Front Mechanical Locker Experiences?

[Nitromethane43]

Just looking to get some feedback on some people who have actually run with a front mechanical locker on a vehicle.

I am about to do a front end refresh on my 06 Ram and would like to add a traction device while at it. The preference is to keep it simple without any wires or air running into the diff, looked into the helical diff, but the factory rear one has left me without traction on many occasions, with a heavy dual disc its not easy to the parking brake at the same time.

From searching around people seem to think its the end of the world running one in the front, and have not come up with many people who have actually have one. In the past I have run dual Lincoln without any issues, so driving quarks can be understood.

Also was wondering if they work with one side locked and the other in freewheel for 3 wheel drive in tight situations if needed.

 

[rascott]

i have been running a front autolocker for two seasons.
mostly my strategy has been to lock my hubs and let it pull.
it loads up the steering pretty good- wants to go straight, and can kinda lock up in some reversing situations.
not good in tight turns, it can be unlocked either side, but i can switch 2L/4L, and that seems to keep me going.
i've been quite pleased.
got one in the rear, and wish i could switch it off for hyway stuff, but i get there.
mabe someday i'll get selectable lockers. so far

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I have a Dana 70 rear with what I consider a very good LSD.
The front is a Dana 60 with an ARB diff lock. It is not something that I use often, but when I do, it is very good to have that switch on the dash.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[MTVR]

I've run Detroit Lockers in both ends of my 3/4-ton Suburbans.

One Sub was trail rig with 35" tires and 6" of lift. The other one was a mud truck with 44" tires and 20" of lift.

On trails with the first one, it just wanted to go straight when it was in 4WD, so I shifted into 2WD if I needed to steer to any great degree or with any great precision.

With the mud truck, I generally drove in 2WD to the most difficult spots, then engaged 4WD and just let the front tires be steered by whatever they bounced off of, because my steering inputs had very little influence over what direction I went when on the gas...

 

[Wrathchild]

I’ve had ARBs before and those would be my top choice. Lock rights are popular in the front of jeeps because it’s automatic. They can be a bit fussy about locking up when you need it to. A little trick is to tap the brakes and slow the wheel speed to get it engaged.

 

[MTVR]

Lock rights are popular in the front of jeeps because it’s automatic. They can be a bit fussy about locking up when you need it to. A little trick is to tap the brakes and slow the wheel speed to get it engaged.

That's not how a Lock-Right (or any ratcheting differential) works. It sounds like you are describing a clutch-type differential. Completely different thing.

Lock-Rights drive BOTH wheels, even if one wheel is in the air, but allow the outside wheel(s) to be pushed (to over-run) when turning. You'll hear it go "click-click-click..." when a wheel is over-running. You don't need to do anything to get a Lock-Right to lock up- it's locked even when you're parked.

If you have a Lock-Right and one wheel is spinning when the other is not, then you have something broken and/or assembled incorrectly.

Here:

Lock Right Locker - PowerTrax

www.powertrax.com

 

[deserteagle56]

I had ARBs installed in both diffs of my E350 when I had it regeared 12 years ago. Use the rear one often - rarely use the front one but when I did it was a lifesaver. No problems with either ARB in 12 years - I'd install them again if doing another build.

 

[MTVR]

Yes, having the front locker selectable, is probably the best way to go for most of us...

 

[nickw]

Just looking to get some feedback on some people who have actually run with a front mechanical locker on a vehicle.

I am about to do a front end refresh on my 06 Ram and would like to add a traction device while at it. The preference is to keep it simple without any wires or air running into the diff, looked into the helical diff, but the factory rear one has left me without traction on many occasions, with a heavy dual disc its not easy to the parking brake at the same time.

From searching around people seem to think its the end of the world running one in the front, and have not come up with many people who have actually have one. In the past I have run dual Lincoln without any issues, so driving quarks can be understood.

Also was wondering if they work with one side locked and the other in freewheel for 3 wheel drive in tight situations if needed.

I think it highly depends on where you live and how you are wheeling. Mech lockers, in general, don't play well with packed snow and ice....so if that's something you have to deal with, I'd think long and hard about using one....front or rear.

 

[Wrathchild]

@MTVR Youre right. I misspoke. Meant the true trac which is a LSD.

 

[billiebob]

I love selectable. E-Locker or Air, I'd never do anything else off road. Detroit lockers, TruTracs excel on the street bit on the trail, selectable rules. My front locker I'll click on and off often depending on the trail, need to turn. I think the selectable locker is easier on the vehicle and lets you tread lightly better. 50 years of wheeling, my first car in high school was an M38. I've had a Rubicon for 15 years and swear it is the best factory 4x4 made. I'll never sell it.

 

[javajoe79]

In my opinion a gear type LSD is the best for all around performance over any terrain. If you aren't lifting wheels, you'll have tons of traction and if you do lift a wheel, you can use the brakes to help it drive the tire that's on the ground.

 

[another_mike]

I have a Detroit locker in the front of my van. It’s not bad. i have an OX electric actuated locker in the rear... i did the Detroit to save a little money and it’s simplicity. if I was to do it over I probably would do an OX in the front too, but having the Detroit is no deal breaker and I won’t be changing it. No snow or ice driving for me ever.

 

[billiebob]

Most of the auto lockers must slip before engaging, or they slip and require you to apply brake and throttle. If there is any slip you are not treading lightly. Slip means the tires are tearing up the terra firma. For that reason I'll only run selectable lockers. They make it easy to tread lightly, protect the watershed and prevent erosion.

Plus they work both ways, climbing under power and descending a steep slope in 4LO. I only touch my brakes to stop.

 

[1stDeuce]

Billiebob, you're confusing your words, and it's confusing others.

The term "Locker" is describes a diff that spins both tires reguardless of wheter one tire is in the air or not, and will not let just one tire stop spinning until something breaks. The Detroit Locker does this. So do most "auto lockers" like the lockright, no-slip, aussie locker, etc. They all work exactly the same way. EXACTLY, which is to allow a tire to coast faster than the driven axle speed, but not slower.
Selectable lockers directly couple the left and right axle shafts when "selected". There is NO over-running or differentiation of any kind when the unit is locked.

"Limited Slip" or LSD is the term we use for a diff that still can spin only one tire, but tries not to through the use of clutches, or gears that bind in the case. This describes what you're calling an "auto locker" above. Please do not do that.

FWIW, I have a trutrac LSD in the front of my Jeep, and I LOVE it. The rear is a rubicon locker, so it's more or less a trutrac when it's unlocked, though it doesn't bias nearly as well. I almost never lock the rear in trail use. If I see an obstacle coming that will lighten two corners, or offer less traction to two wheels, I ride the brake a bit as I go through it. That works to load the diff and keep both sides turning the same speed. (Left/right coupling force increases with the load on the differential with all limited slip styles that I'm aware of, so this trick is handy for any LSD.) Adding some "fake" driveline torque keeps the low traction tires from spinning in all but the gnarliest of situations, preventing the un-light treading that billiebob is talking about, where you let it flail helplessly on two tires before adding a bunch of brake to get it moving again. Think ahead and you're fine. Driving without thinking and then reacting after you're slightly crossed up and spinning doesn't work as well.

OP, if you see yourself doing serious rock crawling, I'd go for some sort of "locker". (Detroit, no slip, lockright, selectable of any kind) If you're just looking for a bit more than an open diff offers I'd go with an LSD.
YMMV