what are they exactly. i go offroading in my truck****** try! and always get stuck so i looked int some stuf and heard LOCKERS get thrown around. i was wondering if someone could tell me a little about them either from expirience or just knowledge and possibly tell me where i could pick one up. thanks

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locking_differential

A locking differential (locker) ensures that you'll get power to both wheels on your axle, instead of just one wheel spinning it way to the bottom of whatever you're stuck in.
An option to that is a limited-slip differential (a factory option on some trucks). This uses a clutch setup to let the wheels turn independantly of each other to a certain extent...like when you're turning a corner on hard-surface roads...but if you're in the sand or mud they'll spin together for better traction.

Jegs, Summit, or pretty much any off-road shop can get you set up with either style. You're looking at roughly a $700 investment per axle for the parts plus whatever for install.

I checked out your profile truck and I see you're running a 2wd with A/Ts. What type of off-roading do you do? Sand? Mud?
And how serious do ya get? Die-hard? Or are you just rolling back in the woods a ways to go camping?
Those are all determining factors in how you want to set your rig up.
You might want to move up to an M/T or go with a wider tire depending on the terrain you run.

My personal recommendation would be to move up to a 4WD for off-roading but I've done the run-what-ya-brung thing with a few 2WDs in the past too.
Best thing you can do is get a little more weight over the rear axle too...even with a locker or limited-slip if the rear is too light you'll still just sit and spin both tires.

 

thanks, i dont do serious off roading just light maor stuf mostly sand actually but evey know and then a little mud. i was looking at the lockers because i figured they could get me through most of the light stuff. you sem to know alot, do you have personal expirience with these?

 

for the occasional ride through the mud pits and a trip down a sand strip you should be fine with a 2 wd even through 4 wd is nice. did your truck come stock with a limited slip axel if it did in light off road situations a locker isn't going to do a lot more for you that a properly working LS for off roading a 2 wd (and even a 4wd) i would bring a friend with a truck a tow strap and make sure you have a good set of tires on your truck.

 

For just occasional use, yeah then you can get by with the 2wd and either a regular limited-slip or a locker. Like KDRacing posted, have you checked the axle code in your truck and does it already have limited slip or is it just the regular "open" axle?

If some sand and mud with more street driving then I'd look into a limited-slip rearend instead of a full locker. A locker really comes into it's own when you're out doing some real hard digging and especially rock crawling, but it will cause a bit more tire wear than a limited slip when driving on-road too because the tires can't turn as free during cornering.

If mostly sand use, I'd look at some wider tires for a little better float. They'll help in the mud too. That, plus some form of limited-slip rear axle with a little extra weight out back and you should get along pretty good.

A tow rope and a buddy's truck is also a good idear!

We don't have much sand up here so I'm not too sure on the perfect recipe for that. Plus my wheeling rig nowadays is a little 4x4 Nissan four-banger, which is a completely different machine than the old 76 Heavy-Half F150 I ran a few years back...The Nissan has limited slip front and back and I built it up mainly for back-country crawling and ice/snow instead of running the mud. It runs 235/15 A/Ts where my old 76 was also limited-slip front and rear with 32" M/Ts (the Ford was setup for diggin mud.). The only time I've run a locker rear-end is in my bracket racing MoPars...have a few friends with lockers in their trucks but mostly on die-hard off-road rigs.