I'd like to get "selectable" lockers for my 90 F-250; the kind that are spinning both wheels when you want it to, but only one when you don't need the extra push (or smoke and black marks on the pavement ).

What do you recommend for me??

 

ARB or Electrac. Do you know what axle you have? 2wd or 4wd?

 

Selectables available for the 10.25" Ford rear axle: ARB Air Locker (www.arb.com), Trac Tech Electrac (www.tractech.com).

Selectables for Dana 50 and Dana 44 front axles: same as above.

The ARB is a spool when locked and an open diff when unlocked and operates on air pressure. The Electrac is a locking diff when locked and a limited slip when unlocked and is operated electrically and is not as expensive as the ARB locker and compressor system together. Check out www.reiderracing.com for description, applications and prices on the ARB and Electrac.

 

10.25, TTB (I think a Dana 50) in Front. 90 F-250, btw.

So Cal, I know in my other post you were telling me about your rear locker. Is that a full-time?? What are the advantages of that over these two??

 

I'm pretty sure he has a Powertrax Lockrite in his truck. It unlocks when it needs to. Full time lockers are just called spools.

I think MustangGT221 has an electrac in his truck - he seems pretty happy with it, you might ask him for specifics.

 

Yes, the Lock Right in my truck is a 'full-time' automatic locking differential. Spools dont differentiate, but they do 'lock' the wheels together, permanently. Mine does differentiate ('unlock' when needed, as Andy described). The terms can be confusing, but the principle is easy to understand.

The advantage of the selectable ones described above is that you can 'turn them off' when you don't want a locked differential. Typical uses of this would be keeping it turned off for most highway driving and then turning it on once you get onto soft terrain that where you want more traction. Kind of like engaging and disengaging 4wd for the kind of ground you're on.

The advantage of the full-time auto locker is the purchase price (usually significantly less), plus easier/cheaper installation since there is no wiring to do and no compressor system to install, and usually greater availablity of auto lockers in most axles since the selectable lockers often times have limited availability but Detroits and LockRights are made for just about every common truck axle out there.

From a technical standpoint, one could also argue that there are fewer parts to wear out or break on an auto locker than on a selectable. Unless you're wheeling pretty hard, you're probably not going to break either kind.

If I could have afforded it and had known it was available for my rear axle at that time (if it was, I'm not sure), I would have liked to have gone with the Electrac, but now that I have the Lock Right, I'm happy with it and don't regret the decision to put it in.

I left the front axle with the stock open diff and to be honest, with the locker in the rear, I haven't had a situation where I was wishing I had a front locker too. It's a big truck and rock crawling is not on my driving menu with it. In sand and mud, the locked rear/open front combo seems to be working to my satisfaction so far. If I'd had the extra cash to do something in the front besides just change the gear ratio to match the back, I would have, but it may have been money wasted based on how it does with what is has in it now.

I may go with an Electrac in the front axle of the Bronco eventually since I don't feel I need or necessarily want a full time locker in the front for most of the off road driving I do with it, but I do want to be able to lock it up for rock crawling. That's way off in the future though since I need to swap to a Dana 44 in the front first and who knows, there will probably be more choices in the selectable type by then and the price will probably go down some too. In the back, I think I'll just go with an auto locker like the Detroit or LockRight. Right now it has clutch-type limited slips in both axles and they work alright for most uses except rock crawling.

 

Obviously it hasn't hurt anything on your truck to go with the auto-lock. The cheaper/easier to install part is what tells me this would probably be the better choice for me. I think I'll start shopping around and saving up the money for both this and that gear change; Hopefully next spring I'll have the money saved up so I can start working on it after snow season.........

 

Have fun with the project! Hope the changes to your truck work out as well for you as they have for me .