I feel compelled to post my feelings on running a "lunchbox" in the rear axle, on road, in the snow. I have read multiple posts, and reposts, with different feelings concerning lunchbox lockers while driving in snowy and icy road conditions with little feedback from drivers who have actually used them in these situations. I have just returned from a roadtrip that ran my Tacoma from the mountain passes of montana, to wyoming, idaho, and colorado. I drove primary and secondary roads, covered with solid ice, foot deep drifts, blowing snow, packed snow, and powder snow. The only condition I did not encounter for a considerable amount of time was slush.
Vehicle specs: 97 4wd Tacoma, 33" bfg mt, auto tranny, lockright locker in rear, axle with a considerable amount of weight in the bed.
Accelleration and decelleration on all winter conditions had very very little adverse affects, if any at all.
Patchey snow, and ice, where one side of the road is dry, and the other ice or snow, is where the lockright really shined. It gave great traction, and kept the truck extremely managable on these conditions with almost NO rear wheel slippage. A BIG plus in all aspects.
Powder snow(3+ inches or more on road surface) my truck handled as it did prior to lockright install. Very little if any noticable difference with or without locker.
Solid Ice on road. I encountered this where drifting and blowing snow would encounter the black sun warmed roads, and thus melt instantly covering the roads with a 1/2" of solid ice. Suprisingly I was able to keep a 40 to 45 mph pace, keeping a feel for any wheel slippage so I can react with slight decelleration to prevent my rear end from sliding to the lower side of the road. Not a big deal, I ran at least 50 miles of SOLID ice on flat roads.
Packed snow: Packed roads, completely covered, but packed from other vehicles passing over multiple times. These conditions I was able to run 50+ mph, and had great traction. No adverse affects.
Mountain Passes with extremely sharp curves covered in snow/ice:
Truck will want to understeer a bit because of slightly more traction in the back than in front. Had to keep this in mind. However, where if other vehicles would stop, they would not have the traction to get moving again, whereas my locked truck would. I'm not sure if this is because of added weight or a direct result of the locked rear end.
Well I hope this helps all those inquiries where people are questioning the use of lockers in snow. I had a thorough testing opportunity on this roadtrip and was pleased with the manners, and drive-ability of my lunchbox locked tacoma 4x4.
-Chad