I live in Alaska and right now the weather is crazy. Things have melted and turned into a sheet of ice.

Twice in the past week I have slid off the side of the road. Tonight was the second time, except it was in my driveway which is long with over an inch of ice on it. It slopes to the side and I just slid down the embankment into a foot of snow.

All the weight of my truck was on the passenger side while my driver side front and rear tires were on my ice covered pavement with little weight. So these two tires just spun, while the ones with traction remained stationary.

I imagine my truck originally came with an LSD but 127k miles and 11 years later I don't think it works anymore.

What options do I have for *selectable* locking differentials? I know there is ARB but are there any others? What about electronic lockers?

I already have on board air with a pretty decent compressor.

How much should I expect the installation to cost? Assuming I did all the wiring and airline routing myself. I would just need the lockers installed in the differentials.

 

Detroit TrueTrac Torsen differential... helical geared traction control with no friction discs and no driver input or switching required. I have this. Works seamlessly.

Performance Products | Detroit Truetrac Differential

OR...

Eaton E-Locker... Electrically actuated.

Performance Products | Eaton ELocker


As you can see by the links, both products, while once competitors, are now sold by Eaton, who bought out the Detroit Locker and TrueTrac brand and product.

 

How well does the truetrac handle daily driving on ice?

 

Would a fluid change with new friction modifier help correct the issue? Or have you tried this already? Just curious...

 

i have a true trac that i'm about to put in but all i have read they are really good.

 

With a locker you're gonna have to learn how to redrive your truck. On ice you're gonna be in for a treat it won't help the rear end is gonna kick out constantly. A selectable locker would be the way to go I have no input on selectable lockers

EDIT: you can always try to ride the brakes while you're stuck. Most of the time that will transfer power to the wheel that has traction... I've practice doing this on ice just so I was prepared for when I really have to do it.
I would not recommend a trutrac for what you're wanting

 

Let me second what John2001 posted above. When I was in college, my 60's International Scout had some sort of aggressive limited slip differential. Generally, I never noticed it, but one evening driving 25 mph down South Lake Tahoe Blvd (US Hwy 50) on scraped down to bullet proof ice, the rear diffferential would shift traction from one rear wheel to the other causing the back of the vehicle to violently jerk from one side to the other without warning. It is a two lane road, and I am sure that it concerned the other drivers as much as it concerned me.

I ordered my van with oem limited slip rear differential. And as far as I am concerned, it is so gentle as to be worthless for vehicle recovery.

I always thought that the TrueTrac was an automatic type of locker, better than limited slip differential, but still which engages when it thinks it should.

My humble and limited experience is that such lockers if set up too light are really too little to get you out of a snow bank and if set up too hard (like on my Scout), can engage when not wanted causing drivability problems on ice, like on my Scout. The Int'l Scout was a relatively light vehicle, so maybe you wouldn't experience this on a PSD.

BTW on the Sportsmobile forum there are a few members with 7.3L's with the locker on the front -- not for street driving, it makes it hard to turn -- but for getting out of trouble when you are stuck. The locker is under the engine weight, providing more traction. "[t]he front locker pulls a heavy vehicle up compared to a light vehicle that doesn't have the weight to do so. On a Jeep the rear locker pushes the rig up. On our vans (and for me anyway) we use the front locker to pull the heavy van up and the LSD provides a bit more traction than an open diff in the rear. But if you lock the rear it might make the cornering slightly more difficult. What nice about an ARB is it's selectable. To me it's almost a wash but agree if in snow or similar poor traction the LSD will preform better on normal roads as mentioned"

Others prefer Detroit in the rear and TrueTrac in the front: "Detroit in the rear for reliability, performance, simplicity and cost, and a Truetrac in the front. Eaton Detroit TrueTrac lockers are Torsen style limited slip differentials that use helical gears instead of clutch packs to offer automatic torque biased traction to both drive wheels at all times. The ingenious design limits the speed of each wheel to 1.5 times faster or slower than the opposite wheel to provide full-time traction while still allowing for wheel speed differentiation in turns. The heavy duty all-gear design not only makes for quite and smooth operation, it requires no maintenance and will never weaken or wear out like a typical limited slip differential."

http://sportsmobileforum.com/viewtop...locker#p114488

So when I get to it, I will install a selectable locker in the front for vehicle recovery.

Whatever you get, I would like to hear your experience driving on ice with it.

EDIT: Yes, there is nothing better than steel on ice. And with chains our vehicles are like tractors. I prefer the five cam-lock V-Bar chains:

http://tirechain.com/cams.htm

As an alternative, for years, I have been running the Hercules Trail Digger MT with studs. (They've got premolded holes for studs.) Their open tread doesn't clog up with powder and turn into a slick like a true East Coast studded ice tire does in my area. They are soft, so don't expect a lot of mileage from them. Here is my Trail Digger MT. I have gone through two sets of them over the years and with studs, I have been very impressed with them:

http://www.herculestire.com/tire-gal...k/light-truck/

 

I used to own a few 78 broncos with detroits front and rear. They are fine in the front, as long as you don`t have your hubs locked on hard surface. they traction was awsome, just point the truck where you want to go. With the massive torque of these diesels you you be in for some challenging driving with a locker in the rear. When that rearend breaks loose,( and it will) on ice or snow, hang on. there is no way i would put a Detroit in the rear if you live any where near ice or snow, get an ARB or an electrical locker for the rear. Locker in the front would be fine since your hubs would be only locked when you need them and you have alot of wt over them also.

 

I don't think anyone has suggested a Detroit Locker... we've all said Detroit TrueTrac, which Tom posted a description of.

As for how the TrueTrac drives on ice, I can't say I've noticed. I've driven across Montana, Northern Idaho, Wyoming, over the Continental Divide during December, over Donner Summit during winter... and I can't say I've noticed. My Overhead Temperature Monitor has flashed "ICE, ICE, BABY", (Special Ford CTM calibration ) but I can't say that I've noticed.

Nor can I offer any clue as to why I haven't noticed. Is it because I'm a cautious driver? Is it because I mainly operate on paved roads? Is it because I generally try to avoid driving altogether in icy conditions on black ice? Is it because I pay special attention to bridges, which freeze faster?

Or is it because the Detroit TrueTrac Torsen helical gear driven limited slip differential is the best thing in traction technology since sliced bread, offering a well proven balance between toughness and forgiveness in automatic traction control? I don't know, and I'm not willing to spin out to find out.

I can only say that my Detroit TrueTrac is original factory equipment in my limited slip optioned Dana S135-S rear axle, which has a 14.2" ring gear, and is rated for 13,500 lbs... if that says anything about durability.

I've never spun out in this truck, nor have I ever felt any type of jerking. I guess it simply seamlessly works, but then again, since I haven't really felt it working, how would I know? Also, Alaska is an entirely different ball field from the one my truck plays in.

 

The rear LSD in my truck has caused me to go damn near sideways when it engaged during a serious snowstorm on the highway.

The only vehicle I have experience with lockers F/R, they are air activated, is my Jeep. Due to its setup, it won't even move on flat ground if there's snow accumulation and/or ice.

 

(Screenshot of Dana Service Manual... apologies for the small size)

The Detroit TrueTrac performs like an open differentials under normal driving conditions - until traction control is needed. Then the imbalanced gear forces automatically apply resistance to the wheel (or axle) with the lesser traction.

Planetary pinion gears are supported in pockets of the case. Each pinion meshes with its side gear and with a mating pinion of the opposite planetary gear set.

When the vehicle experiences unequal side to side traction (ie, on ice), the pinions resist rotation in the case and transfer torque from one side gear to the other.

All mating pinions tend to separate from each other and from the side gears and they wedge into their case pockets. This provides a friction force that retards or prevents the wheel with lesser traction from rotating and spinning out. I've never spun out.

 

I have a selectable electric rear locker in my '98 4Runner and I have used it in 2WD and 4WD. On ice, it generally makes the rear of the truck harder to control. In 2WD, it actually makes traction worse (as you start off from a dead stop), as the rear tires cannot hunt for traction (as they would with an open diff). If you're on a highly crowned road, with glare ice, you need tire chains, IMO. I realize that they are totally impractical (except when elk hunting offroad).

I just don't think that selectable lockers will fix the specific problem you identified. I wish they would - and they do offer some nice traction in deeper snow and loose dirt.

 

Okay, so this is super interesting. I believe what is being searched for here is a differential that isn't going to throw you into the ditch when its icy and other lowtrac conditions, but also has the power to dig you out when you end up in the ditch due to conditions outside of ones control, or when you are on a gravel road and need to power through some drifts. (My dad got stuck last night and i had to go pull him out ). Is the trutrac that type of differential? Can anyone say they have experience in that sort of arena? If that is the diff for out back, what kind would one want for up front? A heavy hitting one primarily for recovery that doesn't need much for street manners I presume? Who has suggestions? I'm curious because I'm sick of getting stuck.

 

There are trade offs for all those rear ends. In snow and ice any of those rear ends can break loose. it is what happens right after that is what counts.
A LS rear end tends to not make the rear of the truck completely slide out. There are so many things to consider, speed is a huge one. If you are doing 40mph and hit ice with a locker chances are you are going for a spin, but if you already have it in 4wh drive you might be able to save it. Tires also are a big part of the equation. I run dedicated snow tires and studs and rarely have any problems on snow and ice, but you really need to watch your speed. Laws of physics come in to play. ARB or an electrical locker is the way I would go in the rear and up front a good LS. That way if it was real icy you could still have it in 4wh drive and not engage the locker, then the back would be less susceptible to slide out and you still have the front pulling you and basically have an open rear end in the rear. The locker could be engaged at slow speeds so you could control the vehicle if it did break loose.

 

Fluid is 13k miles old, valvoline synthetic