing. Will update then.

Oh no. Sorry to hear that. Get well soon!

Stomach flu, sounds awful.... Hope you get over that soon

TomDK wrote: But..

Looks to me like it's the same price as genuine ARB lockers in continental europe. Which makes it totally uninteresting in my mind.

Totally agreed. Especially when you consider the amount of install work involved, and the breakdown you get if it fails is pretty serious.

Right now the Norwegian kroner is weak compared to other currencies, dunno how this is with your money, but I bought my ARB's when the dollar was for cheaps making it well affordable.

I agree with part of what you say but the two things that keep Tom’s statement from applying to me are:

1) ARB doesn’t make E-lockers (which is what I have been looking for since I first considered a locker for the Jimny)
and;
2) I won’t ever purchase an ARB product again.

Admittedly, the second item is personal (nothing to do with quality) and probably doesn't apply to anyone else on the forum.

I do wholeheartedly agree that if I am wrong (and I could be) and the quality of this locker isn’t up to the quality demonstrated by other Chinese lockers, a failure up in the mountains would be serious. It wouldn’t be catastrophic but would be a real pain.

Another point I can confirm is that this has never been about price. It is correct that I could get an ARB rear locker and compressor installed for the same price.

I watch the videos from Japan, some sweet action going on there. I came across this video by the same guys, it's fitting the same e-locker That zukebob has got. Fascinating, I'm saving up my pennies........