When the tires twist it into a pretzel on dry pavement with the locker it wil break. It makes horrible crunching and snapping noises...

 

You would not believe the places I can go with my 2.5L Jeep Cherokee wearing only 31x10.50s.

Lock it! Then rebuild that rear LSD. You are gonna love your truck.

 

i say rebuild your rear and lincon lock your front. make sure you have manual hubs and some spare axels.

 

In my 79 f-250, I run a powertrax/no-slip locker up front on the dana 44. In the rear limted slip on the dana 60. [ note manual locking hubs ] Both w/4.10 gears runnig 33" tires. I only drive it in 4x4 mode off road.i wanted as much traction as i could get. It works great. However if you need to use 4 wheel drive on the road, do not use a locker up front. Add as limted slip up front, like the trak lok. The reason i run limited in the rear is because my truck gets driven a lot on the road, wanted to keep it safe, lockers do not snow or ice. I will add a selectable locker in the rear when i have the money.

 

Trackteck, the company that builds the Detroit brand of lockers suggest not using a Detroit up front but using True Track instead. I put True Tracks in the front and the rear of my 68 Bronco and what a difference. They are classified with the limited slips but don't function at all like a clutch type LS. If you let off the throttle while going around a corner you can't tell they are there, even on snow! When on the throttle It always spins both tires even if one is on dry pavement and one is on grass.
When crossed up with one front and one opposite rear tire in the air applying the brakes slightly while giving it some gas will give power to the tire with traction.

Clutch type LS units are worse for sliding the *** end sideways on slick roads then True Tracks and selectable lockers are ether completely open or locked, no in between, bad for steering.
The ideal choice would be a Detroit locker in the rear and a True Track in front.
I didn't want the Detroit because the 68 is very short and Detroit's make them drive funny. That supposedly is not a problem in long bed pickups.

On uneven ground the Bronco will honestly go in 2wd with the True Track where it use to take 4wd. And 4wd is more fun than you can have with 2 hookers!!
SAY THIS WITH ME:
Lockers are not scary!
Lockers are not scary!
Lockers are not scary!

 

Hey, 72 Camper Special, I wish I could visit and look over your 'mog and the Pinzgauer! Now if we could just figure out how to put a set of Unimog portal axles under a Ford F250.....

FYI, I just walked out to the street and got the original window sticker (both pages) from our 1996 K2500 Suburban. It says "LOCKING DIFFERENTIAL-REAR AXLE. $252.00." Now this is a GM corporate axle, not a good old Dana Spicer locker. But I assume it operates in a similar manner. (Hey, I just noticed those twits charged me $25 for a "high capacity air cleaner." What is that all about?) The cold climate package was a deal at $33. You'll spend more than that, putting in your own engine heater and some extra underhood insulation.

Yep, sounds like a Tru-trac or a Torsen is the way to go in the front, if a guy isn't going to just buy ARB lockers.

Of course, we can really get crazy and get Mattracks....


http://www.mattracks.com/

 

Dexter, sounds like GM got you on the locking axel and the high capacity air cleaner
Could it have a Gov-Loc in 96?
TO TEST GOV-LOC:
1)Put #1000 pounds in bed of pickup
2)park up hill with one rear tire on dry pavement and one rear tire on grass or gravel
3)put in drive and stomp gas pedal

If rear end grenades you useto have a factory locker

 

Ihave run lockers front and rear for the best a detroit in rear and and true trac up front except that the true trac does not allways work if you want a front end that always works get a locker especially if you only want off road performance

 

LOL! Hey, 68 351 bronc, do you have a NON-destructive means of testing???

My Suburban weighs 6,500, empty and low on fuel. Fill the 42 gallon tank, put in some people (up to nine) and gear, and you've got a hefty rig -- maybe even up to the 8,600 GVWR. The locker has operated a few times, for sure. It's a GM corporate "14 bolt." I haven't tried any deliberate tests as radical as yours. I recall once power braking it a bit, with one tire on loose gravel and the other on wet asphalt. When I felt spinning, I thought the locker wasn't working. I had underestimated the front brakes and the torque of the big block; I looked back and saw both tires were spinning. I did recently notice a bit of a noise, and detected high temperature that appeared to radiate from the pinion area -- so Mr. Goodwrench rebuilt it at around 192,000 miles. I think this axle is GM's attempt to make a Dana 60. Mine is a 4.10 ratio.

Unfortunately, my '77 F250 also has a 4.10 ratio (if the VIN decoder is to be believed. But its old C6 does not have an overdrive gear or lock-up converter. This does not make for great gas mileage. Also, the F250 acts like an open diff, but the VIN indicates limited slip. Maybe it's just old and tired. At least it should not be hard to find any internal pieces needed for a Dana 60.

This discussion thread has some good ideas and experiences. I think if I had the money to do it right, I'd go with ARB lockers on both ends. I like the idea of having open differentials until such time as I choose to lock them.

 

Well, the Pinz axles won't go under a Ford but the Mog one will with some driveshaft adapter type things. Lots of fabrication involved but then you would have selectable lockers front and rear. I have seen guys use a cable to operate them in other vehicles after the Mog's rod system is gone...The Pinz axles are pretty much Pinz axles I suspect. I see no way to do anything custom with it.

 

I would install an air locker in the front.

Had a locked front in one truck and ran it in 3 wheel drive through the FLA swamps so we could steer when it got tough locked the other hub just to get out.

 

Everything I've ever heard about locking diffs in the front is it's a bad idea. On dry pavement things break. In loose conditions the vehicle becomes uncontrollable or difficult to steer. In loose stuff the locker tends to make the truck want to plow ahead because the inside and outside tires are locked at the same speed. A selectable locker in the front is really the safest way to go.

 

If you realy want to lock things up put one in the transfer case too.

 

I will bet what ever money you have that the transfer case on his 76 4wd truck is locked while in the 4wd mode. Do not confuse 4wd with AWD. They are different and the difference is the reason why you never drive a 4wd on dry pavement while engaged and why doing the same with an AWD is no problem.

 

My '78 Bronco (fullsize of course, with D44 in the front) came out of Michigan Truck with the Ford limited slip in the rear and the dana limited slip in the front.
Having driven it as a front-wheel-drive for a short period after the rear driveshaft fell out, i can tell you that steering can be a handful if there's a traction differential between left and right sides! Truck wants to immediately steer towards the side where there's no traction!

A Ford l/s can be made to work very well by shimming up the clutch-pack springs, and the Dana l/s works quite well in the front.