What are peoples experiences with the detroit lockers? Particularly slow turning like car parks etc? Do they cause wherls to chirp at slow speeds?

Any tight turn will cause the inside wheel to "spin" as it attempts to keep up with the outside wheel.

EDIT
Sorry, I was thinking of the CIG locker [welded] diff

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Typically Detroit lockers are tough as nails but very harsh/aggressive and noisy in the way they lock up and disengage. Later Detroit Soft Locker designs where a big improvement over the original design for street use.
Due to the aggressive lock up they can be a bit of a handful as they lock aggressively on corner exits when throttle is applied but once you get used to them/adapt your driving style to suit they are great.
They can also be a bit of a handful in wet/low grip situations.

They will run completely open when coasting but as soon as torque(throttle) is applied they will lock up.

So basically all the benefits of a spool/CIG locker but run like an open diff when the throttle is off.

Righto, going by that its going to be very interesting to drive. Any way to tell the later from the earlier types?

The casing is different and it has a dampening setup in the engagement mechanism in the soft locker.

They still lock hard but some of the crashing and banging of the original Detroit locker is reduced.

A lot of people consider them too harsh for the street and say the instant locking is dangerous but it never bothered me.
I had one in my old 67 XR Falcon ute with a stout 351c and toploader in front of it. Worked well but I rarely gave it wot on the street unless it was pointed pretty much in a straight line, but then it was no where near as chuckable as a Datto.
I am about to put one in my VF valiant ute which I am building a 400+hp 360 for.

If you have driven a CIG locker before you will be fine, just be prepared for it to lock up hard.

If you haven't, get used to it in a safe area cause it will turn you around real quick if you are not ready.

And don't ever use throttle whilst turning if the police are around and watch it on long sweepers, they can cause understeer or snap oversteer depending on your suspension set up.

Good luck with it

One thing i wasn't told before driving a locker was that if you panic and lift your foot once the ass of your car is out there it can make things worse and the car will go around faster than you can catch it. Now that i have driven with a locker for awhile i find it very predictable. After spin out my car and mounting a curb on the third corner after installing the locker, the guy next to me who gave me the diff centre wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and said "when in doubt power out" which is in a way true. I have learnt you can lift slightly or give it a bit more depending on the situation but just don't lift your foot right off the throttle to suddenly when your car is sideways.

This is just something I would have appreciated knowing before I mounted the curb!

I think ive got the later type. I dug up the book for it

Haha awesome, those are some tough utes.
Never driven a locker of any description, so a quiet practice area it is


Ill have to remember that when it throws me in a slide. This thing going to be a handful to get used to

Welcome to corner exit understeer!

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Yep, i race a Datsun, and I drive a truck, sometimes I get confused, and then the truck goes fast, and the Datsun gets a lot of boxes shoved into it. AWW GEE