never mind him.he lives in a fantasy world on another planet. elockers have made the detriot obsolete to everyone but the hardcore rock crawler crowd and those vehicles never set foot on a paved road .years ago, before elockers were widely available, i had a lokrite whick function exactly as a detroit. now days you couldnt pay me to use one of them useless things. i certainly dont need it on city streets and i wont always need it off road. besides that , the stupid things make a bunch of noise when you try to turn a corner and they wear out your tires faster

 

The Detroit I have in my truck never makes a sound other than the occasional clunk when putting it into gear, the Spartan lockers in my Jeep are quiet also, they make a faint clicking noise when turning but you have to have the radio off and be listing for it to hear it. I haven't noticed any increased tire wear on either vehicle, but I keep my tires rotated. I am not a big fan of selectable lockers due to the cost and reliability issues. For me I prefer a Detroit or other auto locker in the rear and a Truetrac in the front, unless it sees a lot of off-road use like my Jeep then it's auto lockers in both axles. We have gone a bit off topic here, the OP was asking about getting the e locker on a new truck and my answer to that would be yes it's much better than an open diff.

 

Heck, we put them into street rods and Mustangs all the time now. For us, it comes down to: Do you really need 4wd on a paved street or gravel road in the winter? If not, optimize the trucks axles for off road.

 

elocker reliability ? LOL. with these new trucks, your likely to have a problem with everything BUT the locker. in fact I don't recall one report of elocker trouble. but I do recall trouble with nearly every other part of the truck

 

Does anyone know the vendor for the Elocker. Is it truly a Ford part, or an Eaton Elocker or something?

 

I wasn't saying they aren't reliable, but any selectable locker whether it's air, cable, or electric isn't going to be as reliable as an auto locker that works all the time.

 

All of the debate about lockers aside, the E-locker works very well. For your purpose, it should be an excellent addition.

I have an FX4 with the E-locker. It has worked great getting my truck out of my driveway with more than a foot of snow in it. And its a pretty steep climb too.

I grew up on a farm and know exactly your problem with the F150. Ours would get stuck on wet grass. The F250 that replaced it, equipped with some kind of LSD, was better. But being able to lock the diffs in 4wd, on command, around the farm is pretty sweet.

 

The E-locker is well worth it. Get it. You'll regret it if you don't.

 

Like most stuff in life, traction aid devices in rear diffs are always a compromise. Allow me some latitude; I'm not an expert, but can at least make some sense of if for novices.

E-locker: generally reliable, inexpensive and gives a true "lock up" (essentially spool-like). No bias slip whatsoever when engaged. However, a device that is "spool-like" is a detriment in some conditions. Using E-locker in the snow is fine while going straight; turning is not so good, because it makes the rear want to walk around quickly. No tuning to the bias; it's all or nothing. Will last indefinitely if not abused. User must turn it on and off.

Air-locker; see above, only uses air instead of solenoid to actuate lock up system.

Detroit locker: is very similar in terms of use and function as the E-locker. Detroit is a mechanical locker that is just beefy dogs with big springs; very robust, very reliable. Again - some situations like snow and wet pavement will make the rear come around quickly. No real ability to tune the bias; it's all or nothing based on the springs. Pretty much indestructible. These will "give" and not be totally "spool-like" on dry pavement around a corner. There's nothing you do to make these "on"; they work all the time.

LSD clutch: clutch type systems can be tuned for bias based on clutch material and spring pressures. These have some "give" and won't as easily make the rear come loose in a corner, but they also won't give equal 50% to each rear tire except in the "perfect" situation. These wear out far quicker than other types, but are also much cheaper to buy and easy to rebuild.

LSD cone: conical driving surfaces inside housing. Very reliable. Very dependent upon lube properties, which will affect bias.

Worm-gear/pinion type; (Torsen as example is a brand name). Great units; very durable. Have a "open" mode when bias delta is small, but instantly lock up and drive like a "locker" when the bias delta is large. Again, though, in snow or wet pavement, a big dose of power in a turn will make the rear end come around quickly. Nice thing about this system is that it's totally user independent; works 100% based on bias delta. You never have to remember to turn this on or off. If you're on dry pavement, and nail it around a corner, it will bite really well. And yet if you feather the throttle around a corner, it will operate as if an "open" diff. Bias is only "tuned" at the factory by selecting the gear ratios, angles and quantity of pinions.

Governed Locker: hybrid system used in GMs (called the "G80" because that's their option code). These are a blessing and curse. They are (despite their names) not really "lockers". Rather, they are clutch LSD units that employ a clamping system to drive the clutches together more, making bias tighter and tighter until they "seem" locked. Good idea in design; not so good in reality. They don't like abuse much and violent changes in torque bias will cause the flyweight system and actuating pawl to grenade. In moderate power trucks like a 1/2 ton with 5.3L engine, they can last a long time. In a 1 -ton behind a tuned up Dmax engine, they are an explosion of iron waiting to happen. Their nick name is "Gov Bomb".

There are times when a mechanical locker is best. There are times when a select-able locker is good. In daily driving and wet streets, I prefer the worm/pinion type (Torsen, TruTrac, etc). In hard core off roading and heavy farm/mining, I like the lockers (mechanical). Select-able lockers are a nice compromise, as long as you realize their benefits and limitations.

Nothing is perfect for all situations at all times.

 

i know the ford fan bois talk chit on aam but their axle has a torsen lsd and elocker all in one. its a mystery why dana cant manage to do the same

gear dogs in a detroit will ratchet around corners if no torque is applied. but if you have to stop then make the turn, your chit out of luck

 

A worm gear LSD like a Truetrac or Torsen never locks up, it works by transfering torque to the wheel with greater traction but both wheels have to have some traction for it to work, if one wheel is off the ground it will spin just like an open diff.

 

all new vehicles have traction control so this should prevent the wheel off the ground from free spinning. or just apply some brake pressure and the torsen should kick in

​​​​​​​ill double check but i think there was vids on youtube of guys jacking one wheel off the ground and i think the torsen still kicked in but i could be wrong

 

Also an auto locker will still ratchet when torque is being applied when you are going around a corner, unless the inside tire starts spinning then it will lock back up when the inside tire catches up with the outside

 

I think we made this unnecessary complex when we started comparing various systems that are not available from Ford. Most people who are buying these trucks will compare the various options Ford provides from the factory

Serious off roading with aftermarket parts is a whole different thing and should probably be a separate discussion

 

Not exactly. If you opt for the open diff, I'd assume it's because you specifically want a Detroit or Truetrac rear.

The Detroit will unlock under power just fine. Just don't spin the inside tire, if you do, it'll clap shut and send you sliding. It can be adjusted slightly. Toss out the "softlocker" parts. It'll lock and unlock easier that way. But be noisier. Got a NASCAR or BUSCH series garage nearby? See if the diff/brake/shock guy isn't busy. He can custom cut the ramps on a locker.

The Truetracs worm gears are quite simple. They don't work well as gears at all. And worm gears absolutely suck when torqued too much. So when torque is applied, it kind of firms up and locks. The more torque you apply, the less those worm gears want to diff.

A locking truetrac would be nice, but IMO, unnecessary. Why? Because these trucks have very heavy understeer in dry weather. Adding a stiff rear diff makes it worse. An open diff, or Detroit locker frees the truck up to turn. IMO, there's better solutions.