There was a locking rear diff available one year, 14 or 15 I think. You should find some info on it using the search box above.

 

Gas powered EZ-GO.

 

15 model had turf mode diff. Only lasted one yr. that’s a pretty good sign it wasn’t a good option.

 

I have a 2015 and it doesn't have the turf mode diff. Was that an option?

 

Yes it was .

 

Same issue here. Mine is used mostly on turf, and on roads. Drags the one tire a lot. Can you simply remove one of the rear half shafts?

 

I like the idea of running the front Visco-Lok differential in the rear. It would be mostly open but could lock if necessary. I was hoping someone might have tried this before - I guess someone has to go first.

 

Well I guess you could remove the axle shaft and out the cv cups back in and it would be in turf mode .

 

I like the idea of running the front Visco-Lok differential in the rear. It would be mostly open but could lock if necessary. I was hoping someone might have tried this before - I guess someone has to go first.

 

You won’t get any other results other than going in a straight line . Once you start turning left or right the wheels will start rolling at two different speeds and the visco will lock . So basically same as what you have now. Not to mention the diff will be running in reverse rotation once it’s in the rear. Which over time could be hard on it compared to it going forward 99% of the time .

 

Thanks for the feedback and continuing discussion. It has been very helpful so far.

Acefire, I do take your point about the locking during turns and eliminating the advantage of running in an open condition. However, considering it requires a substantial difference in wheel speed for the visco to lock, the front wheels are rolling at two different speeds in turns as well as the rear, and as far as I can determine the front Visco has never locked while turning (without loss of traction). That leads me to believe the turn radius between the inner and outer track isn't sufficient to engage the Visco. I'd assume a substantial speed difference required to engage the Visco lock is probably by design and what leads to some complaints about the front Visco lock delay. Maybe not...

In regards to running in reverse: Since the ring/pinion is straight cut and not a helical, the traditional drive/coast gear design does not exist in this diff. Also, there aren't any axial loads (thrust loads) I can determine. It's true I haven't disassembled the diff and I may be missing something important but right now I'm not sure what would prevent it from running backward just as well as forward. Granted, the front diff would need to be inverted to the upside-down position and the vent would likely need to be relocated too. This may be a bad idea but I do appreciate the time hashing out the details.

 

Ok here is a test for you to try . Remove one rear axle shaft . Take it for a drive and see how it acts . In a straight line under moderate acceleration it will pull left or right depending on which side shaft you remove . If you actually hammer the throttle it will shoot you off the trail . Being into in the rear and the increased speed between both wheels the axle will engage faster . Being they are running two different speeds it thinks the faster wheel is spinning and with the added centrical force it will lock up. When in the front the speed is reduced do to the tires on both side are always tracking in the same direction. Unlike the rear which is locked all the time and track straight all the time . Which is what everyone is complaining about the scrub from the inside tire in the grass.
You can actually engage the visco by turning the right front tire by hand if left front is still on the ground . So it doesn’t take a lot of wheel speed to engage the visco. The standard visco was 1.5 to 2 turns and the QE would come in 3/4 to 1.25 turns .

I haven’t paid much attention to the to the pinion gear on these diffs. But the pinions are place so that the ring gear slings oil up into the pinion housing . If the position of the pinion is in wrong location and you run the gear opposite of its normal rotation you are pushing the oil away from the pinion housing instead of pulling it into the pinion house. On these it may not matter. As long as it is turning fast enough to still put oil into the housing . I will have to look to see where the pinion is at in the diff. If it’s in bottom of the diff it won’t need oil to be slung into the housing . But if it’s in the middle it will need a slinger or the ring gear to get into the housing .

 

You know, IF you could put a visco in the rear and IF it could handle the power, etc...you could remove the visco from the diff and install a torq locker, then you could turn without cutting up the lawn and you would have traction at both wheels.

For those interested in the the factory locking diff from 2015, you can go to one of the internet microfice parts sites like partshark or partzilla and look at and compare the diagrams between the two options. I'm not sure what all is different. Aside from the diff, I did notice the driver side trailing arm had a different number, probably some minor difference like a wire tab or something that a zip tie could replace. There may have been a couple of other different parts as well.

 

Torque locker stays locked under power. So only time it unlocks is when you let off throttle or in two wheel drive . So in the rear it would still be locked.

But here’s another issue with moving front diff to the rear . Front cv splines are smaller so rear axles will not work. So by going to front axles in the rear they would be really weak. They break up front all the time under a load . And front doesn’t get near the weight load out on it as the rear does.

 

With regards to the locker, are you sure Ace? While they are locked as far as traction is concerned doesn't it allow one tire to turn faster than the other in a turn, that is faster than the amount of force applied to it, just not slower. So, say you were turning left, the passenger side rear tire wants to go faster but cannot with the diff in my 2011 commander, but with a torq locker shouldn't the passenger side rear tire be able to turn faster? I thought that was one of the benefits of putting them in jeeps and other 4x4 truck rear ends.

Edit: How It Works | Locking Differential | Aussie Locker By Torq Masters

 

The torque locker under power is always locked . When in 2 wheel drive there’s no load on the locker allowing it to open just enough to ratchet . Allowing the faster wheel to rotate from the slower wheel. So if you put it in the rear and are accelerating it will stay loaded till you let off the gas then it will open up enough to ratchet.

 

I have ran the Aussie in my jeeps in the rear and on asphalt if you accelerate into the turn it doesn’t unlock. Detroit locker far more advanced that the Aussie and torque locker and it to will not unlock under power. That’s why in the bronco it has a Detroit in the rear and a Eaton positive trac in the front. The positive trac only locks under acceleration. So up front if you are in 2 wd it’s never locked up. The Aussie and Detroit are locked but when not loaded up they can ratchet and let the two wheels turn individually.

 

Do to the increased power the guys and gals running hard in x3 are spending the extra money for the halo . Cause they can run hard at any speed in 3 wheel drive and it doesn’t effect the steering . You put the torque locker in and at high speed it’s always pulling to the side that has traction so if you are hard into a left hand curve you are over steering to the left cause it’s pulling to the right. That’s the reason Paraguads has a new diff with halo and a spare laying in the shop with the torque locker he originally installed. You know his machine is all hand controlled . So at high speed it was hard to steer and throttle do to the constant pulling. Now he’s back to blasting through the woods same as before but has a easy button for the rough stuff / rock crawling .

 

Ah. Ok. I see. Unfortunately Halo no longer lists the locker for the commander and someone posted a few months back that he contacted them and they’re no longer doing the commander one. I guess that includes the 4 wheelers too. Paraquads has an x3?

What about the commander locker superatv sells for the commander? I think it’s like a Polaris front diff. Does it unlock enough?

 

Yes he bought x3 in early spring of 17. Halo still makes one to fit a Commander but it requires custom 30 spline inner cv’s. So that’s going to run 800ish ea. The popo diff is great if you don’t rockcrawl . So being satv is building the same diff aftermarket I would guess it’s no better than factory. My cuz has 1800 miles on his popo turbo 4 seat and front diff has been removed three times . We have had it in the rocks three times . But it only locks under power. It has a sprag bearing . Same as a automatic transmission. When you power up the bearing turns and locked the drum . Then when you stop and put it in reverse it unlocks then locks back up. Which is why you don’t rock a popo from forward to reverse. As for high speed it’s driveable . Not near as bad as the torque locker . But it still pulls a bit like when climbing in your old rhino with the easy button pushed . But all fully locked diffs do that . That’s what makes the visco feel so good . Cause it only pull the other side in after losing traction . Then it goes back to 3 wheel drive .

 

Well, this certainly is an interesting discussion. I think the spline size of the inner CV splines is a deal-breaker. If the rear axels will not run in the front diff then that's going to be difficult to overcome.

 

Yes the fronts are smaller and the right side is longer than the right . Rear are same both sides . So no left or right on the rear unlike the front .

 

I have a 2015 with the locking option, and as Ace stated earlier, not a good option. I've been chasing crazy grinding noises for the last several years, to the point where I don't trust the machine enough to do much riding with the dear wife. Replaced axles and drive shafts with no success. Had the differential opened and everything looked perfect except some slight wear on the fork that locks the system. Cleaned everything up and put it back together with limited success, but now the noise has returned. My next option is to open the diff and remove the locking mechanism completely (making it a full time "turf" machine). If that still doesn't eliminate the problem, I'll either replace the entire rear end with the normal diff and bits to make it rideable (expensive), or start parting the rig out and find something else to ride. Too bad, because I really like the look and size of the Commander.

 

I changed my commander post differential.. after several corrections. it worked perfectly～

 

I don’t know exactly what has been said throughout this thread , only because I didn’t read all the post's. From my experience the rear end is as one solid unit. Meaning the ring gear and splines for the inner axle ends are all one piece. There is no the visco unit , and there are no spider gears.

 

Thats a 15 model rear diff with turf mode.

 

Wanted to let all know that I finally did figure out what this crazy noise was that I had been chasing for so long on the locking diff option. I almost feel stupid to mention it, but it was the brakes. The caliper didn't keep the pad tight against the disc, causing the pad to "bounce" against the disc and catch on the lightening holes in the disc. After replacing a u-joint, axle, and (2) different differential teardowns, I solved it accidentally by lightly feathering the brakes on a short ride and noticing that I could create the stupid noise. I took the brake pad off and noticed chipping on the leading rotational edge of the pad, validating my thoughts. Replaced the pads and the noise is gone. Now, happy as a clam with the locking rear diff.

 

Well, I'm glad you found it before you started parting the buggy out....or traded for a PoPo.