Rear Locker Failure Update

[Old Hokie]

That may be simple. Eaton never assumed or maybe even considered the lockers would end up in rear ends that used cast gears. Those gears require a break in, which results in metal corruption of the fluid. Which in turn affects??? The wiring? The viscosity? The surfaces of the locker? No idea, and nothing we can prove or test.

Seems odd that this doesn’t crop up until at or after the first fluid change. My first instance was at about 13deg/f last year right before the 12k mile service, and nothing could be replicated. I’m at 22k+ and it is now every morning below 35. They likely thought I did’t know what I was doing Or talking about when I said the rear differential appeared to have locked and pushed me into the oncoming turning lane. I sure would have thought I fucked up and was projecting. I almost didn’t believe me. On two of my occasions, there could have been several damage or injury if the road was busier.

Wild guess.

I experienced a similar problem in a curve on dry pavement when the rear diff engaged. The truck wanted to go in a straight line. When the rear diff locks up the vehicle is unsafe to drive and should be parked and not be driven until it is repaired.
If this happens on a long trip it means your trip is over and you are going to have to find a way home and have your Grenadier hauled to the nearest dealer.
I love my Grenadier and cannot wait to get it back but this does raise a significant reliability issue, at least with me. INEOS must get this fixed and fixed right or it could be a big problem for them. One of the Grenadiers main selling points is reliability and they cannot afford to loose that.

 

[NQ94]

That may be simple. Eaton never assumed or maybe even considered the lockers would end up in rear ends that used cast gears. Those gears require a break in, which results in metal corruption of the fluid. Which in turn affects??? The wiring? The viscosity? The surfaces of the locker? No idea, and nothing we can prove or test.

Seems odd that this doesn’t crop up until at or after the first fluid change. My first instance was at about 13deg/f last year right before the 12k mile service, and nothing could be replicated. I’m at 22k+ and it is now every morning below 35. They likely thought I did’t know what I was doing Or talking about when I said the rear differential appeared to have locked and pushed me into the oncoming turning lane. I sure would have thought I fucked up and was projecting. I almost didn’t believe me. On two of my occasions, there could have been several damage or injury if the road was busier.

Wild guess.

Eaton would be using forged differential gears, the internal bevel gears. Eaton has used this process for a long time. The crownwheel and pinion would have better final finish machining processes to eliminate operational noise when compared to the diff gears. Most diffs do have some sort of break in period from the manufacturer but it's rarely something any one considers in any new car or truck.
The locker is engaged by an electromagnet so when there is a large amount of fine ferrous material in the oil there is a good chance this may cause issues by accumulating in the clearances in the locker engagement mechanism when energised and not exiting when de-energised.
The few issues only a couple people have had with diff failures is more bad luck not a systemic problem with the axle.