With stock size tires you are not able to overstress the axles.......With large tires good luck!
With correct sized tires for the weight of your truck(for the sand)12.5 minimum and lowered air pressure you do not need lockers in the sand.



Not a single locker in any of these trucks.

Bob

 

1.) None of those trucks are in the type of sand I was in...even the pick of you pulling two of them out in tandem shows that your truck was on pretty much a road made of sand, not some off the sand road sand trap that we were in...I wouldn't hesitate to take my truck on the terrain you are on in either of these photos...

2.) All of those Dodges look to have marginally wider tires than the BFG 265s that I have

3.) My BIGGEST problems came from when I had to do a three point turn to get out of where I was at...the truck REALLY sand after cutting all that sand up...

I am convinced that if a '99 Ford F150 with 8" of lift and 35" Mickey Thompson Baja Claw Radials with their tiny axles can run lockers, than I can run them too...Why would they even manufacture them if they thought that the axles couldn't take it? Lastly, I have seen a FEW people on here post up that they have the ARBs and LOVE them...not trying to argue, just want to know what makes you think that the folks that seem to have been running them for a while with great success are getting ready to break their trucks with them?

 

i believe it's possible to break ANY axle with or without lockers...that being said, for most applications "our" axles will be fine with lockers (as long as you use your noggin'). i thought dyna trac had an upgraded axle for those people that don't think ours are strong enough??

 

Just to let you know that with a locker in the front it will be almost impossible to turn the vehicle while the locker is engaged and I would advise against one if your not used to how they drive. However, LSDs in the front dont pose a problem and you can still get one to lockup pretty good when needed, All you have to do is apply the brake at the same time as your one the gas which equalizes the traction as far as the differental is concerned ( actually this works on open diffs to just not to the same extent ). I use to have a 84 K5 blazer with a locker in the rear and a detroit truetrac lsd in the front and there was nowhere that thing couldnt go.

 

we're talking about selectable locker here...

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by VisionxOrb
Just to let you know that with a locker in the front it will be almost impossible to turn the vehicle while the locker is engaged and I would advise against one if your not used to how they drive. However, LSDs in the front dont pose a problem and you can still get one to lockup pretty good when needed, All you have to do is apply the brake at the same time as your one the gas which equalizes the traction as far as the differental is concerned ( actually this works on open diffs to just not to the same extent ). I use to have a 84 K5 blazer with a locker in the rear and a detroit truetrac lsd in the front and there was nowhere that thing couldnt go.


Yeah, I would ONLY be locking it up if and when I might need it...just a precautionary thing...but as stated before, after seeing my old man's '99 CTD fall on it's face in our loading chute a few times, I just think it will come in handy...

 

I know thats why I said while engaged. I knew some one once who put an arb in there truck and was on a trail with it engaged not realizing of how the vehicle handles with a locker in the front ( engaged ) and ran into a tree because the truck wouldnt turn and he wasnt expecting that.

 

Those pics Bob posted were taken in Glamis. I don't think it can get much worse than out there.


If I were you I'd spend money on a better set of tires before burning it up in lockers. Stock 265 towing tires pretty much suck off road.

 

I see this written all the time, but what you describe wanting is exactly what Thuren and Carli provide.


Again, what you want is what Thuren and Carli offer. If you don't want to spend that much just say so, don't convince yourself its not what you need.

 

I'm just saying that the pics he posted don't do SAND in general justice. That sand looks pretty "packed" and VERY "daily driven". Seems like folks had been driving on that stuff ALL day/year...the stuff that we took our trucks out into hadn't had ANYBODY on it in what looked like EVER. Even the much lighter F-150 with Mickey Thompsons was sinking in pretty good and he was aired down to about 20psi...

I understand that my tires are pretty much GARBAGE...especially for what I was attempting to do with them. But when I was on sand that had been tampered on pretty regularly, the truck went GREAT. I only needed 4wheel in two spots that were encountered out there in Ocotillo 1.) When we went off the trail in that deep, loose, soft stuff 2.) when we had to crawl over some pretty decent boulders.

I think that I might have said it before...if not, I'll say it now. I should have known better...I'm VERY lucky I didn't break anything...

 

x2 get the tires first you will amazed.

 

Derek,

Sand is WAY looser in Glamis than it is anywhere at Ocotillo except for maybe Blowsand Hill. Some of it is tires, alot of it is technique. Gotta have a good feel for when to get out of the pedal and how much to get back into it. bob4X4 will attest to this, he spends alot more time in Glamis than I do.

Last time I was out there I pulled my 11K# toy hauler in and out of the sand and never broke the tires loose.....with 65psi in the tires.

As far as the axle...the AAM's are notoriously weaker than the Dana 60 they replaced (and the weak D60 at that). bob4X4 is speaking from experience here too, he's one of several folks I know that have bent them. Not sure about the internals, but the housing doesn't give me much confidence in the unit as a whole.

Suspension upgrades will help with the wheel hop we talked about, but won't give you any more traction. You could start by getting rid of the trench diggers and putting some 305's on there, that would at least get you some more traction.

You could also put one of those cheesy little tire compressors behind your seat, if you start getting stuck in the sand you can air down to around 20lbs. This increases the footprint of the tire, effectively making it "wider". Air up again when you get back on the hard pack.

 

Oh...ya'll won't EVER see or hear of me out in the sand with these tires again! That is for SURE! LOL Conrad, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today...again, that was awesome of ya!