# Think my diff lock is stuck



## bruteforcebill (Aug 2, 2011)

I just went for a ride and it is hard to steer in 4 wheel drive so, I put the bike on jack stands and all 4 wheels have power. My cable is not stuck I can pull the lever and see it move. This was the first time I used 4 wheel drive since I had the front diff apart. All the gears were good in there I changed the seals and did the spider mod. Is there any way to tell if its locked up. What should happen with it on jack stands. With the bike shut off when I spin one front wheel the other one spins the opposite way, when I spin a rear wheel all four spin.


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## kygreen (Oct 15, 2011)

thats odd, did you put the right oil in (motor oil), with the bike in 2wd and on jack stands you should be able to turn 1 front wheel and the other should either not spin or spin in the other direction and with the lock on they should both spin the same, but if the cable is to tight or the wrong oil it could make it act like it is locked up hope this helps


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## Waddaman (Oct 3, 2010)

What your describing about how your "spinning it" is normal. If its jacked in the air and in 4wd if you spin one wheel the other wheel spins opposite.

If you want to test it (I probably shouldn't say this but...) put it on jacks in 4wd and just above the ground. Start it and put it in low, spin the tires SLOW VERY VERY SLOW and grab a tire (probably get someone else to do it, cant stress enough to be careful when doing this) If the tire that is grabbed stops and the other side continues to turn your all good (the will be a small pull on the grabbed tire but youll know the difference) , if it wants to keep turning its locked.

If it is locked I imagine its just something simple like the cable is adjusted too tight.

If its not locked, check all your front end components for wear, I mean everything. The slightest wear on stuff can make turning harder. Also check your toe in/toe out.


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## bruteforcebill (Aug 2, 2011)

In 2 wheel drive only one will spin. Ya so it's probably not locked I am a dummy sometimes. It's probably because of the wheel spacers I put in why its tougher to steer. I haven't ridden it since I rebuilt the whole front end this summer. We just got 2 feet of snow and I took it for ride and it just felt tough to steer so I figured I blew the diff again

---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:32 PM ----------

Ya I grabbed the tire already lol it stopped and the other one spun. Just been having one of those days. So I assumed it was junk. Thanks


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## kygreen (Oct 15, 2011)

you problebly dont have anything to worry about . with these bikes when these diffs go bad they usualy REALLY go bad and you know it for sure when somthing is wrong


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## Waddaman (Oct 3, 2010)

Spacers can make it harder to steer but not substantially.. Check to make sure your cv's turn smooth no clicking ETC, check your toe in toe out, check your steering stem lower bearing/upper bushing, check your wheel bearings and finally check your ball joints. 

All of this can be done by hand, just lift front spin tire to check bearings and cv's on each side. Turn the tire/knuckle by hand side to side to see if thats smooth. Then simply grab ahold of tie rods and steering stem and give it a good jiggle to see if there's play. If there's nothing warn or seized then.. its just you.. lol.


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## brutemike (Mar 23, 2010)

Times 2 on the toein if it out and u got spacers then it can be real hard.In the manual for ur bike is torque settings for the front diff adjustment on the clutch pack.


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## bruteforcebill (Aug 2, 2011)

Maybe it's my toe in I just replaced wheel bearings ball joints and tie rods. New axles as well I rebuilt the whole front end. Things were getting sloppy up front. Maybe i set the toe in incorrect I installed a 2" lift and 2" spacers at the same time so assumed it was the spacers. What should the toe be set at. I think I set the wheels straight, I will check tomorrow


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## brutemike (Mar 23, 2010)

bruteforcebill said:


> Maybe it's my toe in I just replaced wheel bearings ball joints and tie rods. New axles as well I rebuilt the whole front end. Things were getting sloppy up front. Maybe i set the toe in incorrect I installed a 2" lift and 2" spacers at the same time so assumed it was the spacers. What should the toe be set at. I think I set the wheels straight, I will check tomorrow


So 2" on each side  or 1" each side if two I would say thats it with toe off a hair it will make it hard to steer.


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## rmax (Nov 21, 2009)

theres a proper way to test an adjust the diff lock in the manual


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## bruteforcebill (Aug 2, 2011)

I am gonna try to check the toe tomorrow. I didn't think it was as critical as it is. I had someone sit on my bike with the bars straight and eyeballed it when I put the tierods on gonna set toe in 1/8 on each wheel. Does that sound about right? I was checking on the Internet last night and that seemed like what most were running.


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## brutemike (Mar 23, 2010)

Sounds good to me.I know when I went to the American star racing pro xc tierods it got a lot easier to steer with my outlaws.

(rather be snapping axles then tapatalking)


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