Im looking at buying a b310 and dumping it in the weeds with an a15 that will get a bit of work and backed up with an auto. I want to lock the diff and use it as a bit of a cruiser/skid car. my questionis how bad/unsafe are lockies to drive around normally.

They are pretty terrible on tarmac/concrete.

If you life in a town with a lot of dirt roads, then it'd be not so bad.

For the cost of an old diff centre, you could weld one up and give it a try.

In Australia they are illegal, and young fellas looking to do 'skids' in them are seriously at risk of getting their car crushed if caught.

In nz you get ur car impounded for 28 days and a decent fine plus a loss of licence. in your driveway is all good though
Im just tired of pullin stupid old single spinners nd driving around in a circle instead of swinging. all the rotary boys roll with lockies I was just wondering how dodgy they were to drive with

You wont be doing any reverse parking, and driving up to the shops becomes more trouble than its worth.

If you value your life and your car you wont be driving anywhere in the rain.

Sidedraught is 100% spot on. My ute has a welded locker (bought it like that) and it is a real prick to reverse park. You also have to be real cautious when releasing the clutch in the wet.

The other problem is I can't turn my wheel full lock at low speeds, the shake, bounce, and wheel spin is horrendous. If not driven carefully, and if you plan on doing skids, then be prepared to go through gearboxes as well (I've replaced one, baby the #### out of it now).

Wow, after reading through all this I might have to change my diff. Didn't realise what a bitch lockers are. However I am used to its foibles now.

This topic has been well covered before,my opinion is the same now as it has been in the past,only a goose would intentially run a locked diff as a daily driver.
Heres another example: Early last month we had the KB10 entered to compete at an event 320klm's from home,as i only have one trailer we where forced to drive the thou to the event as the other car is not registered,the KB10 has a locked diff and we felt it would ok if driven quietly.To our horror just before our destination we discovered we had broken an axle on the highway moving along at highway speeds constantly going round big sweeping corners.All of Saturday was spent finding axles and once removed the diff was also stuffed(cracked side bearing carrier)after much expense and work in the pits we had it back together to run on Sunday with a borrowed open diff.
The car ended up running 2nd in class,had we found another trailer and towed it(with it's locked diff)i am quite sure we would have won our class.

I'm sorry for the editorial,but we can all learn from others mistakes,even oldies like me.I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!

Cheers Bert

ok im on the other side off the fence when i was a p plater ( cortina 250 cross flow) the welded diff was the only way to ride , we would pull the diff center out in summer as there only fun in the rain , THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN ,

my bros gt hillman did snap axels
my car was fine no problems
a mates cortina ripped the chassi rail where the diff mounted to the chassi

so you have to way up the good and bad

ooo and you can park them in a bay but expect to yous a bit of clucth lol

haha listen to all the negitive feeback here mate i have had full locked diffs me whole life but its how u drive them mate they can be unsafe when u drive like a tool . they make sliding and crabbing stuff a whole lot easyer and better to control as u have good responce yeh their hard to park but make sure u spare no expence and ur diff will last the distance champ i have had open diffs and lsd's but open diffs are uncontrollable as they throw the car around when sliding and lsd's need tightning every now and then. . if u want it to be good on street get a tight lsd should give u enought play to park the diff in my dat ute is full spool locked and it doesnt drag much over the full turning circle. . every1 has their own oppinions though. .

i love lockers ill never own another dato without one

Ever wonder why they are illegal?
Have a real good think about it. Then remember that if you are involved in an accident, & the locked diff is discovered, the insurance company will wipe you like a dirty ar$e, ... & that's when the victims come after you with a vengence.
Read the fine print. They agree to indemnify you & you agree to keep the vehicle in a 'roadworthy' condition. You don't uphold your end of the deal, ... they don't have to uphold theirs.

I believe that the 1200 sedan SL33PE [sleepy] was writen off in spectacular circumstances recently from a standing start & it ran a locker diff I'm told.
It's illegal & unsafe.