Do I need air lockers?
 

My truck is an '06 FX4 F250 with the limited slip rear differential and I've been watching all the videos on here showing how worthless my 4wd is without a true locking differential. Now that I'm over the disappointment phase, I wonder if I need to do something about it. I am not a "serious offroader". The main reasons for 4wd are pulling the Bobcat up steep graveled hills, pulling the 8k boat and trailer up the boat ramp, and driving up my steep driveway when it snows. Any real benefit to a locker on any of these applications? Thanks.

Lockers will ALWAYS help. But dont give up on your LS. I've never had a problem with mine.

How about aftermarket ls vs factory?

Your drive way sounds like mine - steep gravel. I tow all kinds of stuff up the hill to include a Jeep on the 10K trailer and when the 4X4 is working correctly have no problems. I would ask - are you sure the front hubs are engaging? Before you go out and spend a lot of money on lockers that you may not need try locking the hubs manually on the front and see what happens. You may just need to work on the front end a bit.

I found that the 250 would just spin the rear wheels and not the front due to the previous owner's choice of mechanics - seems that he felt those little yellow O rings on the front hub assembly were not really necessary. Not saying that is your issue but you may want to make sure that your auto hubs are working correctly.

I've converted to all manual and everything locks up well. There has been no problem thus far, I was just concerned that there might be problems in the future. Seeing those videos was very disappointing. I thought the front end was locked when in 4wd. I had no idea it could still slip and also had no idea that if the right rear breaks loose the whole system could stop turning. Seems sort of pointless to have 4wd without lockers. If mine starts breaking loose half way up a long gravel hill, I'm screwed.

Got any suggested type? Will this be any better than what I have? Cheaper than air lockers? I already have air on board, so my air locker cost will be less than the average Joe's.

For your intended purpose I 100% say no you dont need an expensive aftermarket air, or electric set-up, the factory stuff works great when its maintained. If you do wish for an aftermarket setup wait for a failure of some kind. Other than that dont fix it if it isnt broke.
Now I can hear what i think is you not wishing to ever get stuck somewhere with a failure, but most stuff people complaine about here is the auto hubs. Since you are all manual I say save your money for something else. Just my opinion... Good Luck

If you are dead set on doing a locker, I'll share my story so to speak.
I bought my 07 F250 and found out on the night I brought it home that it had open differentials front and rear. Needless to say I got stuck in an embarassing situation.
I could not imagine a 4x4 rig without some kind of Limited Slip or other traction aid at least in the rear diff, but the axle code confirmed it. So because of my intended use, I opted for a Yukon Gear Grizzly locker for the rear diff and the Eaton E-Locker for the front. Both work as advertised.

Full disclosure, my Excursion has the factory limited slip in the rear diff, this works flawlessly for my needs; the only change I made was to go full manual front hubs (Warn) on that vehicle. Yes I have to get out and lock them, but I do that with the 07 F350 anyway, I just feel safer knowing the hubs are "locked" . Had this 07 F350 had the limited slip, I would have left it in until it gave me problems then evaluate an update or rebuild of existing.

Happy Motoring,

-Mark

my truck is my baby, going hunting or too a dirt bike pit my trails in and out are always cut back so i don't get a scratch on my truck. I do like to go out to the river banks and have a fire with friends in the weekends and go off road in the snow but i DON'T BEAT MY TRUCK. I do however hate the stock LS diff, any type of hill, or flexing in the truck causes the clutches to let go and you get that awesome peg leg. Ive had my diff rebuilt with all new clutches and steel clutches and its no better. Id take a Detroit True tract over this factory junk any day, if i had the money id go air locker just for the fact to have a open diff for the street and full locker when i went off payment and didn't have to see a peg leg behind my truck. Its so pitiful when GM trucks have a actual locker in all their trucks

You don't need a locker just for what you're describing... you want a True Trac. It's a limited slip so it's normally unlocked, but instead of clutches you get a gear driven engagement so it won't burn up.

Detroit Truetrac - Ford 10.5 in. - Detroit Locker - SummitRacing.com

Thanks for the input. Is that front, rear, or front and rear? Also, is that going to affect it as a daily driver? I do a lot more driving around than hauling.

Just driving around you won't notice it at all because it's normally open it takes a torque bias to lock the unit, so on pavement it's almost like having an open diff. The one I put up is for the rear, I'd guess they make one for a front axle, but you could put an air locker up front with this LS in the back.

I lean towards automatic units for the rear axle because it's always powered, and having a real LS comes in handy for times other than being offroad when you want the wheels tied together. More of an "out of sight out of mine" mentality of knowing the rear axle will always do it's thing since you're driving normally more often than not.



Question time from me: do the ARB units act like a spool when they're activated? Or can one wheel overrun the other like a Detroit? I wouldn't want a rear unit that doesn't allow for any differential wheel speed at all, especially if it'll be on pavement or used for towing. Think about towing around a corner up a hill, one wheel will have to overrun the other, if you have a spool it can't do that. At least with a TrueTrac or a Detroit you can turn and keep power spread across both wheels when you come out of it without flipping switches.

I might have to take issue w/ that ;), are you talking about all lockers or just selectable lockers? I've always heard auto lockers can be dangerous in ice and snow. I know he's asking about selectable air lockers which can be disengaged so that's not a concern - just wanted to clarify.

Also, I can't stand the factory limited slip in my 2005, it disenages at the slightest slip. Total opposite experience from my '95 factory limited slip, that thing is great. I'll be putting in a tru trac at some point.

Getting a little off topic, but what are the chances of retrofitting a factory electric locker off a late model superduty? Anyone know if it's a straight wire control or is the PCM involved? I'm guessing it can't be that easy though.

Yes, an ARB, when activated, locks the wheels together like a spool. Same with electric lockers.
And so you know, with a Detroit (or Lock Right), if you are on the power, it locks up solid just like the selectables. The only difference is you can't selectively turn it off.... They are locked any time you are applying power.
Only the TrueTrac will allow differential action with power applied.

To clarify, you need to have one rear wheel AND one front wheel lose traction to lose all drive.
And for a poor man's LSD, you can apply brakes to control wheel spin and transfer some power to the wheels with traction.

The only time my open front/LSD rear totally failed me was on a creek crossing where the truck was all twisted and the left front and right rear were effectively in the air. Those two would spin while the other two did nothing. Applying the brake got it moving and over the high point.

You sound like the perfect candidate for a True-Trac in the rear. Minimal negative impact in daily driving, but a big boost on loose hills.