I am doing some research on Lockers for my truck. It is a street driven, heavy towing, sled pulling on the weekend rig. What do you guys suggest & why?

 

Check out OX lockers...

 

I am looking to do the same,
will be watching this thread.

 

Can't go wrong with the strength of the Detroit but it's road manners are a little touchy.
So i voted for the ARB's. I run one in the front of my Jeep and love the selectability. Got a spool in the rear.

 

Exactly as Scott says....

Detroit/spool provide great traction, but they are always on.... I'd go with an arb. (what's in the front of my jeep as well). You can turn it off and drive as normal. flip a switch and it's on...

Now, I did drive my jeep on the road w/ the detroit in the rear and an arb up front (in the mountains, highway, rain, snow, dry road, etc. everything!)

If you are going with both front and rear lockers, just go with a pair of arb's. You'll be happy when you can actually drive it on the street w/o noticing.

whatever you do, don't spool the front. you will never turn again....

 

I agree with the above statements too! Definatly no spool in the front if you want to drive on the street. The convienience of being able to turn on and off the locker, especially the front, is money well spent. There are other options out there as well. An electric locker setup, ARB you need the air compressor with it. Looking at the jeep forums will fill you with info from people with much experience on the subject. No jeep enthusiast can resist the urge to change gears or even whole axles under their rigs.

 

Yup.... got dodge ram axles under the jeep.... work great!

My vote is for arb's on both front and rear if the budget allows for it....

 

Dumb question, if you had lockouts on the front, would it make sense to put a Detroit in front and only lock in one side until you needed it?

That was what I had planned, but have never run into anyone with experience.

 

My vote would definitely be an ARB in the front. I run one on my Toyota and after having a LockRite in the front and not being able to turn, the ARB is great, Never had a problem with it.
My vote for the rear would be a Detroit. I run one in my Toyota and love it.. I am not a huge fan of selectable lockers in the rear of trucks. I want to know that I have maximum traction all the time and know that it is going to work every time.
With a selectable locker in the rear, you run the small risk of it not working when you need it most.
Just my 2¢....

 

I have a Detroit (full locked) in the front with the Posi Lok disconect in my truck and a Detroit Tru-Trac in the back. If I had it to do again it would be a E-Locker in the back and front that way it would be selectable. Full lock when on or LSD when off. When I changed mine they were just coming out and didnt feel comfortable with using them yet. ARB's are great just didnt want to put air lines and compressor and all that.

 

ARB front and rear. If you drive the truck on the street and in the snow you will want to be able to turn the locker on and off. It is very hard to turn in snow with a front and rear full time locker the vehicle wants to go straight. There is also more wear on the tires with a full time locker. If you were building something to 4wheel with and not drive on the street very much then Detroit rear ARB front. Just my Opinion.

 

In my 02 I have an ARB in the front and a detroit in the rear. The detroit is very strong and on a long wheel base, heavy vehicle like are pickups it's street manners are not terrible. Not good, but not terrible. The only reason that I did not go with an ARB in the rears, is that the ARB's sometimes take awhile to engage and disengage. When drag racing you want to make absolutely sure the ARB is engaged before you launch. If it engages after the launch when a wheel is spinning, it will hand granade.

If you are more worried about street manners, put ARB's both front and rear. If you are more worried about durablity, then put an ARB in the front and a detroit in the rear.

Paul

 

what he says


i have arb s front and rear in my toyota land cruiser and highly recommend them, very reliable and very very strong.

 

This gets my vote too. I cannot stand a street driven vehicle with a Detroit locker, but driving an open diff is utterly worthless too. I love the True Trac I have, but I would like it if mine was selectable (fullly locked or limited slip) like the newer model offered for the AAM axles.

People kept telling me to get an ARB for the rear when I was shopping for a diff. That is basically an open diff when you are on the street, which means lots of one tire spin BS. If I get on it at a light hard, both tires will break loose. I also have no issues with funky handling when towing as the Detroits can sometimes cause. Tire wear is almost doubled when running a Detroit as a few of my friends have experienced.

 

Does anybody have a TrueTrac installed?

I think that an e-locker could go together well with the central axle disconnect. You would need to get the power for the elocker from the 4WD light in some way because with the CAD you could grenade your differential if you apply the lock without the CAD engaged.

Does anybody have a ballpark price for the front elocker for the CTD?

AlpineRAM