M35-a3 can you make it a true 6 wheel drive?

[ken326@yahoo.com]

True 6 wheel drive?
can you lock the rears up on an a3. I noticed only 2 wheels spin when you getinto anything a little slippery. Once you flip the lever and engage the front wheels it goes but i was thinking how good it would be if it was a true 6 wheel drive. Is this possible?

 

[rwbrown72]

Anything is possible.... it only takes money!

 

[M1075]

All you need is lockers or spool. About $300-$500 per axle.

 

[ken326@yahoo.com]

where do I get them and is it hard to do? any body ever done it?

 

[mudguppy]

here's the best stuff on the market.

hardest thing about installing the diff is pulling the 3rd member off the axle housing.

 

[ken326@yahoo.com]

Ok thanks, about how much would it cost to have it done parts and labor? any ideas. Im in Northeast PA?
Thanks

 

[nk14zp]

You could have the spider gears welded up.

 

[mahdey]

well if you are off road only and do limited street use i would weld the rear end with a good 220 welder.

 

[rwbrown72]

If you weld it, driving on the street is going to be hard on parts. If off road only then weld away! What kind of driving are you planning on doing? Deep mud? Rock crawling in a deuce? Sand? All have pros and cons for different setups. Need more info and just for fun, pics of the ride!

 

[saddamsnightmare]

March 8th, 2010.

Two words, my sons, for true off road capability "MONEY" "UNIMOG". Even an M35A2 can be made off road capable with the right lockers applied to the axles, but welding the spiders would seem to be a terminal method...expensive to reverse and God help the man who runs it on dry hard pavement. There's no inadvertent with that one, because you can't unlock the weld, only break them.
Get a Unimog U1300L, it'll carry almost as much as a deuce, and go everywhere a deuce can't. Just a respectful thought for your consideration, and my .02 worth, as I've driven both an M35A2 and a S404.114....

(Or get a MB Zetros!)

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[Bob H]

if all three axles had lockers, the truck may spend more time sliding sideways that it does going forward.

 

[ken326@yahoo.com]

it will be driven in mud and on pavement more pavement than mud though.

 

[mudguppy]

there are plenty of options to consider. don't forget to add selectable hubs ($500) and air-lockers ($900) to the list. you could:

1. ultra lock both rears - $1k
2. ultra lock rears + set of hubs for rears - $1900
3. ultra lock 1 rear and front w/ hubs - $1500
4. ultra lock all + front hubs - $2k (true 6x6)
5. ultra lock all - $1500 (true 6x6, i haven't seen the need for hubs w/ front locker)
6. ARB both rears - $1800
7. ARB 1 rear and front - $1800
8. ARB all - $2400
9. ARB all + 1 set of hubs on a rear + hubs on front - $3800 (selectable from 6x3 to 6x6, and down to 6x1 on-road)
10. etc...

configurations are quite extensive.

 

[Heavysteven]

I know this is not an answer to your question. However have you thought about new tires? Or lowering the air pressure.

 

[M1075]

it will be driven in mud and on pavement more pavement than mud though.

Well, you might want to consider ARB air lockers. It might run you $5000 or so to get them installed. What is your budget?

 

[jwaller]

weld the spiders and put locking hubs on them. you can have stock or wild at the flip of the hub.

 

[ken326@yahoo.com]

how much would that cost, that sounds like an idea. then if i get in the mud i can lock the hubs and have true 6 whell drive right. any draw backs?

 

[mahdey]

lock outs are weaker than drive flanges.

 

[jesusgatos]

lock outs are weaker than drive flanges.

Dude, if you're going to post something like that you've got to elaborate a little bit more. Which locking hubs? How/Why? Sure, there are more parts, but that doesn't automatically mean they're weaker than the stock driveflanges.

 

[ccequipment]

Ken, i just installed a set of ARB air lockers on a crew cab I built. The locker install is not that hard, its all the labor getting the third members out. The easiest way is to pull the bed off the truck, and you will have to drop the front axel down, and I remove it for the best job. Of course you may need some brake or hub work while in there. The ARB's are nice, they can be locked in or out, but they do have alot of parts that can fail, like o-rings, valves, air lines, etc. Detriots are nice because they have no external parts to fail. But they proably will wear you tires out a little more. ARB's in all 3 axels will run you about $7,000 installed, and Detriots in all three will run about $4750, just some #'s for you. There is some extra time involed with the CTIS system when removing wheels etc. That does not include hub seals etc.. FYI I do have cab seal kits avaliable