Dangit just when I made up my mind to get a tru-trac, you go and confuse me. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.

 

Any reason you decided on a conventional locker vs an air or e locker. I leaning towards the e locker route for the front and rear. Essentially keeping my front open diff and my rear "open"(lsd) until I flip the switch.

 

I have 4 locked vehicles, one has a rear Detroit, one has dual ARB's, the third has triple factory e-lockers and the 4th has a rear factory e-locker.

Detroit's serve a purpose, but I'd never again put one in a daily driver. I've had it in for 10 years in a Toy mini truck and while it works great off road, the occasional bang, driveline slop, and accelerated rear tire wear due to scuffing around corners makes them just not worth the effort or expense. Also, Detroit's really suck on ice due to the loss of lateral traction the minute both tires start to spin. They can be fun for drifting though. E-lockers or ARB's are the way to go.

Adam

 

I agree a locker in a small truck is a little much. I had one in my 84 yota.. But in a heavy truck like 6000lbs and up they are sweet. As far as ice I don't drive on lakes. On dirt roads with ice and studs its great. I don't drive wild at all so that is my opinion. Mine is a real work truck and it works great for me.

 

I put in a detroit true trac about 2 and a half months ago and it is awesome. Quiet as a mouse and it just ......... works

 

scaler and 10gen, eatons website says they do not recommend synthetic fluid, seeing as the 10.5 gets 75w-140 synthetic, what fluids did you guys use? I'm really debating getting either the locker or the truetrac, but it gets really cold here in the mountains, Like several days was -15 when i left for work and i don't think the regular dino oil would appreciate that.

 

I'm using the best diff oil I could find : redline synthetic 75/140.

I don't really care what eaton's site says. Eaton is fully aware that Ford specs synthetic diff oil and for them to expect me to use an inferior oil in my diff is just plain stupid.

These units don't use clutches of any kind, so knowing what I know about mechanics using synthetic gear oil with an eaton carrier will have no adverse consequences whatsoever

 

That's what I thought too. I also don't know of many, or any actually, non synthetic 75w140s. I have redline in tcase, and front diff. Planning on transmission and rear diff when I change them out.

 

two axle/drive shaft shops i called both told me not to use synthetic gear oil, i was told they use regular dino gear oil only and i should change it ever two years. Funny because one shop is about ten minutes from me in NJ and the shop i used for the gears in 2008 and now the locker install is about a half hour away in PA so........ But ive been running 85w140 gear oil since 2008 and now with the locker install and ive never had a problem for daily driving, towing, or hauling and it was in the negatives this winter here in NJ also
this is what they shop uses and ive been using since 2008

 

the difference between synthetic and non-synthteic is simply the drain and refill interval.

they synthetic is considered Lube for Life, where as the conventional has a drain interval of 30,000 miles.

in every manual i have read, it also says that the 30,000 drain interval does not need to be followed if the owner refills with synthetic, at which point it can be considered Lube for Life.

SDScaler:
i'm surprised to hear you say that you are reporting less wheel slip on the inside rear tire on loose surfaces. when in a turn, with the detriot, you are essentially driving off the inside tire until you break traction, at which point it can only spin as fast as the outside wheel (until that one breaks free too)

Seems as though it would be easier to slip the inside wheel with the detroit, as compared to the LSD. Just surprised.

 

With a Detroit, both rear tires a effectively locked together whenever there is power being transmitted through the driveline. Once the driveline is relaxed, the locker will unlock, sometimes with a bang, most times without.

Therefore, if you are going through a corner under power, your rear tires are fighting one another and one of them is slipping against the pavement or surface you are on.

With respect to detroits being overkill on a small truck, the physics of a big truck or small truck with a locker are unchanged. With a longer wheel base, the negative effects of a Detroit are diminished, but you still have tire scrubbing, just less of it since the difference in driven arch length between the rear tires is less on a longer wheel base truck. That's why full lockers in street driven jeeps is a bad idea. Sometime it will unlock harshly enough to make you think you were about to change lanes.

I've got 10 years of daily driving a Detroit. If I had to do it again, an e-locker that doubles as a limited slip when not locked up would be the way I'd go.

Adam

 

I was thinking the same thing but haven't read many good things about any clutched lockers I've seen. Do you have something in mind that you would use? Just trying to get as much info as I can before I spend that kind of money and get the wife all mad at me

 

these are pictures of major intersections in my town that i drive everyday, so yea my old LS plus rain and snow on the road caused to to do one wheel peel outs daily....

 

Driving habits, road conditions, weather conditions, all have an effect on driving with a an 'open'; locker; limited slip; 'posi-traction'; or even a spool.

All of my previous trucks have been 1/2 ton or smaller (Ranger).

I've driven for over 40 years with all of the above listed rear-end types.

By far, the worst to use on ANY street.... is a spool. Granted, this spool was in a car, but, they are absolutely NOT practical for any vehicle driven on the street.
But hey....... I was a young, STOOPID kid at the time.

I've broken my fair share of rear-ends, too, mostly those from an 'initial' corporation.

If I had to choose between the two 'major' types of rear-end set ups (Locker vs Limited Slip/Posi-Traction), I'd take a locker ANY day.

The ultimate bottom line is this..... your driving habits (or changing them!) will go a long way towards tire life and your happiness with the Detroit Locker.

 

I agree! with Keith. Also the Detroit seems to not engage hard until a certain amount of torque is on it in a turn. I am still surprised after 10 years of using it how streetable it is.
I don't have any tire life issues with it.