That is what I expected. The locker would go in the front. It has limited slip in rear. We would be used for winter driving and some off roading. Not rock crawling. I have a Jeep for that. Stuff like some mud, dirt trails and exploring ghost towns.
Lunchbox locker
- Thread starter Rondo
- Start date
Black dawg
Registered User
I have never had only a front locker (many front and rear), but in my experience mechanical lockers in general behave pretty poorly for street winter driving. Do you have experience with mechanical lockers?
Interesting... mechanical lockers are the reason I can reliably get around in the winter.
Black dawg
Registered User
and they behave good enough to be comfortable letting someone else use your truck on winter roads?
I agree for off pavement situations lockers are awesome, but they have no positives for street driving, snow or not. Right now, 2 out of the 4 vehicles that I use almost daily have a detroits/and or spartan lockers.
captain720
Full Access Member
This depends on your road conditions, a road that is a solid sheet of ice with 6-12 inches of snow on it is what some consider “off road conditions” and we see that here.
Nothing behaves good enough to let someone else use my truck in our winter conditions here.
Black dawg
Registered User
Those kind of conditions arent where lockers are really poor, when you have patches of packed snow or ice or even really light slush, when the rear tires can have different traction from one another (especially trying to go uphill or add a turn into it at speed), things can feel pretty weird. And I am talking winter highway driving at speed.
define "mechanical"
Depends who it is. Not a big deal to warn somebody the steering may pull when shifting gears, and a U-turn takes finess. Had the gf front-locked in her jeep until the np242 swap where it didn't agree with AWD mode.
She will happily drive any of my trucks that are rear locked.
Edit: I presume we're talking about auto lockers, not selectable or spool.
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Probably a locker that doesn't depend on electricity or air in order to be locked.
Yep nothin like a detroit in a short wheelbase "heep" on adphalt
Now a spool
Never owned a lunchbox but an l.s.d. is not bad.
I just have never gotten in the situ in question...
Now a spool
Never owned a lunchbox but an l.s.d. is not bad.
I just have never gotten in the situ in question...
Black dawg
Registered User
As an example, Detroit's, lock right, spartan.
Black dawg
Registered User
Yes, auto lockers. I have a spartan in the rear of my jeep, and it is the most well behaved locker I have used, works pretty good with the 242 in all wheel drive too.
I will go ahead and tell it like it is with a front locker. The first time you drive it in deep snow on slippery conditions, you will end up in the ditch. They will not turn sharp when you are on the throttle. If you go to turn in a lane or sharp turn in a intersection, you must get off the throttle and almost but not quite come to a stop. Once you get the front wheels not spinning and pointed in the right direction hit the gas and it will go.
If you stay in the throttle and turn the front tires as they are spinning, the truck will not respond very much if at all. If it does respond, you will find the rearend coming around. You can actually go straight down the road, have your foot on the gas in deep snow, all 4 tires spinning, and swish the steering back and forth, and the rear of the truck will wag back and forth while the front keeps going straight ahead.
If can be fun if you are by yourself and get the hang of it.
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I almost forgot... The powertrax no-slip I put in the front of the jeep never made any noise. And those hubs are full-time (unit bearing).
Snow and slippery driving isn't bad. Lift the throttle and the locker disengages. At higher speeds you aren't turning sharp enough to matter. A tight, slow U-turn is accomplished by blipping the throttle.
Snow and slippery driving isn't bad. Lift the throttle and the locker disengages. At higher speeds you aren't turning sharp enough to matter. A tight, slow U-turn is accomplished by blipping the throttle.
Maybe it's because her jeep is stick. It felt like its beating up the tcase differential as the front locker disengages and re-engages on each shift.
The_Josh_Bear
Full Access Member
You say that like it's a bad thing
I'm glad you added the last part about it being fun. Shoot I do that with my Detroit locker rear end as often as I can get away with it. Open diff up front though. Front locker up front sounds like an animal you better be ready for
