I recommend to anyone a Detroit/Eaton Truetrac. Unsurpassed relability and complete predictablility. Quiet, smooth traction LSD. Great in the snow and ice.

 

Shoot... Ice means slow going to me.

I lock my hubs when it's bad out and just ease'er in-to and out-of gear when it looks slick ahead.


On a side note, that's something my IFS would NEVER do. That thing wouldn't go 10 feet on a hard surface w/o binding.

My 84 goes fine in a straight line, and has minimal bind in the turns.

 

gets better mileage than my Tahoe (DD) so it would be nice if I need to use 4x4 during the winter not to have it pull straight when I turn (aussie f/r)

my old '84 was locked f/r when I lived it Alaska...didn't use 4x4 that much on the road

 

Alright time for a Canadian to jump into the "snow and ice" talk. *Props to the guy in Alaska*
Winter hit in Canada probably end of october mid november.
We got lots of snow. When you get snow, everyone just spins their tires like mad trying to get traction, creating ice sheets at ALL the intersections.
I've been driving around with only 2wd this entire winter so far, not by choice, so I learnt.
My tires are 12.5" wide BFG A/T's, way too wide for icy roads (snow tires are skinny and lots of siping, many provinces it's mandatory to have winter tires).
I don't have any trouble getting around. You just have to be smart.
A spinning tire doesn't get any more traction.
Accelerate SLOWLY so the tires don't spin, shift up if it spins. I've had my truck start in 3rd to get going. It lugs but it goes without spinning the tires (aka TRACTION).
Climbing an icy hill, if you're too high in the power band (trying to accelerate up the hill), it'll spin. Shift up, it'll slow down, but you'll make it up the hill.
If you start to slide out going to the road, ease off the gas and steer where you want to go.
4x4 only helps you go faster on ice, it doesn't help you stop or turn. It's funny how many people don't understand this.
Drive slower. A crash at 50 km/h will do less than damage than 120 km/h.
And when it's super icy out, it may not be you that spun out and caused the accident.

 

Now i finally understand why lockers are bad on snow and ice, thank you!

 

It's never stopped me. And it's ALOT safer in any kind of off-camber situation. Get both tires spinnin', you're goin' STRAIGHT in the ditch.

I'll tell ya what really DOES put a halt on things, and it ain't open diffs:

1. Like I said, lack of traction AT THE TIRES. They won't slip if they HAVE traction. Tread pattern + tread depth + siping = Add studs or better yet chains = ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for anything but open diffs. You'll just be burying yourself right and left with a locker or LSD(bring a shovel...have fun diggin'!).

2. Not enough weight over the rear tires. I can go miles farther and feet deeper with my bed full. Even with open diffs and nearly bald tires without chains or studs. Weight makes a HUGE difference.

I might cope alright with a locker/LSD in the snow and ice, but I've never felt the need for it. And I do about 80% of my wheeling in the snow or on icy roads. Frequently snow up to the frame rails, or deeper(which is good and deep with 35s and a 2" suspension lift). So I definitely know what works(and what don't). As a matter of fact I consider my snow wheeling abilities to be FINELY honed, and a heckuvva lot better than anybody I've wheeled with. I've gotten my truck in and out of spots you would not believe. Especially for somebody with no lockers/LSDs(yeah...whatever...who needs 'em?)

 

I get around better with my 33x12.5" MUD tires than I did with any of the other tires I ever used, including top of the line Cooper studded tires, non-studded winter/ice tires, etc. I have only locked my brakes once this winter, and we have been having some nasty ice. I have no problem at intersections (4x4), but even then, with those other tires, I still spun once in a while. They also throw down gravel almost every-other night at intersections and icy turns I think it has to do with being geared too high for 33s :hillbill. Also, power braking, theshold braking, and slowing down long ebfore intersections.
Also-also, being able to predict the actions of other drivers, keeping your distance, and knowing how long a light will stay green

 

I've got a True-Trac in the rear of my '94 Pickup. In winter I keep 350lbs of sand bags over the axle. Traction is fantastic, and the truck goes many places (like the off camber hill in my back yard that ices over) that it had issues with before.

I love having the LSD out back. As long as you're not gassing it around corners you don't slide at all. You just get traction and go. It works much, MUCH better if you've got weight over the rear axle, as MudHippy stated. With no weight it gets a little squirrely out back, but is controllable and predictable. I haven't come across any on-road situation where I wished the rear was still open.

Yep, I love it. I'd like to pop one in the front differential as well, as my truck is mostly a DD. Ideally, I'd like to put a Supra diff or modified SFA to work with IFS/Supra axles and a LSD in front, and e-locker or ARB out back. I think the weight of the motor over the LSD would be nice, plus open diff in the rear unless I locked it.

I wish that ARB would make a differential that's a True-Trac when unlocked, and a locker when locked. LOL. I'd be first in line!

 

go back and adjust your brakes. one side is probably self adjusting and the other side isn't working. causing one side to brake harder then the other. causing that one side to lock up and the other side to roll. tricking the locker into thinking its turning.

and for the love of god. just learn to drive. she gets squirmy pull your foot out of the gas. who really gives a crap if you have super awesome selectable lockers. get some decent meat and drive your truck. threads like this scare the new crowd into thinking they have to drop mad money in selectable lockers.

just learn how to drive and adjust.

i just took my locked up runner out to do some minor rock crawling up in the hills. once you kicked the 3 inches of snow off it was solid ice underneath. probably a good inch or more. and after the third rig was up and over most of that snow was gone. and we had like 8. and i was playing recovery man the whole time for the little guys.

learn how to drive what you got. no mod is greater then a driver mod.

 

Love to see 2 foot of snow like the tv is saying ....got pics?

 

I know they've got two feet up in the mountains but I'm not going up there by myself, I'll try to get some pictures of the snow drifts around here for you though, some are deep enough to lose a German Shepard in.


edit: Here is a quick shot of one of the drifts. In some places the road is almost entirely covered, a few tracks here and there but nothing too crazy.

 

 

That's pretty good for Albuquerque....

 

You guys dont know snow, this is where i used to live in colorado, this is a paved road.

 

Avalanche zone?

 

Tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires and tires!!!!

Don't blame the locker.


Tread compound makes all the difference in the snow and ice. Truck tires start with a very hard compound, and as with almost all tires, the compound gets harder as they wear.

4WD does almost nothing unless you want to go fast, which is only going to get you into trouble. True 4WD can help make sure that all 4 tires spin the same speed while breaking (instead of locking the fronts long before the rears), but if you've got decent tires, it won't make much difference.


Traction devices is very much a personal preference thing. Having one means you have to keep your foot out of the throttle. Yea, if both tires on the same axle are spinning, you're probably going sideways. But manage the wheelspin properly, and by sending equalish torque to both wheels, you'll have a much more predictable result.



My little FWD '92 Celica with oversized blizzaks on it has been absolutely unstoppable this winter. We have had the most snow this year as long as I've lived in Duluth, and I still haven't shoveled my parking spot. Even over the bank left from the snow plow.



that's without much weight over the driven wheels, and without 4WD. I would love to get an LSD in it, but AFAIK there isn't one that would fit, and being a transaxle, very difficult to install.

 

It's the locker. Not the tires, I don't care what kinda of tires you got if one tires spins and the locker engages it's the same thing as either punching the gas pedal on ice or dumping the clutch while still rolling to the next lowest gear. The traction tire has just gone from 1500 rpm to 3000+ rpm in less than a second. This in turn fishtails the back end. This is highly unpredictable with a lunchbox. It's more manageable and predicable with a full time locker like the ARB or even a spool because you are not gonna have that big jolt to the traction tire and is all controlled by the skinny pedal.

The lsd will still allow that tire to spin without locking the other side if the speed difference is great enough.

 

I absolutely love my LSD in my '97 and hate my open's in my '79 Chevies. The opens are terrible. The friction brake idea is good in theory, but once the tire thats spinning grabs traction it'll just throw it to the other tire which is on ice as well. It's the ˟˟˟˟s. I have mud-terrains on my K10 and just some 40k nearly worn out all-terrains on my 97 and I'd much rather drive that.


Besides it doesn't bounce you to death.

 

Yes with my rear disk conversion if I'm coming to a stop and one rear tire hits some ice it's going to lock up. Which causes the other side to either ratchet violently or lock up completely. Front end will do the same thing if the hubs are locked. Just have to watch the road and plan ahead. I've got 2 years running 37's 38's 39.5's on lunchbox lockers and I'm still alive. Just drive accordingly.

 

I've got a tightened down LSD in the rear end of my truck now. I will have to comment on this thread when it snows again. And up here in Canada, that might not be too far away...