I was hoping to do it myself, but I don't have a garage and working in the university parking lot is frowned upon.

 

I ran a DAPCO No-Spin (Detroit Locker) in a 1971 Ranchero. 3.91 cogs, 351C-4V with a C6. The only ill handling I noticed was a popping when making sharp turns in a parking lot. I never had a problem with chirping tires making a right turn, unless that was my intention to do so. As long as the inside tire has traction in a turn, you're golden. With those gears, I did have to take it easy in the rain and made sure I was straight before mashing the loud pedal.

One thing, though. I would never run a DAPCO in the front axle of a street driven vehicle. A Tru-Trac would be a better choice for general snow/mud/sand/gravel operation. If you're somewhere in a full-size pickup that requires a locker in the front axle, then you either have a winch or maybe you shouldn't be there in the first place.

Just my $0.02 USD worth. YMMV. Only one coupon to a customer per day. No cash value.

 

Up to the individual and the intended use. I have a factory limited slip in my F-250. It's worn out enough that it's not much worse than an open diff in the snow, so replacing it isn't a huge priority for me. But I have a 4WD that doesn't go off-road any more than in a field when I'm bird hunting, and I almost never need more traction that 4WD and two open diffs give me. I "plan" to replace it with a Truetrac at some point, but realistically I don't know when (or even if) it will make it to the top of the list. If I had a 2WD, or if this truck got more severe off-road use it would be higher on the list.

And for the OP that's swapping gears already, I think it probably is worth the cost of the new diff since he's paying the labor already. But again, it's subject to your personal budget.

Or just reading the enclosed directions! But you can only install a lunchbox locker in an open carrier. If you already have a factory limited slip you need to first swap an open carrier in (with a gear setup). At that point I'd put a Truetrac or Detroit in (depending on what the truck would be used for).

(Of course you could also get a junkyard axle with an open diff as your starting point if you wanted to go that way)

 

Let them frown. If the lot you park in always has an empty row out back park there all the time and claim it as yours by slowly doing more and more work there. Mark your territory with oil stains and rust scale.

I once had a guy who turned out to be the director of safety operations compliment my friend and I for being able to work with bondo in December. Another time a cop rolled up at 11pm on a weekend while I was changing a pinion seal and my friends were making dick jokes with a driveshaft. It wasn't a problem.


For a few months I had a "fleet" in the university parking lot. I bought a Ford Ranger off a TA to flip, my girlfriend outbid the dealer on her friend's trade in so that was there too, then there was my truck and a jet ski on a trailer that I got for free (flipped them both). My truck was the only one with a parking permit and legit registration. I had junkyard plates I'd put on everything else and swap out junkyard plates to keep them below the number of unpaid tickets that would get attention. The ticket guys were students. When I asked them they said "well we have to ticket but if the plate doesn't come back to a parking pass owned by you then it won't go on your account and if it's not on your account there's no reason for you to pay it."


The fleet wasn't that big for long because I flipped the Ranger and parked the 'Ski at home until summer. There was a loading dock I'd use as a workshop every Saturday since it had lights, electrical plugs and was mostly out of sight and out of the wind. I parted out and cut up plenty of stuff there. One of my coworkers said it was like a time lapse video of an animal decomposing but with vehicles instead.


I more than once thought about disposing of the camper part of a free camper trailer, building a landscape trailer out of what's left, decking it with scrap from the dumpsters and selling it. I figured that much stuff going into a dumpster would probably be the straw that broke the camels back and I didn't have more than a 120v welder at the time so it would've taken way more effort to build in a way that wouldn't break in half so I never got around to it.


I get that my experience is very much an exception but you should have no problem installing a lunchbox locker.

 

Thanks to all for the responses, after reading them all I think it is best I go with the truetrac. Plus I can save a $100 doing so!