lockers
- Thread starter gunut
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Broncoholics
Broncoholics
What are your plans for the truck? Off road all the time or 50/50?
I like the Detroit cause its strong, ready to rock and roll and cost is decent. Its almost like a spool but will disengauge when no torque is applied. Mainly for going around corners on pavement. If you drive your rig on road you might look into a selectible locker like ARB, OX or an electric type. This way you have the traction when needed and regular driving on road. The rear provides 60% of your traction so a locker in the rear is probably all you will need. Adding a locker up front will cause stress and breaks axle shafts occationally and its not really needed unless you plan on off roading all the time.
I like the Detroit cause its strong, ready to rock and roll and cost is decent. Its almost like a spool but will disengauge when no torque is applied. Mainly for going around corners on pavement. If you drive your rig on road you might look into a selectible locker like ARB, OX or an electric type. This way you have the traction when needed and regular driving on road. The rear provides 60% of your traction so a locker in the rear is probably all you will need. Adding a locker up front will cause stress and breaks axle shafts occationally and its not really needed unless you plan on off roading all the time.
Bandit
BANDIT
Make sure you decide on gear ratio and tire hieght first.It gets real pricey if you go with any locker ,and then change gears ony to find that your new selection of gears doesnt work with the same locker with the other set of gears.I just went with an ARB and 4.56's..I got rid of my Detroit locker.On ice it got real squirrelly.the ARB you can unlock at will and run like an open diff.I like Detroits ,but my wife drives my '73 to work ,and ended up in a ditch,when it locked in a turn. <
i have 33s. sounds like a locker in the rear is what i need. i definitely will put a limited slip in front. what do you recomend for that? what is a detroit truetrac. would it be any good? my wife drives my truck also. mainly use it for hunting or just around town. if you have ever been in a sandy wash and get the right front and the left rear off the ground then you know where im coming from.
For as low-cost limited slip for the front axle, I would suggest a Dana Trac-Lok. That is similar to what you should have in the rear 9" axle. If you want a locker for that one, the Detroit is great, but a full spool will cost about half that. The ARB front and rear is the best of both worlds, IMO, and works great for tight trails where you may want to unlock an axle to turn sharply.
Broncoholics
Broncoholics
Off road with the locker engauged makes it tough to steer also.
I used to run the trac-lok in my front end. It does help but with the 38's I run it was almost non existant. Your 33's should be fine. The Detroit tru trac is also a good choice. What T-case do you have? I run a NP205 so its easy to shift on the fly into 2wd and leave the front hubs locked and drive in 2wd with a Detroit up front with no steering problems. A detroit isn't engauged unless torque is applied. Thats my selectible locker I guess...
I used to run the trac-lok in my front end. It does help but with the 38's I run it was almost non existant. Your 33's should be fine. The Detroit tru trac is also a good choice. What T-case do you have? I run a NP205 so its easy to shift on the fly into 2wd and leave the front hubs locked and drive in 2wd with a Detroit up front with no steering problems. A detroit isn't engauged unless torque is applied. Thats my selectible locker I guess...
Bandit
BANDIT
A Trutrac If I'm not mistaken is a gear-driven (limited slip)torque sensing differential.Tom ,of Tom's bronco parts uses them front and rear,you may want to ask him.A Detroit locker,will actually lock both wheels like a spool,but when youre turning a corner it ratchets,and lets one wheel go faster than the other.I just took one out because of its behavior on ice,sometimes when you turn into a corner,if you gas it the wrong way ,it can actually lock and make you slide.Ive talked to guys that swear they're great on ice but I thought enough about it to take it out and buy an ARB,and Im not rich.I dont like limited slips,because some of the places I go,they will slip and not lock,where as any locker would get me up and over.
Bandit
BANDIT
Oh,one more thing,if I dont have Trutrac,and Trac-loc confused..I think I got them right.A Trac-loc Is either exactly or very simular to a factory Ford limited slip,I believe it has clutches that take a special additive.A Detroit Trutrac,like I said earlier runs on all gears ,and I believe will last you longer.Ive ordered the ford factory unit on several Fords ,and burned all of them out were they no longer worked at all,they' <
BANDIT
CUrt60
New member
I went with the OX lockers for my 72. That way I can lock them when needed and run them loose when I don't.
If you are looking into the Ox, I would honestly say that I would look at ARB first. My reason for this is, and nothing against those who have the Ox, but simple facts. The Ox company has gone in and out of bankruptcy 2 times in the past 5 years. I know a guy who had the original Ox and when they went belly up the first time they never honored the warranty when he had problems after they came back out. The ARB has been around for a long time and isn't a relativly new product. Both are selectable which makes them both attractive and they are comparable in price, so there really isn't any financial burden either way. The only con you can say about the ARB is that if you use their pump, that is an additional $200. But you can aleviate that by either using a rechargable CO2 tank or putting onboard air on your vehicle. I used to have onboard air until my compressor went out, but the beauty of that is that you can air up or down your tires and it will also run air tools /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> in addition to running your lockers.
My only concern with the Ox is company reliability, and that to me is foremost. You know ARB is not going anywhere, but until Ox can stay in business for over 10 years w/out trouble, I personally am hesitant about them.
Just my.02
/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> in addition to running your lockers.My only concern with the Ox is company reliability, and that to me is foremost. You know ARB is not going anywhere, but until Ox can stay in business for over 10 years w/out trouble, I personally am hesitant about them.
Just my.02
