P1000 Separate rear differential lock lever build

[wrwtexan]

Has anyone disconnected their rear diff lock cable and attached it to a secondary lever? It spring defaults to engaged. I hated having it locked just because its in 4WD as it really screws up steering response. Right now I just have it pulled and blocked as I really never need the function.

 

[Admin]

 

[ODAMO]

I’ve thought about this also and wondered why Honda does it this way.
My only conclusion is that they want the majority of the strain to be bore by the rear axle and that doing it the way they did is what takes Honda into the durability and longevity conversations.
Same goes for the slight gearing difference in the diffs. The drivetrain has less drivetrain windup(bind) when loaded vs empty when such loads have a greater impact.
The approximate sizes of the ring gears is:
Front= 6.25
Rear = 7.75
telltale of the load differences each axle was meant to deal with.

 

[wrwtexan]

Normally I have it in turf mode but after disabling the rear diff lock, I drove it extensively in 4WD today and it steers much better. Even with our slop after this last round of snow melted off, it never had any traction issues. As I try to avoid deep mud or circumstances where it might be needed, I may just leave it be.

 

[ToddACimer]

Only concern I would have is parking on hills. As I recall Honda applies the diff lock in park so both tires are locked

 

[wrwtexan]

I've driven it for a month now around our wooded acreage and through our tight trails and have really enjoyed the results of the separation. No traction issues and it steers so much easier in tight turning. Bad idea on Honda's part in my opinion. If the rear diff can't take the stress without being locked, maybe it isn't as well built as I've believed their products to be. Having already lost low range under 5k miles, I'm seriously thinking of looking at a rubber band driven RMax next...

 

[ToddACimer]

I've driven it for a month now around our wooded acreage and through our tight trails and have really enjoyed the results of the separation. No traction issues and it steers so much easier in tight turning. Bad idea on Honda's part in my opinion. If the rear diff can't take the stress without being locked, maybe it isn't as well built as I've believed their products to be. Having already lost low range under 5k miles, I'm seriously thinking of looking at a rubber band driven RMax next...

Swap the parts to the later model machines and you shouldn't have issues with low range or reverse

 

[dweber23tr]

@wrwtexan , any pictures of what you did?

 

[Hondasxs]

I've driven it for a month now around our wooded acreage and through our tight trails and have really enjoyed the results of the separation. No traction issues and it steers so much easier in tight turning. Bad idea on Honda's part in my opinion. If the rear diff can't take the stress without being locked, maybe it isn't as well built as I've believed their products to be. Having already lost low range under 5k miles, I'm seriously thinking of looking at a rubber band driven RMax next...

I think it more so along the lines of haveing 2 wheels engaged in park vs one.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[ODAMO]

I've driven it for a month now around our wooded acreage and through our tight trails and have really enjoyed the results of the separation. No traction issues and it steers so much easier in tight turning. Bad idea on Honda's part in my opinion. If the rear diff can't take the stress without being locked, maybe it isn't as well built as I've believed their products to be. Having already lost low range under 5k miles, I'm seriously thinking of looking at a rubber band driven RMax next...

I have not seen anywhere that the rear diff is less strong when unlocked, in fact the face cam/follower design is quite robust and stronger than a typical side gear/spider gear differential.
the front diff has no problems dealing with being unlocked by default and Honda wants the rear diff locked when parked cuz they feel it’s safer. There are people on here that have thousands of miles running in “turf” mode.

 

[Vikes79]

Has anyone disconnected their rear diff lock cable and attached it to a secondary lever? It spring defaults to engaged. I hated having it locked just because its in 4WD as it really screws up steering response. Right now I just have it pulled and blocked as I really never need the function.

This makes zero sense to me… why would you want what essentially is 2 open differentials on a SXS?

IMO if your running your SXS in 4wd (front open, rear locked) and having noticeable steering resistance…I’m confident you’ll be more than fine in turf mode ( sounds like your on dry ground).

 

[wrwtexan]

This makes zero sense to me… why would you want what essentially is 2 open differentials on a SXS?

IMO if your running your SXS in 4wd (front open, rear locked) and having noticeable steering resistance…I’m confident you’ll be more than fine in turf mode ( sounds like your on dry ground).

Might not to you, but I try to stay out of the nasty crap but what i do go through, 2WD isn't enough and then I'm usually quickly back onto firmer ground but don't care to be constantly shifting back and forth between 2 and 4. Name a road vehicle that default locks the rear diff when shifted into 4... Drive a short frame rig through tight wooded trails and you'll understand. I grew up driving a '47 Willys jeep and having a machine push in a tight turn doesn't work for me. Honda is typical of far east design in not giving the driver options that make sense.

 

[wrwtexan]

@wrwtexan , any pictures of what you did?

so far, just a plastic sleeve around the cable holding the ball away from the sheath. Really don't care to reconnect it now.