Automatic locker in rear end.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: West Jordan Utah
Automatic locker in rear end.
I have a 1977 Ford F-250 high boy. It is not a daily driver, but it is very reliable. I use the truck for hunting, hauling heavy fire wood loads, pulling the camp trailer up on the mountain. Probably 50/50 paved road, mountain dirt road driving. I am looking at a detroit, grizzly or spartan locker in the rear end. What are your thoughts with how I use my truck? My main concern is automatic pulling with a locker.
Tuned
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 401
Likes: 20
This maybe a little "off topic", but I thought I'd try. I am usually on the van side of things.I have an 02 Quigley E350. It has a dana 60 LS in the rear. Thoughts about a LS in the front dana 60? I have heard good and bad about it. Steering on ice and snow??? Any opinions?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,252
Likes: 113
From: Mandan, ND
A buddy just put a true Trac in his Jeep XJ rear (Chrysler 8.25). Why didn’t you just do that for the rear? Why the true trac in front and spartan locker in rear? Did you just desire a true locker for rear?
I have never used a locker, but know my buddies 2017 SD was a handful on slippery surface with rear axle locked. Appreciate your insight!
I have never used a locker, but know my buddies 2017 SD was a handful on slippery surface with rear axle locked. Appreciate your insight!
Thread Starter
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: West Jordan Utah
A buddy just put a true Trac in his Jeep XJ rear (Chrysler 8.25). Why didn’t you just do that for the rear? Why the true trac in front and spartan locker in rear? Did you just desire a true locker for rear?
I have never used a locker, but know my buddies 2017 SD was a handful on slippery surface with rear axle locked. Appreciate your insight!
I have never used a locker, but know my buddies 2017 SD was a handful on slippery surface with rear axle locked. Appreciate your insight!
The three vehicles I have had an auto rear locker in it has not been a problem. Two of the vehicles were 3/4 ton pickups, and one was a Toyota Tacoma, all had manual transmissions. The auto rear locker was a lot more noticeable in the lighter tacoma. The detroit locker I had in the 72 Chevy was not noticeable at all on the street unless you hit the gas going around a corner, and was always there when you needed it off road. The spartan I have in my ford highboy behaves really well on road. I here the click when I go around corners and feel it trying to engage when I am coasting around corners with the clutch pressed in. It has been great off-road just like the detroit so far. Snowy and wet roads has not been a problem for me. I have not hit any black ice that I know of at freeway speeds yet. If it is a really snowy/icy road I am usually in 4 wheel drive. I don’t think a rear auto locker is a detriment to a vehicle that sees a lot of pavement.
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Fleet Mechanic
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From: Mandan, ND
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From: SoCal
The Tru-trac is actually an open differential with helical gears that apply torque multiplication from the side with less traction to the side with traction. If one side has no traction at all, it will spin like any other open differential.
The typical clutch type LSD have preload springs that lightly apply pressure on the clutches all the time so that if one wheel completely loses traction, the other side still gets a little bit. That's usually enough to allow the side load of the pinion gears to press on the clutches harder to try to lock up both side.
If you're doing mostly off-road driving, the rear locker is the way to go, and you will prefer a clutch type diff on the front.
The typical clutch type LSD have preload springs that lightly apply pressure on the clutches all the time so that if one wheel completely loses traction, the other side still gets a little bit. That's usually enough to allow the side load of the pinion gears to press on the clutches harder to try to lock up both side.
If you're doing mostly off-road driving, the rear locker is the way to go, and you will prefer a clutch type diff on the front.
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