mpavolka

So I have been driving through the worst snow, ice, and mud that I have ever seen for the past two weeks. Stopping and going in snow up to the rocker pannels is tough and I am looking for more than my stock 4 wheel drive system in providing, however I do not want to deal with electric or air lockers so I was thinking a limited slip for the rear would be the way to go. I don't want one with clutches so the Detroit Tru-Trac looked good, is there a better one and what rear end would a 99' V6 5-Speed 4x4 4Runner have? Any help would be great.

Nuthuts96

iTrader: (1)

I can't comment on the type of locker you could use (i have no clout in that area) but I have the same setup as you, and I was under the impression I had 4.10 gears=5speed V6. Some autos came with 4.30 gears (especially factory locked), and some 4cyl's were even equipped with the elusive 4.56 gears. I bet if you called up the local ring/pinion place in Everett, they'd get you set up with what you need. They seem like a national leader in rear ends...RANDY'S

mpavolka

Yea I will check that place out, however every limited slip says either 7.5" or 8", and then there are even different versions of those?

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

the rear is for the V6 8" while the front is 7.5". Trutrac rear part number is 911A342 while the front is 913A321.

ninjarunner

Why not electric or air locker? they are the best besides the cable driven Ox locker?? a limited slip is cool, but just lock it all the way when you want it and have an open when you dont, the open is absolutely the best on ice.

MadCityRich

I've been chewing over the idea of a limited slip in my 4Runner for a while. I think that for street driving a limited slip is a better option than a locker. A LSD will be useful in any conditions and work automatically, and won't cause issues when making a turn. In seriously slick roads, a locker may be a bit better, but I see the LSD as being more generally useful. For off-road situations, a locker is definitely better, though a limited slip still seems pretty useful.

My experience with limited slips comes from driving older BMWs in the winter. Rear wheel drive + limited slip + winter tires made for nearly flawless slick condition operations.

Dat's ma apinion

MadCityRich

j-man

i put truetrac's in 2 of my runners and they work flawlessly. Perfect for dezert sand and snow country.

mpavolka

I know those would probably be better but I don't want the hassal of having to deal with air and price of and electronic one. I am in school and while I can maybe afford a limited slip I really don't have the time to install and maintain and air or electric locker.

bigt

an e locker is alot eaiser on your truck because they did come as an option... it might be cheaper if you have junkyards and some time to do some easy mods...

kmcaprice14

I'm just another non locked 4runner owner who may be talking out his ass... but I was always under the impression that the LSDs available for the Runner were much more clunky and harsh than the ones in an older BMW, or the Torsen in my IS300. Im most afraid of the LSD being too aggressive and interfering with turns in the 4runner, or causing me too loose control with a little slip around a turn. I am leaning towards the air locker just for this reason, but if the LSDs are really daily drivable, I have a lot more to consider... I will be watching this thread.

j-man

true trac's arent exactly LSD's - theyre gear driven posi's which means no clutch packs to wear out. I only know theres a posi in the rear of it when i hit the gas in a corner and both wheels hook up - theres absolutely no funny stuff for on road driving - and thats with 265-75-16" bfg at's.

I think theyre great for mild - moderate applications. if your running big meats and doing crawling and such - prob not the best idea - but for sand, snow - normal driving - theyre a lot better than being open.

and you can pick them up at downey offroad for $350 +- and another $300 or so for install (at a gear shop) plus any bearings/seals you might need to replace while your in there.

kmcaprice14

And no issues with unpredictable power delivery/unexpected lock up when turning on wet pavement?

PS... thanks for the info

mpavolka

Where I have ended up lately has been stuck in 20" of snow on the pavement, and then driving too fast in ice on the freeways and highways. I am hip with the LSD in the snow, but I worry about it on the ice. Have you driven it much in fairly high speeds on ice (30-50 mph)? Can you feel that True-Trac engage at all? I could care less however sometimes that might be all it would need to bring the back around in the ice.

MadCityRich

Why are you driving 30 to 50 mph on ice? Limited slip vs locker is the least your worries.

I've never experienced a limited slip causing the back end of a vehicle to spin around. With a clutch type limited slip, if one wheel is slipping nearly completely, a portion of the engine's torque, but not all the torque is applied to the non-slipping wheel. So long as you don't have the springs set too tightly, there will be no lockup in normal driving. I don't see ice problems here as you generally won't get sudden lockups.

With a torsen limited slip, which is what the Tru-Trac sounds like, you have a torque multiplier based on the level of slip. The trick here is that if one wheel is completely slipping, you get no torque sent to the other wheel. That might be the case if a wheel was in the air. But it you have just a bit of traction, you get the torque multiplier sent to your "sticky" wheel. The way I understand it, if you can support 25 lb-ft of torque on the low-traction side, your torque bias is 4:1, you would get 100 lb-ft of torque on the high traction side. I could see some issues with this type of setup if you suddenly cross the threshold to the torque bias lockup. In theory, you could end up with an oversteer situation.

I also don't get how a driver can really tell, when driving at a good clip, when it's safe or necessary to turn on the locker. Seems to me you could get into all sorts of high speed problems with ice or other concerns with a locker, way easier than with a limited slip of any type. If you are on ice and decide turn on the locker, your non-slip wheel would suddenly get tons of torque, causing a bad situation.

But I don't really know, I'm just speculating. It seems that the main issue is having sudden and extreme changes in torque to a non-slip wheel.

MadCityRich

AxleIke

Okay, to the OP, I think I can help you out here.

Let me give you a bit of history.

I had a Detroit true trac for a couple years. I now run dual ARB's.

I ditched the Truetrac for the air lockers because of the type of wheeling I do.

For the type of driving/wheeling you are describing, however, the Truetrac will be PERFECT.

The true trac was WONDERFUL on icy snowy roads. Just enough open to be predictable, and just enough locked to give me two rear wheels spinning to start off. It is silent, has absolutely ZERO clunks, and is unnoticeable while driving. You will seriously not know its there. (that was part of the reason I got rid of it, as it was about useless beyond easy trail riding). But on road, its a dream.

The reason I went with ARBs was mainly because of how ridiculous an autolocker was on the road, and because of how super awesome they are, but I digress. I NEVER, EVER use my arb's for slick hwy driving. Best way I can think of to end up in the ditch. I use them in the snow, but only when I'm trying to go through really deep stuff. The true trac performed well in that area too.

I think you will be VERY pleased with the truetrac performance in your truck. For what you are describing, an elocker or airlocker would be a waste of money.

mpavolka

I drive quite a bit on open highways in Northern Idaho, I was just asking I am not saying I look to 50mph on ice and snow.

Yea the changes in torque are whay scare me! From what AxleIke says it seems like it would work fine. I an a pretty cautious driver and I would think if I can't feel it engage than it would not bother me.

Anybody ever used a powertrax lockright, the true-trac seems good I only ask because this one is cheaper, way easier to install, and also doesn't have clutches? Would a lockright have a smooth enough operation to perform well on ice?

MadCityRich

I agree, I'm liking the sound of the Tru Trac.

What is the implication of the Tru Trac and changing gear ratios? If I have 4.30 gears now and do a Tru Trac, is there any reason I couldn't use the same Tru Trac if I went to 4.88 gears?

MadCityRich

notanymore

a little off topic, but how do tru-tracs in the front affect snow/ice handling?

AxleIke

You will be fine. As long as you don't have factory 4.88's, you can run any gear ratio you want.

I don't want to speak for her, but I believe Lysmachia likes hers? She either likes it or hates it in the snow.

I know she hates it on the trail, but i was pretty sure she liked it in the snow.

Can you tell that I don't know for sure?

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

I really liked my front TT in snow and ice:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/TrueTrac.shtml#Impressions