901 Locked Differential, How does it feel to drive? Options

[nine14cats]

In the course of my travels I have come across a fresh 901 box with a locked diff in it. I had asked in a previous thread about the merits of an open vs 40% vs 80%. What the diff in a locked diff vs the 80%?

I could get this one for a pretty good price. Maybe it's worth it to have a spare transaxle laying around....

Help me understand.

Thanks,

Bill

[FEF]

If you ask a "rock crawler" what a "locked diff" was, he's say it's spooled. There's a big difference between any kind of limmited slip and a spool.

I've driven an early bronco with a spooled rear, on the streets, for many years. I didn't run into issues untill ice and snow come to play.

With that said... Lets say that the 914 could take the punishment of a spool, just for kicks. In that case you'd experiance such things as hopping, wheel chirping, and a nasty understeer condition in parking lots. You will likely gain the attention of cops while in gas stations due to the chirping and such.

Oh... but the 914 is a lot lighter. You may not get the hopping and chirping, but there will be a lot of slipping going on. I know a CJ5 will hop and chirp.

I'd be more worried about the axles