i know the brakes are questionable and don't really work. how hard is it to change to disk brakes? thanks for the help.

 

I think there are some guides around. The conversion isn't hard if you can follow directions and know the names of your parts. Ill see what I can dig up when I get home.

 

Visit a local bone yard and upgrade to limited slip axle with disk brakes. If you like to haggle prices, you might be in luck.

 

I was talking to a specialty shop about oem limited slips. They told me the factory clutch packs don't last all that long. Especially under harder work. I ended up going with an eaton limited slip and couldn't have been happier.

 

Most definitely over OEM.

 

A 96 F250 should have pretty good brakes as is.......As a 2wd, im assuming you havent lifted it a bunch, and stuck way bigger tires on it, am i correct? Assuming im correct, if your brakes are questionable or "Dont really work", simply fix them as required.....You dont likely need rear disk breaks. Look at some off road vendors, and see whats available for your 10.25" Sterling rear axle in the way of a traction enhancing rear diff, and find out what a local shop will charge for an install.....

 

Hi!

I just ordered the Eaton truetrac for my F250. I could not stand ridiculous situations anymore, where I'd have to engage 4x4 for almost nothing. Places where I could ride my bicycle....

I am reading everywhere that the truetrac has a hard time in twist ditch. Also when a Wheel is on ice and the other one on pavement.

This video is one of the sources that make me Wonder.... :


Is it very very bad really, what is your experience. I know the "taping brakes" trick etc etc but I just don't have any experience with the truetrac, and I hope it will greatly improve my current performance on roads, in the ranchs etc.... (?)

I don't want to go Detroit locker or Arb air locker for costs reasons, and the Detroit locker is not so well adapted to regular dry roads conditions.

Many thks for your input

 

An open differential always puts the same torque to both wheels. So if one tire loses traction and requires almost zero torque to spin, the differential will give the same (almost zero) torque to the tire that has traction.

A locker doesn't let either tire turn slower than the ring gear. So if one tire loses traction the differential will keep turning the tire that has traction.

A limited slip will let the tire that lost traction spin faster, but it will still put some torque to the tire that has traction. With "typical" limited slip diffs this torque comes from a clutch pack and the tire with traction will get as much torque as the clutch pack can deliver. The down-sides are that clutch packs wear out and deliver less torque as they do, and also that you need to slip them when you go around corners so you can't just keep tightening them up without getting into driveability problems.

The TrueTrac is a limited slip differential, but it doesn't use clutch packs. Instead it uses carefully designed gear contact angles to give torque to the tire that has traction. As I understand it (and I could easily be wrong about this), the TrueTrac gives something like 3.5 times as much torque to the tire that has traction as it does to the one with no traction. So if the tire with no traction takes 0 torque to spin, it gives 3.5 times 0 = 0 to the tire with traction. This is why it struggles in a twist ditch.

You can cheat a TrueTrac by riding the brake. If you give it enough brake to require 50 ft-lbs (for example) to spin the tire that doesn't have traction, then you get 3.5 * 50 = 175 ft-lbs at the other tire. Of course you lose 50 of that to the brake on that wheel. And you lose another 100 or so to the brakes on the front axle if you use the main brakes (so use the emergency brake and don't make the TrueTrac fight your front brakes too). But you still come out ahead.

Personally I've never used a TrueTrac. I've always wanted a locker in my toys. I had lockers in one truck and open diffs (or completely worn out limited slips) in the others. But I'm thinking a TrueTrac would be my first choice for the rear axle of a mostly road driven truck. i hope to get one some time

 

Nothing Special!! (?) This answer was special! Thks for your time / such a detailed still concise answer.

I learned a lot here: ... Quote "As I understand it (and I could easily be wrong about this), the TrueTrac gives something like 3.5 times as much torque to the tire that has traction as it does to the one with no traction. So if the tire with no traction takes 0 torque to spin, it gives 3.5 times 0 = 0 to the tire with traction. This is why it struggles in a twist ditch.

You can cheat a TrueTrac by riding the brake. If you give it enough brake to require 50 ft-lbs (for example) to spin the tire that doesn't have traction, then you get 3.5 * 50 = 175 ft-lbs at the other tire. Of course you lose 50 of that to the brake on that wheel. And you lose another 100 or so to the brakes on the front axle if you use the main brakes (so use the emergency brake and don't make the TrueTrac fight your front brakes too)."... Unquote

Many thks

 

I'm not a huge fan of the true trac. In this vid, the second vehicle has one in the front axle.

There is some cussing in the video.
1992 Ford F-350 wheelin video | SuperMotors.net

 

Glad I could help!

And hav24wheel, yes, the way a TrueTrac works would make it a low choice for me in an off-roading rig. It doesn't do as much as other traction aiding diffs when one tire has absolutely no traction. For me it'll only be full lockers in my Bronco.

But on road in mud or snow you rarely have NO traction at one wheel, so the TrueTrac works great there. Less harsh than a locker (especially important when towing a trailer with an empty truck) and more solid and reliable than a clutch-type limited slip. Although again, I'm going off limited research and not personal experience there.

 

I know that was a extreme situation, but I guess I'm trying to show, that a LS is that no matter the type. It will be limited on the traction it can give. For the price of a true trac, add a extra $100 maybe and you could have a locker. That would be my choice for a two wheel drive vehicle.

 

I've had Detroits in the back of my Jeep and now my Bronco. And I had a Lock Right in the rear of my F-150. All of those vehicles were street-driven and the lockers were OK for street use.

But they were just OK. Starting up around corners they'd tend to spin the inside tire. And when they break a tire loose they tend to hammer the other tire loose pretty easily too, so you need to be careful to avoid swapping ends, especially when driving on snowy roads.

They can be especially annoying when towing with an empty truck. The inside rear tire doesn't have any more weight on it than when empty, so it doesn't get any better traction, but it does need to pull more. So it's really hard to start around a corner like that.

Obviously that would be a little better with an SUV than a pickup with the difference in weight distribution.

Now I'm not saying that lockers are terrible on the street. I drive my Bronco on the street a lot and I'll never give up it's Detroit. And I could see having a locker in the back of a pickup again too. But I'd be a little more leary of letting my young sons or my wife drive a truck with a locker on slippery roads.

So in addition to being cheaper (maybe), a limited slip is a little more street-friendly. It's definitely less effective though, so everyone needs to decide how to make the tradeoffs for themself. I can see and respect your decision to go with a full locker, but I also see that a limited slip can be a better choice in some circumstances.

 

Cool video by the way! I finally got to look at it. And you're absolutely right, that Bronco definitely shows the limitation of a TrueTrac.

 

I also finally went back to the earlier pages. Based on how cost sensitive you are (from your later posts) I only see one option for you, a "lunch box" locker. I think there are a few different brands, Lock Right is the only one I'm familiar with, but they all work pretty much the same.

These will give you a full locker (with all of it's advantages and disadvantages), but a whole lot cheaper than anything else. You can easily install a lunch box locker yourself without setting up the gears. Anything else and figure on spending another $500 - $1000 to have it professionally installed (if you know what you're doing you can install your own gears, but it's one of those things, if you have to ask then you can't). Lunch box lockers aren't as strong as say a Detroit, but they do pretty well. if you don't beat on them too much (and with no low range transfer case you're already a step ahead there) they'll hold up for a long time.

The only other low cost option is a junkyard axle with a limited slip. as already noted, clutch-type limited slips give pretty limited performance, and if it's already in a junkyard don't expect it to be as good as new.