Has anyone added true locking differentials, either air, automatic, electronic or manual, to their truck?? This may have been asked before, but I can't search the forum.

Tell me about which you have, if you installed them yourself and what you think of them. THANK!!

 

I put in a Detroit True Trac rather than a full locker because I still wanted to turn corners :-). And I'm smart enough to let someone else cuss at the thing going in, so my impressions were first that it was awful durn heavy. I know, not as technical as you were looking for. So far, I like it. We'll see if that changes when the roads are sheet ice.

 

I had a detroit locker in my 78 bronco. Did install myself (sorta) came as complete 3rd member so just bolted right in. Loved it off road climing steep hillsides where wheel would leave contact with ground and kept moving. Scary as **** on icy roads though. Nearly uncontrolable fishtailing on ice, even with chains. No problems with snow, mud, sand, whatever. Just no ice. I hope to get the truetrac as well for the rear end of my superduty as well. Makes more sense to me to have truetrac in light of how long and heavy a SD is. If I'm not mistaken, truetrac was factory option on F450-550.

 

I had an ARB on the rear of my old SD.

REAL good unit, never had an issue with it - but they are a bit $$$.
I installed it myself.

 

I had my factory limited slip replaced w/ a Tru Trac. I keep it for 1 week and put in a real locker- Detroit. I LOVE it! I plow and such and I have full traction all the time. It does bind a little on turns, but does not bother me in the least. It's not as bad as people think in the longer wheelbase trucks. In a stubby little Jeep, the *** end likes to jump out in front on turns, but not on a CC SB. Actually, it's one of my favorite mods! Nothing like hammering down out of a turn and launching, rather than doing a one wheel peal and going nowhere! I had it installed. The true trac really did not give me any of the traction I was looking for.

 

Yeah, i would like to get a Detroit Locker one day, maybe with my 4.88 gears. I have an even longer wheelbase than you, plus my turning radius is limited by custom stops, so i wont be making turns anywhere as sharp as you. Not that my 37's would break loose out of a turn, but it would be fun in the snow, about the only time i go offroad...

 

Damn! You limited the allready hideous turning radius on your truck w/ custom stops? Those 37'' tires on, are they 10" or 12" wide rims, must be giving you serious rubbing issues. Means it's time for 35's or bigger lift! I sure would love to be able to run a coil-over like the new SD's. Those suckers turn sharp!

 

What didn't you like about the true trac? I've got one in my track car, and I don't have any problem with one wheel peel. I've already made some nice stripes with it, lol

I'm annoyed with how loose my "traction lock" differential in my truck is and would like to get something better, but not a true locker.

 

Oh yes, VERY custom stops. I drilled and tapped the stock steering stop 'nubs' (what else to call them?) and ran a bolt in it all the way down. But now it seems as if my tires rub the springs again for some odd reason. In my thread in the SD section i complain about the leaning truck syndrome, and i want to go 2" higher with 4" deaver springs and 8" springs in the back. Oh and something you'd like Yellow- Fabtech trac bars next week

 

Paul-I replaced my factory limited with a Tru Trac because I thought mine was shot. Went to my favorite off road store and told the guy I wanted to be able to have one wheel of the pavement, say in mud, snow gravel and still have power sent to the higher wheel on the pavement. I had problems with getting a tire off a driveway while plowing and that wheel would spin and get me nowhere, except in a big hole in a cust. yard. He reccommended a tru trac to solve problem. So I put it to work at the shop. One wheel in a gravel hole, the other on pavement. Only the wheel in the gravel would turn. So I "let it break in" and he "added the proper amount of friction modifier" and I had same results. Thus I went w/ the detroit. I think are trucks, or at least mine, are so heavy, especially in the front, and with my 35's the tru trac was not "strong" enough to transfer the power to such a dead weight. I did not floor it either. Wheel on high ground would not turn even at grandpa speeds. Turns out, my factory limited was "fine" in that it did exactly what the tru trac did, which for me was "nothing"

Kris-Glad to her ya finally got a set! You will love them! Just be carefull when installing. Drill the hole in the frame so the shackle is completly verticle, and be sure to mount the bars with the sold bar on top.(I am almost positive, but I can look and double check) For 2 months I had mine mounted upside down, as my bars were not labeled, and I kept ketting a jar on take off. Mounted them correctly and all is wonderful! Yull really enjoy them!

 

I had ARB air lockers installed on both ends of my V10 Excursion. It is pretty amazing what the Ex will do with both ends locked. I climbed a hill in desert that a friend on a Honda CRF450X dirt bike found to be a challenge. It had a lot of erosion and some vertical faces. I have 35x12.5-17 Procomp all terrain tires and I didn't have any wheel spin the whole way up.

I had a local 4WD shop install them. I was at a show and the ARB rep recommended the shop. The nice thing is that you have an open diff on the street and a locked axle when you need it. I pull a toybox to the desert and other areas where traction can be limited. I also go way out sled riding in the winter and wanted both ends to lock for the worse case. I am usually out of cell coverage area!

The cost was around $800 for each ARB, $200 for a compressor and a couple hundred for the install. The install was so cheap because I was having 4.88 gears installed at the same time.

 

Didn't your installer teach you how do use a truetrac? I understand for what you do, he should have recommended a Detroit locker or ARB. But to use a Truetrac, applying the brakes lightly will transfer power to the high traction wheel from the low traction wheel. Friction modifier won't help either from what I gather. Did you buy from an axle "specialist"? I'm just curious.

 

Yes, I bought it from a very "specialized" off road shop. Well known for custom fabrication rigs, gear and axle swaps, the whole bit. Majority of work is done on jeeps. They are not some pretty "we don't get are hands dirty here, and only sell items that look neat" shop. We tried everything. No friction mod, added some, let it break in, tapped the brakes, knocked on the dash, etc. It was not able to do what I was looking for, and he acknowledged the fact. He originally reccommended the tru trac because he knew I was not looking for a hard core off road rig, so with his jeep cust. he usually reccommends the tru trac to avoid the typical "complaints" that come w/ a detroit being ran mostly on the road. Ultimately, my truck does not handle like a jeep does, thus the swap. I am just giving my honest account of my experience to help others. Try to save them a headache. If you have a tru trac in your super duty and it works great, then post your results. I have nothing against them. Just stating the facts.

 

So your current locker is just like a spool that mates the two axles directly together? Do you mind telling the price for the rear spool?

 

Well, its simply a detroit locker. It's been well over a year, but I want to say I paid $750 for it. I don't know what you mean by a spool, but there are times when you will feel/hear it engage and disengage. Makes for an exciting ride, but is all normal operation. So it is not "always" locked. Toughest locker I know of.