I want to get a locker for the rear and maybe a limited slip for the front. Would this be an alright thing to do with daily driving and weekend off roading. Ive heard good things about Detroit Lockers and saw an advertisement for a Detroit Truetrac. I also want to know where i could be both of these for a good price. I saw the locker going for a 500 bucks .

 

Hello 03ford,

Unless your truck is primarily used off-road, I would not put a locker in the back but a limited slip. Lockers tend to spin-out from side-to-side on wet or icy paved roads much more than limited slips do. I looked at putting a Truetrack limited slip on the front of my truck but I decided against it because I was told by some guys that had them on their Jeeps that it caused them to pull to one side when in four wheel drive. But an F-150 is not a Jeep so you might not have this problem.

 

I thought the same thing about a Detroit Locker, but decided to go with the TrueTrac in both the front and the rear. I'm also going to 4.10 gearing. The gears are backordered for 5 weeks , so I'll let you know how they work when they come in. I think the Detroit Locker is to aggressive for daily driving since you would go thru tires. The TruTrac is the way to go. Hope this helps.

 

thanks

 

A locker or limited slip in the front end of a 97-03 F-150 won't work well in 2wd. Thanks to the Center-Axle disconnect on the passenger side of the front axle, in 2wd, it would force a locker to drive the front geartrain from strictly the left front wheel, and would prematurely wear-out a limited-slip. A selectable locker that is an OPEN diff when disengaged will work wonders in the front end.

For the rear, pick your poison. I don't think there's a bad flavor in the house.

-Joe

 

"A locker or limited slip in the front end of a 97-03 F-150 won't work well in 2wd. Thanks to the Center-Axle disconnect on the passenger side of the front axle, in 2wd, it would force a locker to drive the front geartrain from strictly the left front wheel, and would prematurely wear-out a limited-slip."


This is true of many limited slips. I talked to Detroit Trutrac and this is not a problem with this type of limited slip that is used on a axle with the center axle disconnect. If you search this forum you'll find more information on that.

 

I've never gotten a concrete answer on this one from anyone..... How will it work? Won't it try to limit the differentiation between the right and left side axle shafts? In two wheel drive, when the CAD disconnects, in theory, the diff and driveshaft should stop turning, and the driver's side axle shaft should start spinning the spider gears, essentially differentiating the right and left spider gears 100%, right?

Now, if you connect those two axle shafts through a limited slip or torque-biasing unit like the Quaife, Torsen, or TruTrac styles, don't they still try to limit the amount of differentiation between the two sides? If so, wouldn't that result in more drag on the left wheel than on the right in 2wd? Wouldn't the gears also be slipping all the time? What am I missing here?

edit: I need to play with one a little more.... it's a little vague still. I understand how they work when being driven, but I still don't understand what allows them to spin when the side gear is being driven by the wheel....



I'm still not figgerin' out what allows it to freewheel in that direction, and, what happens if you're backing up?? Aren't they directional?

-Joe

 

That's a good question GIJoe. I am way fuzzy on the workings of a TrueTrac, but I think that one of its characteristics is that it provides practically zero resistance to differentiation when either side has near zero resistance. It has essentially zero preload in other words, unlike a conventional clutch-based differential. I know that hardcore rockcrawlers don't think too highly of the Truetrac for this reason. If they get a wheel in the air on radically uneven terrain, the TrueTrac is not much help. It apparently needs at least a little resistance on each side to cause the pinion gears to bind up in their little pockets and provide resistance to differentiation. One trick they use if that scenario happens with a Truetrac is a light application of the brakes, which can provide enough resistance to each side to cause the necessary bind-up of the pinion gears.

I think that it is this absence of preload that makes the Truetrac suitable for a CAD front axle.

 

That's the only thing that could cause it.... but here's my thought: If it's the rotational force applied to the housing and the resistance of the wheel that wedges the helical gears against the housing and locks it, what happens when you reverse the force? (i.e. drive the carrier in the reverse direction) Now the gears are wedged against the *other* end of the housing (because the force is reversed). Does it still lock-up? Does that make sense? The reverse forces are applied in the same direction as the forces encountered when driving down the road. So, the question becomes, how does the gearing know 'I'm backing up with a broken axle shaft' versus 'I'm driving down the road??'

For the record, Tate over at Randy's Ring and Pinion concurs with you: He, too, said it acts like an open diff when in 2wd. I've still got my doubts though....

As for the wheel-in-the-air thing, he mentioned that too. Having one wheel in the air is the same as having a broken axle shaft. It will still drive the one good wheel forward when power is supplied from the driveshaft/ring gear, but what if there is no resistance? (e.g. the axle shaft breaks, or the CAD fails to lock) Will the diff still lock?

I still don't get it.... anyone got one laying around I can *play* with?

-Joe

 

Thanks for the input. I'm a little sceptical now, but we'll see. I know installing it and then finding out it's not what I like will be expensive, but I guess that is what we have jobs for. If I ever get the stuff I'll let you know what happens. I do appreciate the help. Thank you.

 

The ARB air lockers are the best thing in the world for when you want real time locking power for offroad abilities. The only issue I can come up for with them is solely the fact that they require new O rings every 6 months per ARB. I don't remember which one it was, but I know that GM had been playing around a few years back with an electric based locker. Don't know if it was produced, but that would be ace! I had ARB's in a jeep I had, it was wonderful to have traction at the push of a button!