Still have to disagree with this Ryan. The equipment that I carry in my bed is well over the weight of my engine. Matter of fact the weight of the rear of my truck is already greater than the front. With the compressor, the winch in the back, tools, spare driveshafts, extra yokes, blah blah blah, I have exceeded the weight of my light weight engine.
I have also performed this excersize, and the truck performs better going foward. This truck is not the only one that does. My others do as well.

I also dont, and never have agreed with the weight theory. We as builders strive for less weight and adding weight for traction has never been a theory that I have accepted. With this consideration, small samuris toyotas or even the rhino would never be able to make foward motion. In fact the opposite is true, Lighter weight vehicles can navigate with much success.
I know that snow belt guys carry extra weight in the bed, and it seems to help, this I cant argue, but I can tell you that heavy vehicles get stuck too, and much of this has to do more with the situation, and weight distibution, and not just making a vehicle heavier.

Now back to the topic, we can agree that weight transfer has something to do with traction, and gravity as well as normal weight transfer will add weight to the rear wheels making the locker in the rear a much better choice.
Locker in the rear if only one can be purchased. Me thinks that was what the OP had asked.

 

I love it when someone asks a simple question and we all duke it out and the original person doesn't seem to really care It just cracks me up

 

We do tend to do that quite a bit huh?

 

I say rear because there's less moving parts to break.

Lockers add stress, ya know.

The other arguments are on their own......

 

Isn't that helping my point.....your truck has tons of weight in the rear and that makes it better with the rear wheels locked? But if it didn't have that weight it would be better in the front???

 

In a hill climb, rwd will work better because the front tends to lift and takes weight off the front and transfers to the rear, thus adding weight. This is why guys bind their front down in ascents. As far as offcamber techniques, I would like my back end sliding around and still maintain steering. This is why I don't like front wheel drive cars in winter.

 

This is the kind of debate I was looking for!

 

No. You had stated that trucks weighed less in the rear, and this could have been the reason they navigated well. I have performed this experiment both ways. Same trucks and different trucks. Weighted down, or empty, front wheel drive does not navigate as well as just rear wheel drive.
Locker in the rear is the better choice.