Detroit Gearless Locker

I have had the DGL on my 450ES now for about a year. Since installing it, I have made 2 trips to Tellico, one trip to Windrock and one to Hatfield/McCoy. It works great and was not too bad to install. It was a major improvement over the factory limited slip. You do have to run DGL additive in your diff oil.

Thanks for the response. Does it really make a night & day differance in traction? I don't mind spendin' the money if it really locks both front wheels & does what it says it will do. There have been several times when I could have made it up or out of a situation if both front wheels would have been pullin' for me. Is there more maintainence to the DGL than the stock front differential? You said something about DGL additive. What is it? Does it come with it? As far as handling, is it hard to steer with both front wheels pullin' or does one wheel spin faster than the other when turning to make it easier to steer? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make sure that it really works & is reliable before I buy it. Thanks in advance for you comments.

I have been running my DGL for about a year also. I have not had any problems at all with it. As a matter of fact me and a buddy just installed one this evening in his 450. It does make a night and day difference in the mud and ruts. It doesn't require any more maintenance that the stock diff., except you have to put in the friction additive. A 1oz bottle comes with it and you will need to add 1oz every time you change the oil. I buy my additive at our local Gear Shop. I keep the 1oz bottle to measure with. You need to try to keep water out of the diff. so the clutches will last. As far as stirring, when in 4wd you can tell a difference, but in 2wd there is no difference at all. I strongly suggest the DGL to anyone that is going to be mudding alot.

I was typing this the same time Elevatn was posting. It repeats alot of what he said.

Yes, it does what it claims it will do. The first real test for me was in Tellico. Alot of rocks, alot of times one front wheel is off the ground. That's where it made the most difference to me. As far as the steering is concerned, in 4WD, it seems to steer easier than before. In 2WD, you don't know that it is there.

The DGL comes with a small bottle of additive. It's only an ounce or so. If you change your diff oil, you will have to put in more additive. I have not changed my diff oil since the install. I assume, you can order more from Highlifter. Good clean diff oil and additive is important to the life of the DGL. If you get water in your diff and do not change the oil, you will have problems.

It requires no special maintenance, other than the additive. I check all my fluids after a hard ride, and so far so good.

Thanks a bunch fella's. I will definately purchase the DGL. Seems ya'll really like it. One more question. Where did ya'll purchase it from? I know you can get it from High Lifter. Anywhere else I might be able to purchase it at a lower price? Doesn't hurt to save a penny or two. Thanks.

Last year when I bought mine, Highlifter was the only place that I could find it. I think they are the only distributors for the DGL. Even Tractec, maker of Detroit Lockers, only gave Highlifter as the place to buy it for ATV's.

That was over a year ago.

Thanks for the quick response. That was what I was thinkin'. I just wasn't for sure if High Lifter was the only distributor for the DGL. Once again, thanks for you time.

This sounds like a good thing to have, if you run across a good deal on this, post it up, I need to look into getting one of these.

I will definately do that. It will be at least 6 months before I get mine. To much work & not enough time right now.

Iam wanting to get a DGL also. I will talk to Matt at ATV Outfitters and see maybe if we can get a good deal maybe on a group buy. What do yall think??

That sounds awesome!!! Although, today I noticed a thread on the HL site about them coming apart, did you catch that?

Nope I didnt see that thread yet, although I only go to HL about once or twice a week now.

What do you mean come apart? Are they recalling them? I quess I will mosey over to the HL site now & see for meself.

here is the thread I was talking about <a href="http://www.highlifter.com/ubbthreads/sh" target="_blank">http://www.highlifter.com/ubbthreads/sh ... =0#1003306</a>

Well that just stinks!!! I think I will hold off for a while before I get mine. I noticed a few riders broke their axles as well. I don't want to do that. I may just stick with 3 & 1/2 wheel drive for a while until they fix the problem.

I have heard of problems with them before. But it is mainly du to improper maintainance. You must change the fluid more often with the DGL, and use the proper fluid.

My problem w/ the HL forum, while its very good and informative, you get one 12 year old who "heard" of a problem,then all the other 12 year olds jump on the band wagon, saying they "know someone"with that problem too.

Just my two cents.

I noticed that also.

This is why I want(ed) the Detroit Gearless Locker. Now I'm up in the air about it. Notice in the picture how the right front wheel is workin' it's butt off for nothin' & the left front is sittin' on its butt doin' nothin'. If they would work together, they might get me out of some situations some times. I wonder why Honda hasn't offered a locker of some sorts on any of the newer models. I'm sure they have their reasons. Probably for reliability reasons. If thats the case, then why mess with a good thing.

Very intersting picture! I was all about the DGL until I see people are having lots of problems, and it doesnt appear they are getting much sympathy or help from HL.