Dual axle 4wd.... half the traction?

Lazy axles are notorious for causing lack of traction,not the best thing for off-road.

Your mechanic is right.My brother has a Rodeo with a lazy axle which he uses for his property maintenance business.The first time he drove into a muddy paddock it sunk up to its axles;would not drive out in 4WD.He had to tow it out with his tractor.It is great for carrying heavy loads;which he does often.

Traditionally lazy axles are set up so that the load favours the drive axle when empty. But they still take some load off the drive axle.
Numerous configurations for setting up lazy axles, either independent or linked into the drive axle suspension with shared springs.
Can't tell by the photo!
6x4 may not get you as far, but hopefully with it being plated by an engineer it will carry more.

Hi Royce,

We had a 75 series Arkana style 14 seater landcruiser similar to yours pictured above but it had a lazy axle.
It was shocking off road. It was actually scary to take it on anything but the easiest of dirt roads and even then at 4000kg without passengers even on the dirt was a bit hairy when you wanted to stop. It was very easy to get hung up somwhere with the lazy taking most of the weight and the drive wheels just spinning on the surface. The electric brakes on the lazy were also a bit temperamental. As this was a commercial vehicle for carrying passengers it had to pass a very stringent roadworthy every 6 months so it was very well maintained.

(As an aside here we did a bit of publicity at the local burnout comp by taking the 16 inch wheels of the rear drive axle and fitting low profile 14 inch wheels and lighting up the rear just sitting there with the electric brakes on the lazy locked on with the hand controller. To drive away we just engaged 4wd and drove out using the front axle. It looked good and sure was good for business.)

In the end we fitted ARB airlockers front and rear and had an engineer fabricate some huge sprockets that were fitted to the outside of the wheels on both the drive and lazy axle.
A huge chain could be placed around these sprockets on each side in effect giving us 6wd when all lockers were locked. At that point it was almost unstoppable.
In fact those chains saved us once bogged on the beach with an incoming tide.
With paying passengers on board it was a hairy situation.

If I had my time over again I would say that our cruiser would have been great for runs through central Australia in long flat open country with the lazy carrying all of the extra weight. But to have one off road I would go for the single rear axle and carry less/tow a trailer, or I would go for a proper 6x6 conversion.

Cheers,
Brett

T/D 80 Series L/C