Hey guys, on my 01 HO I have an open diff ,and its real hard not to brake traction so im looking for opinions on lockers. I personally am thinking ARB air locker just for the solid reliability of them . what would you guys install ? I dont want a weak or high maintanace unit. but a solid long life one.

 

BTT. anyone?

 

I understand the factory Dodge unit is really the cats bananas. They're tough, cheap to rebuild and work well. Can't think of what they're called, though. I'd think for the street you'd want something that's automatic, that way you don't have to think about it on the fly, which would take your mind off the road. I've grown very fond of my Detroit and don't think I'd be without it, given a choice. I'll likely grenade the D70 itself before I break the Detroit--it's been in there since the truck was two months old and has outlived at least one ring&pinion and bearing set!
greg

 

There are two types of limited slips for out trucks. One is better than the other. I have a dana 80 and put in an arb and have used it a few times. If you go this route, get the heavy duty dana 70 arb for the dana 80 and drill out the hole size for the mounting of the ring gear. The dana 80 wasnt centered in the houseing. Too much play. Call arb and ask them first. I ordered the 80 and couldnt get it to line up.

 

Are you sure you have the open diff or do you have the lim slip? Because from the factory, the limited slip is so weak, you will always break only one tire free. The reason is that dodge has the clutches and steels rearranged in the DANA unit to specifically reduce the effect of the lim slip. They have only two clutches in actual use, the rest is just stacked steel on steel and clutch on clutch instead of clutch/steel, clutch/steel.... etc etc etc. They did this to avoid complaints of chattering and tire chirping while turning sharp slowly, like in a parking lot.


Mine was so weak when I bought the truck (used, with about 60k on it) that I swore it was an open rear. After checking the build codes I learned it was a limited slip. So I started calling around for a new posi clutch pack, figuring it was hosed, and this guy told me about re-arranging the clutches and steels. I took it apart, found it just as he said, so I rearranged them, reusing all the old parts, and viola !!! Killer posi now !!! I ALWAYS leave two strips of rubber. And yes, it does chatter a little turning sharp while going slow..... Big deal it doesnt bother me.


Anyway, confirm which rear end you actually have, and then go from there.



KP

 

Its open i just had the cover off and cleaned it out for a fresh refill of redline
im positive its open

 

There are two LSD's used by dodge

the Power Lok from 1994-1998 and the Track Lok from 99-2002 you can restack and rearrange the track lok clutched but the power lok offers superior ramping of the side gear shafts to add additional load tot he clutches and side gears. there are numerous threads about these two lsds. Personally I stacked a power lok with 4 HD curved clutches and 6 flat clutches all steel and even when one tire would leave the ground i had both tires pushing if one did try to dis engage a light tap of the brakes and thrrottle at the same time would ramp up the shaft and engage things again and away itd go. Nice thing is its always there and its predictable my old detroit irritated me ratchet bang pop and an arb is open unless you tell it to be a spool, so its only good in limited situations, most the time it has to stay as an open which doesnt help the random heavy throttle situations. i like two tires evertime one trys to spin.

 

I think if I went for a selectable locker, I'd go for an electric one such as the Eaton E-locker, or the Detroit Electrac, rather than an ARB. Used to work on a bunch of Wranglers with ARB's and they always had axle seal leakage problems. Seems to me that there must be a certain degree of air leakage allowed with these, and if the axle vent plugs up, it's gonna pressurize the whole housing until it pushes oil out everywhere.
Just my opinion.

 

so what is the strongest for a Dana 80?

 

They dont make an eaton e-locker or detroit electrac for a dana 80. Your only option is the factory limited slip, detroit locker, or an arb. I have worked on many ford 9" rear ends and these arb's for the dana 80 aint no joke. They are VERY BIG. I have the eaton e-locker in the dana 60.

 

I researched this off and on for 3 years and decided to have a Dana Powr-Lok (as opposed to the Trac-Lok, which is what almost all Dodge/Dana trucks came with in later years) installed (I had an open diff). I am very happy with it. They are supposed to be pretty bullet proof and it never leaves me with one wheel spinning by itself.

I gather that you can get away with a locker like the Detroit on a long wheelbase truck, but I was worried that about stressing the axle with a big load/trailer. The guy who installed my Powr-Lok has a Detroit on a FL-based camper and says you never know it's there.

The ARB, which I almost went with, is great to switch on when you're stuck, but does nothing otherwise. A good LS like the Powr-Lok will, for example, make accelerating from a stop into heavy traffic on wet roads much easier; it will always be working.

 

That is my point about a good LS like the Plok : "it is always working". For mild offroad use and high performance street use, there is no need for a locking diff. For my needs of a daily driver, towing heavy and camper hauling along with some VERY mild off pavement use, I have no need for a locker in the rear of my CTD. I don't like the ARB for this application because you have to always manually engage it when you want additional traction.....you are either stuck with an open diff or a spool....and they are far from reliable as far as lockers go. Auto lockers are very hard on axle shafts and can have some screwy road manners from time to time. The Plok offers seamless traction control and engages effortlessly without you even knowing. It is smooth and easy on tires in high traction conditions and a top performer in low traction conditions.

All that said, if top performance during heavy offroad use is what you are after, skip the Plok and go with a locker. I have owned several ARB's and Detroits over the years in my Jeep and have found that I prefer the auto locking Detroit for the rear since it is mechanically speaking the strongest and I have absolutely no need for an open diff at any time in the rear. In the front I can't stand an auto locking diff since they almost always lock up prematurely in a turn and make it nearly impossible to navigate tight trails. I would say about 50% of the time when driving offroad, I want an open diff in the front to have the best manuverability and most knimble steering possible - the other 50% of the time I want it spooled for max traction....the ARB fits the bill perfectly. For years, the only manually locking diff that was widely available was the ARB. While expensive and complicated, they have been refined to the point where they are very strong. Reliability is another story....the air system seems to inevitably leak. Though, I would never put anything else in the front of an offroad vehicle, after owning a few ARB's I can say that it is amazing on just what you will put up with and get used to. I have had situations where I would slide an inner axle shaft into a dirty axle tube and the end of the shaft would actually push a little bit of dirt into the ARB and and cause an air leak as the result of some dirt getting into the O-ring area of the carrier - they are that sensitive! Aside from the pnuematic part of the ARB, the mechanical locking mechanism works very well.

Bottom line : The Plok will fit the bill best for most CTD owners that want good traction, long life and good street manners. The only time I wouldn't consider it for the rear of a CTD would be for heavy offroad use.

 

I went through this a couple of months ago with my Chevy. I wanted an Eaton elocker for my front diff but was told that all Eaton elockers have been discontinued.
I had to go with an ARB air locker. Which I was hesitant about since I had heard about seal problems. But the place I got it from is a big time installer/dealer for all types of diffs, axles, ect. All of their personal and company jeeps, trucks, etc, have been using the ARBs for years. They feel they are the best.

 

So, if I reorder the clutches & steels in my d80 rear, it will work better ??

Even the pic in the FSM shows:

(tire end) steel-steel-steel-clutch-clutch-clutch-steel-clutch-steel-clutch (diff end)

on each side

 

Yes, TRCM, thats correct. Do it s-c-s-c-s-c etc. and you will have a real posi.

It will chatter and squeak the tires a bit when turning with the wheel full lock and goin slow though.

Oh, and a good bit of throttle around a bend in the rain, and you will have the truck sideways before you know it, so be careful. (This is another reason they have defeated so much clutch pack area)


KP