Rear Locker advice.

[old mechanic]

I need a rear locker for my 1992 4x4 EX.
I need something that will either lock both rear wheels automaticly or send the power to the wheel that has the most traction.
Most important is being able to drive on dry pavement and be able to make corners ok because this will mainly be driven on dry roads but I am sure the other places I will go into make me think that a locker would be best.
I looked at the Ausse and Eaton-Detroit.
Price is not a factor. Reliability is important.

 

[chrisis]

if you are not into offroading i recomended a limited slip. a lot more friendly than a locker.

 

[DeRocha]

Mechanical lockers like the Detroit, Aussie etc automatically lock the diff when a certain amount of wheel slip occurs when your on the gas pedal. This isn't so bad if you learn to go easy (semi coast) around corners on dry pavement... If you go heavy on the gas taking a corner the diff will lock up and the tires will chirp and scrub. This is not so bad and manageable on dry pavement... but on snow and ice it can be scary .. The rear end can easily break away and cause you to fish tail. From the numerous posts I've read many people generally don't recommend such lockers for snow & ice..

ARB lockers are selectable and can be manually locked or unlocked from a toggle switch in the cab. In the unlocked mode the diff is completely open and great for on road use, when locked it is 100% locked and great for low speed, low traction situations to get your vehicle moving. ARBs are pneumatic and during trail runs a driver will cycle the ARB on only when needed to get over some obstical; otherwise being fully locked would make even off-road driving impossible. ARBs are at the top of the $$ list, but have been proven to be very reliable.

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, the best option, IMHO, for a daily-driven, 99.9% street truck is a limited slip that actually limits the slip. The OEM Ford Trac-Loc is useless on that front... I like the gear-based torque-biasing differentials like the Torsen, Quaife, and Detroit TruTrac. (IIRC, the TruTrac is the only one you can get for an 8.8)

-Joe

 

[old mechanic]

DeRocha, my buddy was in a big snow storm and the wires screwed up. That left him stuck trying to get 1 mile in to our hunting cabin. We got him but that made me leary about any locker that has wires or air in it. Probably a real freek thing but its stuck in the back of my head. I am going to read about ARB lockers tho.
Gi, are you saying that the true-track is the only one that will fit in the rear of my EX?

 

[gijoecam]

Gi, are you saying that the true-track is the only one that will fit in the rear of my EX?

Nope... not saying that at all... just offering my opinion on what I think is the best choice for a daily-driver that sees lots of road use and occasional off-road use.

There are a dozen other options... Aussie lockers, Detroit Lockers, ARB, Eaton Ected, (I don't think the Electrac fits the 8.8??) just to name a few....

Surf on over to www.reiderracing.com or www.randysringandpinion.com and feel free to give either place a call. They're always quite happy to explain the different options (and they're pretty tolerant of morons like me calling and asking dumb questions about how something works!!)

-Joe

 

[FROADER]

Remember that the ARB is either open or locked. It would be usless for a DD on the street since what you're really looking for is a limited slip. The TruTrac is a great unit.

I've had a full detroit locker in both of my explorers and had them as a DD with no problems. As long as you (like De Rocha mentioned) go easy on the corners, there is concern at all.

 

[Naasau]

I'm in about the same boat as Mec, but price is a bit of a consideration for me. It sounds like an X that does alot of street driving and needs some hard core traction off-road would be best matched with an actuated locker that can act as an open diff. And i'd rather go with electric rather than air just b/c I don't have a compressor in mine as of yet, and compressor/air tube seems more likely to break. The problem I have with a limited slip is that when in the city, it works when you don't need it to, and can wear out w/o you realizing it. So, come time you need it to save your ass, it doesn't; that said, on a front axle when the 4x4 isn't engaged, a LS would just sit there, generating no problems and not wearing out.

The point of the wires being unreliable is indeed spooky, but sounds like a failure on the part of the installation. Over-engineering something to protect the wires from damage would be a must since it is under the car, after all.

I guess that my question would then be what kind of options and price ranges would I be left with and what sort of install am I looking at? And how flawed are the conclusions that I've drawn from reading a bunch of different threads? (oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm really new at all of this so if I say anything that sounds arrogant and/or stupid... it's most likely because i am just stupid. )

 

[old mechanic]

Thanks for the links Joe. I will use them.
Froader, what DeRocha said made me think that the kids or whoever drives my EX around town will not take it easy.
It would be much better with a closed in vehicle to carry most of our equpiment-coolers etc. up with and with the Ex being so reliable I thought we could use that with a little work into it. Besides, we all know that we need a carry-all vehicle but no one wants to buy one.
We will have 3-5 other off road worthy F-250 and F-350 Ford 4x4 pickup's so no problem with anyone getting stuck because we will get them out, sooner or later. Its just the PITA of getting stuck that makes me want to invest a little into the EX. to make it better in the snow-mud etc. that we encounter there.

 

[old mechanic]

I'm in about the same boat as Mec, but price is a bit of a consideration for me. It sounds like an X that does alot of street driving and needs some hard core traction off-road would be best matched with an actuated locker that can act as an open diff. And i'd rather go with electric rather than air just b/c I don't have a compressor in mine as of yet, and compressor/air tube seems more likely to break. The problem I have with a limited slip is that when in the city, it works when you don't need it to, and can wear out w/o you realizing it. So, come time you need it to save your ass, it doesn't; that said, on a front axle when the 4x4 isn't engaged, a LS would just sit there, generating no problems and not wearing out.

The point of the wires being unreliable is indeed spooky, but sounds like a failure on the part of the installation. Over-engineering something to protect the wires from damage would be a must since it is under the car, after all.

I guess that my question would then be what kind of options and price ranges would I be left with and what sort of install am I looking at? And how flawed are the conclusions that I've drawn from reading a bunch of different threads? (oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm really new at all of this so if I say anything that sounds arrogant and/or stupid... it's most likely because i am just stupid. )

______
I hear you about the wiring. I usually make double sure (I helped him with the wiring) they are ok but the part of the wire that screwed up was inside the carrier. We put the wire inside a pvc pipe along the frame. Maybe he messed it up during the install. I wasn't there for that. But maybe I could screw it up too with out knowing. Thats why I am leary.

 

[dkchrist]

air lines are the same a wiring when properly protected will work just fine and if you are concerned you can go really trick and use stainless lines and not worry about it or just buy and OX locker and just use cable to actuate the locker if you are set on a locker

 

[old mechanic]

air lines are the same a wiring when properly protected will work just fine and if you are concerned you can go really trick and use stainless lines and not worry about it or just buy and OX locker and just use cable to actuate the locker if you are set on a locker

________
The wiring was properly protected. The wire inside the dif was bad.
No wires, no cables and no pressure lines to worry about.
Wires? Well they can always go bad.
Cables? I have enough trouble with my E-Brake cables.
Air lines? I have enough trouble with my backhoe and truck air lines and stainless brake lines.
So far I am leaning towards the Tru Trac. Pop it in and forget it. For the amount of times I will use it, it should last 100 years.

 

[ridge903]

ok i have a 2001 ranger edge i am wanting to put a limited slip or maybe like yall were talking about the lockers in the rear witha toggle switch and im trying to do it on a low budget dd as well as off road toy which would be the best for my rearend