Using a Locker on Ice/Snow
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Using a Locker on Ice/Snow
I just installed a Precision Gear Power-Loc and 4.10's in the front of my 91 bronco this weekend, and when I was breaking it in I noticed (the much expected) hard pull when making slight turns on pavement. As lockers (and 95% lockup L/S differentials) tend to do, the inside wheel of the turn is fighting hard and causes an outward push when turning until the locker slips, makes the loud scarey clanking noise, and then it kinda bobs back to the inside. I was wondering how this outward push will affect driving on ice. I know the inside wheel will be more able to slip on ice so that it doesnt force the differential to slip, but will the outward push on ice be enough to be dangerous?
Anyone driven on Icey/snowy roads with a full front locker before and have any experience info to offer?
Anyone driven on Icey/snowy roads with a full front locker before and have any experience info to offer?
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
Likes: 12
From: Gateway to the West
Yeah, of all of the conditions you can be faced with and have an automatic locker in the rear, snow and ice are the most likely to deal you a fit. Normally, the slipping wheel will cause the locker to engage locking into the equivalent of a solid or "spooled" axle. While that makes perfect sense in many cases, on snow and ice it can mean that one wheel just happens to have a little less grip than the other and if the locker engages both rear wheels can start spinning sending the truck into a skid or spin of its own. It can take some getting used to and if you aren't ready for it, you can find trouble in the least likely places. Not to say that it can't or hasn't been done, just that an automatic locker is not as predictable under icy conditions as an open or even LS (trac-loc) diff.
