So my brother in law calls me because he is stuck in the mud. I back up to hook up to him. One rear tire slips into the muddy rut. Other tire is on dry hardpack. The tire in the mud spins non-stop. The tire on the hardpack wont move.... I feather the brakes as I have read it will engage the truetrac. Nothing.... Is this thing junk? I was super ticked off. How do I test the truetrac to see if it still works?

 

Wow, I've never heard of that before. I recently took my Ex on some 8-10* jeep roads in the Rockies in 2wd. My TrueTrac impressed the snot out of me with only one brief Wheel spin.

I'd hook to a dead load on loose soil and give it a try. Or pulled your rear diff cover and confirm it's actually in there.

 

Call Detroit. I doubt anybody can help you here.

 

What exactly do you have? Is that a factory LS or an aftermarket item?

 

It's an aftermarket locker. Kind of. Made by Detroit.

 

What (just curious wheel speed did you see while spinning?

I've seen tru's not engage until 15mph clock speed and then hold on!!!

Is your lube and modifier up to snuff?

Again, just curious.

Denny

 

A true trac is not a locker at all. It's a helical gear limited slip.

How much wheel speed did you have?

 

I'm assuming you mean you did 8-10 Jeep trails not that you did trails with a rating of 8-10? Trails with a rating of 8-10 are "Buggy" terrain.

 

Lube and modifier do not affect a truetrac like a clutch pack limited slip so you should be fine with that. I'm really interested to see the outcome of this as I was on the fence between the Detroit Trutrac and the Detroit Locker. This is part of the reason I went with the locker that I'm a situation where 1 wheel has no traction it may not work. Riding the brake is supposed to fix it though. Good luck and I hope you get a solution

 

Sorry, 8-10* incline. They were cut for 50" jeeps, I made a wrong turn and found myself, and my 80" wide, 20' long Excursion on the side of a mountain. My knuckles were white.

I don't know the trail ratings, it was more like crawling as I was only traveling 30'-40' / minute.

 

LOL, I bet!

 

Since it is helical gear driven, there is no friction modifier to add. Additonally, Eaton/Detroit recommends against using Redline oils (not sure what you use). The torque transfer is from friction of the side gear against the case. They do actually become less effective with heavy use and are not rebuildable. On a side note, the more sets of pinions the higher the friction which under the right conditions can help transfer more torque faster.

With all of that said, I have over 100,000 mi of heavy use on a Truetrac in an F550 and love it. If it has a wheel in the air, service or parking brake can help transfer torque.

 

I guarantee I got wheel speeds up to over 15mph. Although, I did not watch the speedo as I was watching that damn tire sit still on hardpack. I tried the brake technique to no avail. I found an old tire in the weeds and put it under the tire that was spinning and was able to get out.

 

Mine will start transferring at 5mph or so. Best bet would be to call tech line and check out plug for shavings. It is not working correctly.

 

Update. So, I call my shop and they told me to put the rear end on jack stands and rotate the tire. If the opposite tire spins the other direction it is cooked. Also, that if I have someone turn one tire while I hold the other I should feel it grabbing it.

I jacked it up and the tire spun the opposite direction from the one I was turning. And I could not feel it grabbing the other tire.

So I bring it in to the shop convinced my truetrac is toast and I'm going to have to spend a ton more money.

They call me back and tell me nothing is wrong with it. He tore it apart and put it back together and had the dual burnout marks to prove it worked......

What the hell?

I let one tire off the asphalt onto the dirt and punched it. The tire on the asphalt did turn this time. I'm so confused why it didnt work when I was trying to pull my brother in law out.

But at least I dont have to spend a ton of money!