well it's a trade, due to the Powertrax- not a good idea around corners or when your towing. it also uses some of your stock parts- which will be a weak spot. it's great for offroadin, but if your going to drive it on the street alot then.....

 

my dads telling me to just save up and buy the e locker, but 700 dollars is alot of money especially when im trying to save up for a manual tranny swap....... and college is coming up....... well atleast desert season is almost over, give me time to buy things b4 i break them. tho it would be nice to be able to just lock it when i want too. oh well, i guess im gonna have to wait a while for that one.

 

I would keep a look out on ebay for something, as if you have patient you will find what you want for the price you can afford.

 

I've got a powertrax locker in the front of my TTB. It works exceptionally well and I don't have any steering problems with it unless you are under power and spinning, then it is pretty hard to steer. I've run in the sand with it a little and I'm not sure that it's as good as a decent l/s in the sand. In any other environment except ice I'll take a locker any day over a l/s. A stock l/s will work faily well or you can get aftermarket ones, both are on e-bay quite a bit. With an auto trans you can run a locker in the rear without as much problems as a manual tranny will cause. It will still clank and bang when you are turning and stuff. It's a real pain when you are trying to drive in soft sand or just drive around town. In the sand a rear locker tends to make the inside tire spin when you are turning, that causes the front to push a little and pretty soon it will do the same thing a 2wd quad does in soft sand. It buries itself, then you have to have 4wd just to get around the same places that a decent l/s will go without any sweat. Don't waste your money on a swap to manual trans if sand is your thing. Auto's are much smoother and you can keep your speed up in the sand. With a stick you lose momentum when you shift, and a big truck 4 or 5 spd isn't known for speedshifting. The throws are too far and the shifters are too sloppy. If you are concerned with the power that the c-6 sucks up, there are Torrington roller bearing kits that replace the thrust washers in the c-6. Some claim that they will cut the power loss in half. I can't vouch for that, but it makes some sense.

Before you go out and spend a bunch of $$$ on parts, ask around the dunes and get on some of the sand running sites. There are a lot of guys that will tell you that in the sand, the last thing you want is a locker that will cause a wheel to drag or spin unnecesarily. A locker does just that in the sand. Either the inside tire spins or the outside one drags if the locker doesn't unlock ( and they don't always unlock if there is a bind on the gears ). Mud is a whole different story than sand, especially deep loose sand that is dry. It's like driving on marbles and the smoother you are, the faster and farther you can go. Whatever you do, don't weld the spider gears up if you plan on running 4wd on pavement, especially wet or icy pavement. Just think like it's a big heavy quad. Whenever you try to push it and turn on hard ground it takes twice the effort to move it and it wants to go straight. Same happens in a truck with a spool or welded gears.

Good luck and remember, not all chicks dig a truck that bucks and bangs around every corner and is a total pain in the rear to drive to McDonalds.

 

damn e lockers are sounding better and better, the beiggest reason i want a 5spd tho is first of all i just like to drive a manual, and second i want that overdrive gear for better mpg, the granny first gar of a zf tranny wont hurt either because i want this rig to be able to go anywhere i want it to, tho it will mostly be used in hard pack-all the way up to soft sand. i definatly need something tho because last time i went into the sand , i didnt get stuck, but thats about it, i had to take runs at hills and keep my speed way up, dug in a few times and had to back up and take another run at some stuff, now that was with tires at normal street psi so in other words 35 or above..... but atleast with e lockers i would have max traction when needed and smooth operation when not.

 

I just put a lock right in the rear of my bronco and realy like it. it acctualy unlocks and locks back in fairly smoothly when cornering. they're fairly cheap and easy to install and have good street manners for a locker. I run a s.r.o.d. 4spd and running a manual tranny with a locker tends to be a little jerkier than an auto but I also like driving a stick shift. Bottom line is if you can afford a selectable locker that's the way to go but if notthen my recomendation is a lock right or an equivalent.

 

How much tire wear can I realisically see with a minispool? I understand it all, but being nice on it, and not really goin to far to school and work, how would the wear compare to an open (which is often spun around corners anyways)

 

ive heard of it doubling your tire wear, my dad says might be more, not just that but it puts more stress on the whole drivetrain.

 

oh and opens actually give you the best wear possible because they allow full differentiation between tires when you tunr a corner.

 

I thought weldignthe front messes your steering up and makes it hop excessivley?

 

if your only gonna run 33's or 35's my vote goes to a couple of lock rites for the front and rear easy to install and easy on the wallet

 

when i welded my rear i was driving my truck back and forth to skool. well it didn't take very long at all to bald a set of brand new tires... i'd say driving everday they were bald in 3 months! i have 1 ton drivetrain so the stress meant nothing considering i can run around 44" tires and they still not sweat about it. with 1/2 ton axles i would be concerned.

crack.... use some common sense here, why in the HELL would it mess up your steering? unless you are talking about when you lock both hubs in and try to turn then yes it is difficult and that is why i strongly suggest doing a hydro assist steering setup! what makes axles hop excessivley is soft springs and high traction tires.... not realyl a locker!

-cutts-

 

Is it the Eaton e-locker that acts as a LS when disengaged and a locker when engaged or am I thinking of something else?

 

Loc rights are autos, right? Like a detroit? How do those compare in tire wear to a spool? I understand the concept of coasting around corners, but any first hand experiance? thanks

 

I found a posi for a D44 so now I might weld up the back