Land Rover E-Locker and 4.37 Gears - Part 1

I broke the differential in my 1997 Discovery 1, and as I got further into the repair, the project snowballed. In this video, I go into the details of setting up the rear Terrafirma TF450 e-locker and Ashcroft HD gears.
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Disassembly
02:04 - The Damage
02:37 - Stripping the Housing
06:00 - Dummy Bearing Races
06:42 - Drilling Housing for Wiring
07:45 - The New Parts and Why I Chose Them
09:23 - Pressing Bearings
10:41 - Installing Ring Gear
14:15 - Pinion Height
19:24 - Pinion Preload
21:15 - Backlash and Gear Mesh
26:20 - Outro
In Part 2, I'll install it in the Disco, along with the Ashcroft ATB and Ashcroft HD 4.37 gears in the front.

[@DireWolf28]

Great video, I’m planning to add the e-locker to my disco1. This has been super helpful

[@TheNorthernExplorer]

Excellent video Tyler! For ages I’ve wanted to rebuild my diffs, seeing how you’ve done it really helps for when I get round to it.

[@tfrasca]

Thanks! It was easier than I thought, but I should clarify that I haven't installed the front one yet, so it may all fall apart on the first test drive...

[@TheNorthernExplorer]

@@tfrasca 😂😂😂 we’ll I’m sure it won’t, your work looks top notch

[@Sam-xt5gb]

Bro this video was literally everything I needed. Thank you!!

[@ktrudeau340]

Fantastic job. Not enough river guy’s sharing relevant information. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@Reaper4367]

clear, concise information with a dose of healthy honesty. Cheers for sharing.

[@riverbedoverland]

The moment I’ve been waiting for!

[@Zeezu70]

I have the flip: Detroit TruTrac limited slip in rear and ARB locker up front. I did this because I had heard the limited slip up front can cause push steer, especially in icy conditions, and I was living in the mountains at the time, so I definitely wanted to avoid that. I've been very happy with the locker up front and being able to strategically lock & unlock it per the demands of the terrain/obstacle.

[@tfrasca]

I had a few people warn me about that possibility before I put the ATB up front. I've only had it in the snow once so far, and on an off-camber section, the front was definitely understeering/sliding downhill. It might have helped to have been able to unlock the front in that case. If I were to do this again, I'd probably go with selectable lockers in the front and rear.

[@baldocandia6062]

Great content plz keep it up we really enjoyed it!!

[@Zeezu70]

I like that you just refer to it as a "Disco." I do that too.

[@tfrasca]

It says "Disco" right on the rear door. Not sure why they put all those other letters after it, though.

[@gregreed402]

Excellent camera , explanation , simply choreographed ,clever knowledgeable,articulate person you are thanks so much 👍👍👍👍🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿🍺🍺🍺

[@chromaventure]

Great and easy to follow. Good luck finishing this up

[@samosborn6614]

Great video mate. Makes me want to do my disco now!

[@tfrasca]

Thanks! It's honestly not as difficult as I thought it would be. Granted, I still have to wire up the locker, get it back in the axle, and do the front, but the gear setup is pretty chill.

[@NickLev]

top quality video! keep them coming.

[@87sprintqf]

sanding down those bearing races is a great trick. I did preload on a fwd lsd and wish i had known this for that job

[@tfrasca]

Yeah it helps a lot. I guess it would be better to use a brand new race, in case the old one is worn significantly, but this seemed to work for me.

[@OverHillOffroad]

Great video. I really enjoy your stuff. I have a 97 disco that I absolutely love.

[@tfrasca]

Thanks. They really are great vehicles. I mean, not great, objectively, but there's definitely something about them.

[@azikiweeanderson2629]

Your content is awesome 👏🏾

[@tfrasca]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@CrashNBang4x4]

I enjoyed the light jazz soundtrack :)

[@degaevms5159]

💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@ronaldrrootiii6040]

Wow this is a great video! I am actually considering doing a Detroit Locker in the back and a true track in the front this summer. I have a 2002 with CDL fitted on a 2-in lift with 33s and still have the factory gears and that thing will go so many places but yeah it's a little weak on the highway for sure. I have the V8 running probably the very very best that ever has in his life even close to 200 me but still. I think I'm going to go 4.10 gears because on the calculator 4.37 even with 35 is much reduce compared to even stock tires and gears. Bad enough it will be like 60 MPH at 2,500 RPMs I'm afraid 4.37 will make it like 55 mph at 2,500 RPMs and I'm not sure if I want that LOL so on a side note I sprayed mine with Raptor bed liner in Battleship dark gray with black roof and black rock sliders. Not only does it look sick but down here in Arizona I can just fly around to the desert and get it all scratched up and then at the car wash everything comes off because they're not really scratches they're just plant deposits on their Raptor liner LOL it's amazing you no longer worry about pinstriping. But anyways yeah keep up the good work I think I'm going to get mine from lucky 8 just by sending one of my spare third members in and let them do it because although I like watching what you're doing I'm a little nervous of trying to attempt all that LOL

[@tfrasca]

Yeah, if I were buying gears again, and planning to stay with 33s, I’d do 4.12s for sure.

[@cltrovers]

Great video

[@80shakey]

Wot was ur costings for front back? Great video thank u

[@Bosch1300]

Great video. I'm curious on what gear oil you used with your ATB (torsen)? I used the trutrac's in my girlfriend's disco 1 front and rear. Found very little info on correct fluid. But found that they work best with no friction modifier. Since they work better with a bit more friction. I'm in Washington state and John Deere and Ford were the only two that carried gear oil with no modifier. Keep it up I enjoy your channel

[@tfrasca]

Thanks, I appreciate that. I haven’t gotten the ATB in yet, but I plan on running some synthetic 85w90 in both diffs.

[@bradleybevis9996]

I put a tyrex e-locker which is conveniently made by eaton in my '96 defender 90 and a true track in the front with 4.75 gears

[@bradleybevis9996]

But mine also has 37-in tires

[@tfrasca]

Nice. Sounds like a beast!

[@DVrover948]

Great video! Where did you purchase the E-locker from? How is it holding up so far?

[@tfrasca]

Thanks! I got it from www.lrparts.net/ and it’s been flawless so far.

[@gianmarcotedaldi6275]

Hi Tyler after this few months passed can you make an review of the two type of diff? It could be helpful, in particular I’m interested in the e-locker: do you have the common e-locker problem of engaging and disengaging of the lock by changing direction of movement? Does it engage instantaneously or do you have to go forward a few meters? Thx for your reply. All the best!

[@tfrasca]

I wouldn't say I've gotten a TON of off roading in with the new diffs, but probably enough to have an initial opinion. I haven't been able to notice a delay with the e-locker. I mean, the wheels have to turn 1/3 of a rotation for the pins to line up, but I've never had to rock back and forth or anything like that. It's basically instantaneous. And I think if I were doing it again, I'd put another e-locker in the front instead of the ATB. The only plus to the ATB over a locker is that it theoretically will be less harsh on the front CVs and axles, but I'd rather have the ability to select fully open or fully locked instead of wondering if/when the ATB is going to lock up by itself.

[@Predator27007]

Great music, by the way

[@tfrasca]

Thanks. That's actually one of the hardest parts about making these.

[@Predator27007]

@tfrasca142 the front axle video is brilliant as well. You are a great teacher/demonstrator!! Happy Disco-ing

[@ronaldrrootiii6040]

Just curious what suspension you have? I have the o m e 2 inch heavy duty but since it's heavy duty the Springs are really stiff so I decided to take a risk and run no sway bars and it is so good I completely deleted front and rear and it still handles good on the road to an extent if you're not acting like it's a sports car but off-road gets plenty of articulation even with the heavy duty springs I'm thinking of getting the Terra firma 4-inch and leaving sway bars off. Everyone says go RTE but I don't have that kind of money and I figure running no sway bars then whatever the 4-inch from lucky 8 seems to have everything you need. I mean if the shocks go bad big deal I'll order some better quality ones of the same dimensions but I really doubt the Terra Firma stuff is going to physically break I mean gosh unless you're trying to jump the thing LOL I don't imagine actual radius arms and things having issues from Terra Firma so it leaves it down to just the shocks which I don't care I'll replace if they have issues

[@tfrasca]

I actually have the Terrafirma 2” lift, plus 1” spacers with no sway bars. With 33s, I like it, but I will say that the springs seems to be sagging a bit after about a year and a half. I have a set of 3” RTE springs along with a bunch of other stuff waiting to go on the Disco.

[@x5or]

Nicely done mate 👍 I am also thinking of installing a locker at the rear without changing the gear ratio for my future 33". Instead I decided to replace the 1.22 transfer case with that of a 1.41 defender equipped with a CDL. I made an HD front bumper equipped with a winch last week. You can check out the video I posted in case you are interested in designing your own too. I published all the plans insidethe video.

[@tfrasca]

I thought about just doing the transfer case, especially because I have a spare sitting on the shelf. But I really wanted a better low range too. I’ll check out your video. I have a winch bumper already, but I have been thinking about adding a simple bull bar / light bar.

[@johnkemple]

would have been better to put ring gear on and the the bearing as it seemed a bit of a hassle with that bearing on there already

[@tfrasca]

That’s probably a good call, but I think that spring clip would be a struggle either way.

[@RC-bt1zo]

+

[@Predator27007]

Nice. Mine has 4.75 cw&p with 1.301 transfer ratio for 255/100 r16 Michelin. Now it is too high to climb into. 🫤 Really needs the 30% or 49% reduced low range gears fitted now. 😕

[@tfrasca]

Wow, I didn’t even know that tire size exists. I thought my 255/85 were tall and skinny.

[@Predator27007]

@tfrasca142 they are military XZL....metric equivalent of the 9.00R16....36 inches tall. 🫤