I suppose i should have mentioned that my limited slip is also the trutrac. Sorry.

 

Curious why a ARB up front and a Truetrac in the rear?

Seems backwards...

 

Having the ARB up front lets you pick when you want it locked or not. On snowy roads when you want 4WD, you don't want a front locker. Or in rocks, having the front diff 100% open is much easier to turn. It's selectable, which means for me that it's left off almost all the time and only locked when I need it to be.

 

Simply a question of economics. I bought gears, and a truetrac for the rear. I had those installed.

I then had money for a locker, and my thought was to lock the front, since i'd just had the rear done, and eliminate any open diff whatsoever.

Turns out the Truetrac behaves just like an open diff anyway, so it wasn't that much of a gain, but it does perform nicely on snowy roads, so i get open/LSD to Spool/LSD at the push of a button.

However, can't wait to get rid of it.

 

BAH, so many opinions and only one decision to make...

 

This is exactly right, Limited Slip in the rear is always on, but in the front-with steering - a limited makes things more difficult. With the ARB up front I can choose to have an open diff on the streets and only lock it when I need it and it will benefit me.

 

I love my full detroit in my rear end. Road manners are great and it performs like a king off-road. at $511 its a little bit more than the lockrite, but its so worth it to me. However if you do decide to do a lunchbox DO NOT use a Detroit EZ-Locker. We installed it 3 times, before taking it to a shop, where it still would not work correctly on the road. Every few seconds it would jerk and ratchet all over the place. Also ive heard that the lunchbox lockers werent meant to be used in a vehicle with tires larger than 33". Personnally i think that last statement is kinda BS.

 

Dont get a locker up front unless you have duals, twinstick or selectable, it bites... Especially with the 4.7s all that torque = no turning i dont care if you are arnold you need hydro assist or full hydro

 

Okay, suppose that as part of Phase One on my truck it only involves gears and a rear locker. I found a place that will send me an open 3rd for the front with Yukon gears, and I can get the rear from Marlin with Yukon gears and a Detroit.

Would it be a wise idea to use two different units built by two different companies? The company with the open diff comes highly recommended to me. I wish I could do dual ARB's but that is not in the cards for quite awhile since there are things that I think would suit me better in the beginning.

 

Oh yeah, the difference between built thirds with lock-rites f/r and the open front with the detroit rear is pennies.

 

Well, if i were you id get the lock rites up front and rear and just buy a 170 twin stick from fror. It shouldnt matter as long as the gear ratio is the same.

 

Problem with that is I have the auto...completely different t-case. When I get the auto adapter and a 5-speed t-case I will do that.

 

I was under the impression that a Truetrac is noticably better than a clutch style limeted slip. I'm putting a Lockright in the back of mine and considered a Truetrac for the front. I had read that it will allow you to steer like normal but send power to the wheel on the ground. I don't think anyone mentioned it but a locker in the front with IFS is a recipe for broken CV joints. Obviously this doesn't apply to your 85 but thought I'd post that tidbit for the newbs

 

why don't you just regear and get a lock rite in the rear. Im happy with mine. Should still provide a big improvement over what you have now. Save and get a selectable for the front later if you really need one.

 

I've decided to go with detroit and 5.29's in the rear and an open with 5.29's in the front.

 

all your weight is up front, why wouldnt u want to run a locker up front? the front tires are basicaly what pull you up hills in 4x4.

 

I think that most will agree that an auto locker up front is a poor choice. What gets me is advocating getting an ARB up front and a lock right or similar in the rear....if you're going to go to all the trouble to do one ARB why not just save a few hundred more dollars and get both. You have to buy the compressor anyway....If you spend 2-300 on a auto locker, you were just 400 bucks from a ARB. Why waste 300 bucks on the auto locker? Just wait 3 months and buy the ARB the first time.

 

If you get a locker in the front you also risk the birfs! i run 35s locked front and rear with a reg. tcase and they were fine, but im easy on my stuff. BUT with the 4.7 gears all that damn torque will rip your axle to pieces.

Personally i plan on running a welded 5.29 and an aussie 5.29 in the front, with a twin stick and longs. it will be nice and trouble free with no problems with air.

 

How does an LSD perform so much better in snow and ice??? ...and suck in all other situations?

When there is little to no traction on either tire at the same time the TrueTrac (thats with an "e" btw) acts exactly as an autolocker. It's only when ONE tire has NO resistance does it stop working.

Stick your rig with a TrueTrac on a muddy hill, it'll slide down butt first in 4x4. Just like a Detroit, ARB, Aussie, Loc-rite will. Both tires spin in any situation other than one tire beating the air.

If you have poor flex in the rear end the TrueTrac will cause you a lot of grief and IMO probably be just as effective as an open differential in 'flexy' situations.

... oh and i still wouldnt put a full locker upfront in any case, ARB or not. I've never been in a situation where I didn't need to steer.