What do you guys think of the truetrac in the rear and ARB selectable in the front?

Best of both worlds?

 

I am interested to hear what others think. But I doubt I would ever want to drive on the road with a locker "on." And I wouldn't want to have a locker which automatically "decides" when to turn on while driving on ice. (Although I think if I ever did drive on ice with a locker "on" I would prefer a seletable locker which consistently stays on, rather than an automatic locker which is randomly locking and unlocking the rear wheels.)

So personally I would like to have only selectable lockers because I only want to use lockers for self-recovery. Due to my past bad experience on ice with an agressive lsd in the rear diff. of my IH Scout, I would rather keep my "weak" oem lsd in the back for its good road manners and put an ARB or another type of selectable locker if available in the front diff. to select when stuck or crossing plow berms. And later, assuming I am happy with the selectable in the front, I would add a selectable to the rear differential. With selectables in both differentials, I would have the best possibility of self-recovery without use of a winch, but maintain the good road manners which my vehicle now has on ice, especially with studded snow tires. Studded snow tires will not help much in a self-recovery (my shovel and I are quite aquainted from unsuccessful attempts of crossing berms or from finding myself being bermed-in in the morning), but along with reducing speed while driving on ice, studded snow tires can definitely help you avoid having to self-recover.

 

The PO of my '97 had installed an ARB in the D60 when he converted it over from an IFS. There is no question it has gotten me out of a number of situation while at work and play. On the front end it works excellent, steering can be a little stiff when engaged however with the flick of a switch if you need to turn sharp just turn it off, pending what you're doing. I run a stock LS rear end.

 

I have been doing quite a bit of reading on lockers since I just bought one for my 79. It now has detroit lockers front and rear. I do not get much ice in ky so I am not worried about the detroit in the rear.

However you are quite a different story.

I would recommend an automatic locker in the front. It is more cost effective than a selectable locker. It will provide positive traction to both wheels whenever the hubs are engaged and unlock when navigating a turn. You have the choice of a detroit that replaces the carrier and is stronger, or an aussie locker. An aussie locker, or lunchbox locker works with the existing spider gears. You can put this in yourself and will cost around half as much as a detroit.
If you put the truck in 4x4 you are in a low traction area already and have no reason to ever want a open diff. The automatic lockers will ratchet and unlock so you can turn, but lock any other time.
In the rear I would say an Elocker is the way to go. You need to be able to run an open diff for ice, but have available traction for when you get stuck. I dont like air lockers simply because of Murphys law. There are so many parts to fail in an air system.

 

Eaton Detroit Locker (automatic):


Eaton TrueTrac Differential (automatic):


ARB Air Locker (selectable):


Eaton ELocker (selectable):


ELocker vs ARB:

"I have a elocker in my rear axle, and an ARB in the front. My ARB locks faster than the elocker - and the ARB even locks/unlocks while standing still, while I feel lucky for the elocker to do that. The rear e-locker doesn't lock until the axles are moving, and even worse, moving at different speeds (ie, turns). It also will not unlock unless both axles are moving at the same speed, or totally lined up at a dead stop. My ARB appears to not have these problems." From tdavis, post #2, below:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...er-vs-arb.html

http://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modif...-locker-96779/


(BTW, 61steven and JCart would I prefer the ELocker over the ARB? I don't know. E350 vans have semi-floating rear axles which (at least when I looked into it years ago) won't take anything but the ARB. I don't recall if there were any limitations for my van's 2007 F250/F350 front differential/axle. If I change the rear axle to a full floating axle from an F350, the ELocker would be an option for me assuming I could also put an ELocker in the front. Again, my initial plan would be to install a selectable locker (ELocker or ARB) in the front and run my existing oem LS differential in the back until such time as I could afford to put the same type of locker in the rear as in the front.)