Hey everyone!

I have a '98 E350 5.4, 2wd with a Dana 60 3.55 with 32 spline axles (will be swapping over to 35 spline) that I want to make into a more capable overlander, and I would love to hear y'all's opinions on which would be better for my situation - the Eaton Truetrac or the Detroit locker - and also what gearing y'all would suggest.

Currently, I drive about 50/50 on road/off road (forest roads and easier trails in CO) and the van has handled everything pretty well with just a set of 265/75-16 Cooper Discoverer tires.
I've adventured up and over Ophir Pass, and haven't had much trouble tackling some of the rougher forest roads, but I'd really like to start spending more time exploring off-road in Colorado and Utah, and I also plan on doing some occasional towing in the future (small travel trailer/boat), so I'd like to get people's opinions on what would be best suited for what I want to do.

I recently installed a set of Moog CC880S front springs to get about 2" of lift, Pro Comp PR2016 front shocks, a cheapy Monroe steering dampener, and a new set of 285/75-16 BFG KO2s all around.
The rear leafs are definitely shot, so I plan on upgrading to a set of Husky Springs 4000 lb leafs, and possibly an add-a-leaf to get a couple inches of lift in the rear, along with some new shocks, of course.

I've looked at the Eaton Truetrac and the Detroit locker and it seems both would suit my needs/wants, but I have zero experience with anything other than the open diff.

Both seem like they're fine for road/highway driving, though, maybe the Truetrac is better suited (?), and they both seem like they'd perform well off-road, though, maybe the Detroit locker would have the advantage (?) since it locks and splits the torque equally between the axles.
Of course, I'm not planning on doing any rock-crawling or hitting any hardcore Jeep trails, but I'd love to be able to confidently get to more places in the wild.

Also, since I'm now running what is almost a 33" tire, plus wanting to tackle more off-road adventures, AND looking to occasionally tow a small travel trailer or boat in the future, should I re-gear? Go to 3.73? 4.10? Stay with the 3.55?

Any experience on this is very much appreciated.
Ivy, out.


Moby, my white cargo whale!

 

i am not a fan of full time lockers.
i prefer a switchable diff lock, either air, or electric.

 

I have had a Detroit locker in the rear of my F250 for a few years now and it works great on and off road. I perfer an auto locker in the rear of my vehicles, most people that talk bad about them have never had one. That being said the Truetrac is also a great unit, it is not a locker but it works just as well in most situations. For a 2WD van you can't go wrong with either one, but I would lean towards the Truetrac.

 

I've run a Detroit in an early Bronco and a CJ5, A LockRight (same operation as a Detroit) in an F-150 and a TrueTrac in my F-250 crew cab.

I would not say that a Detroit is good on the street. It's not terrible and I'll happily put up with it if I want the dead solid performance it offers when you need it. But it is noticeable in a pretty negative way pretty frequently. The worst negative is that if you get on the gas too hard when it's slippery you can break the rear end free pretty easily. That said, you learn not to get on the gas too hard when it's slippery, so it's livable. You also get noticeable torque steer as you get on and off the throttle, but that's less objectionable in a larger vehicle or with an automatic trans, so you're in a good place there. It can also be hard to start in a turn without squawking a tire. And with mud tires on pavement that can draw a lot of attention! All of this is easy to live with if you are willing to pay attention to the vehicle and I wouldn't hesitate to have one in a vehicle only I was driving. But I don't really want my wife or sons driving one on snowy roads.

The TrueTrac is completely invisible on the street, which is great. And as long as both back tires get some traction it works great off road. But what it does is give 3.5 times as much torque to the tire with traction as the tire with poor traction will support. If "poor traction" means the tire is in the air, or on glare ice, then that tire supports 0 torque and the other tire gets 3.5 x 0 = 0 torque. A TrueTrac is useless in that situation (well, not completely, you can apply the parking brake and add torque which will usually let you drive out if the other tire will grip). In a rock crawler I wouldn't want a TrueTrac because a tire in the air is pretty common. And in my pickup I don't love it as much as I'd hoped. There's a stop sign at the top of a hill near my house that often has ice under the right rear tire in the winter. I spin that tire a lot starting out there, where a Detroit wouldn't spin at all. And while it's not as abrupt as a Detroit, getting on the gas too much will spin you out too.

So which should you get? I can't say. If you don't expect to get crossed up too often a TrueTrac will work pretty well for you off-road and be great on road. If you do expect to get crossed up a Detroit will work pretty well for you on road and be great off road. So pick your poison!

 

I re-read your first post and realized I missed a few other questions.

Towing on the road a Detroit is even worse than a Detroit not towing. The extra load you need to get going with little extra weight on the drive wheels makes it even harder to start without spinning a tire, and you'll be on and off the gas more heavily which will accentuate the torque steer (although again, torque steer will be a smaller issue in a big van with an automatic trans). That said, you certainly can tow with a Detroit, and if you're talking lighter trailers it will be less significant. But it does lean you a LITTLE more toward the TrueTrac on the street.

But if you're towing off road you'll need even more traction help which will lean you a little more to the Detroit off-road (it's all about trade-offs).

Gearing. I don't have a lot of experience with the Triton V8s, but I did have a 5.4L in an '08 F-250 for a year and I have the 6.8L in a '15 E-450 motorhome. In my limited experience I can't imagine driving a 5.4L with 3.55 gears. My F-250 was gutless with 3.73 gears and stock tires. I'd certainly suggest talking to people with more direct experience, but with the little experience I've had I'd say at least 4.10 gears with your stock tires.

Going up to the 285s is about a 4% increase in tire size. So if you were happy with the 3.55s and stock tires you only would need to go to 3.73 to (slightly more than) get that back. But a change from 3.55 to 3.73 is probably too small to be worth the cost. Or from my suggestion of 4.10s with stock tires around a 4.3 would be the equivalent with the larger tires (not sure what options are actually available between 4.10 and 4.56).

(edit to add: That's all with street performance in mind. Off road? You can't go too low. I'm running 17.6:1 in my Bronco (4.10 axles and 4.3 low range) and I love it on the trails. That would obviously be impossible (and horrible on the road!) in a 2WD with no transfer case. But if you can live with 5.38s on the road you'll like them a lot better than 3.55s on the trail.)

Again, if others with more experience with your drivetrain have other suggestions I'd listen to them more than I would listen to me. And you've been driving it as it is, so you have more experience than I do too.


It may also be worth noting that putting a locker in the rear of a 2WD does not make it the equivalent of a 4WD with open diffs. It'll help, and it'll help a van (with a lot of weight on the rear axle) more than it will help a pickup. But it will still be a 2WD. You'll do fine on most of the rocky trails you are talking about in Colorado and Utah. But especially if you are getting into mud, snow or sand you will need to be aware of your limits, and have appropriate recovery gear.

 

No problems at all towing with my Detroit locker, the have been used in heavy military, construction and commercial vehicles that tow and haul heavy for over 50 years.

 

I knew you'd come in with that, and you're not wrong. But people who don't like driving a Detroit on the street will hate towing with one. Towing accentuates its annoying traits. But for people like me (to some extent) and you (likely to an even larger extent), it's worth it.

 

Thank you, Bob. I appreciate your insight on this.
I won't be doing this for several months, as I need to save up the funds for it, so I'll be doing some more looking around/research and, hopefully, others in here will give their experiences in the meanwhile,

So far, I've only gotten stuck once...well, actually twice, but it was within 30 minutes and 30 feet of each other. I was camping at Land Between the Lakes, in Tennessee, and it had rained the night before I left my spot. The trail to get out was uphill, muddy, and rutted.
At one point, I slid right off the trail, into the softer soil, and up against a small tree, and I was sunk about 6 inches. Ended up spending about 30 minutes digging and using several logs of firewood to get myself out. Another 30 feet forward, and I got crossed-up in a not-all-that-deep rut. Tire in the rut was just spinning while the other tire did nothing. Spent another 30ish minutes digging and stacking to get myself out again.

Since I'm always traveling alone, I just want something that will help me out in situations like that. I know it would be better to not put myself in those types of situations when I'm by myself but I love getting as far out as I can and I know it will happen again, at some point.
Maybe I should consider a selectable locker, instead?

Also, I do plan on investing in some recovery equipment but haven't decided what, yet.

EDIT - Also, as for towing, I'm ok with the diff running open since most of the towing will be on the road and, at this point, don't plan on towing in the snow/ice, but I was thinking it would be nice to have something to lock if I'm pulling a boat out of the water, up a steeper boat ramp. Although, I guess the TrueTrac might be good for that, as well?

Decisions, decisions.

 

I'll add my .02... I would first get a winch of some sort, I've been wanting to get a Detroit for my 77 F250 4x4 for yrs, about 10yrs+ ago I bought a Mile Marker winch, still don't have a locker, but... I haven't had to dig since.
As to a Detroit or Trutrac, I'm curious also as to opinions.

 

Good point. I had a giant winch on the escort trucks with ls rears.
the 14 was the first truck with a locker in the back. Very rarely did I use 4x4.

 

A TrueTrac will work well on a boat ramp. Any time both tires get some traction they are great.

And as I read the rest of that post I had the same thought as others... get a winch first. Add a TrueTrac or locker after that if you want.