Recently got a pretty bad diff leak on my rear, and last time it was in the shop i was told it would need a rebuild soon, so that has me thinking about lockers while I'm opening the diff anyway.

I currently have a factory Limited Slip in the rear, and an open front. My mechanic suggests that i should max out what i can get for lockers in the rear before even thinking about the front, however a couple buddies of mine are telling me that i should put a locker in the front because i already have something in the back.

I do a bit of wheeling on muddly trails, with some mild rock crawling, however i plan to hit some pretty serious snow when December hits, which is my main priority for getting a locker. However there seems to be some controversy with lockers in the snow as well, either keep it open or get a selectable locker, as they can be a hindrance on some snowy parts. I don't want to drop 3k on getting air lockers so i would get something around the price range of a detroit or get nothing at all. I do daily this rig as well.

What are your thoughts?

 

I have the same problem with a leaky diff seal in my 93, 365,000 miles on it. I swear I read everything there is to read on which lockers to get for what, and everybody's opinion from a lunchbox to race quality selectables. The detroits seemed to be a popular option, landing at around $600 for my rig, but a lot of people really had problems with how they performed on the road. I ultimately decided to fork up the dough for an ARB selectable rear locker. I found it on sale through Summit Racing for $1100 with the compressor. The customer satisfaction was nearly 100% from all the reviews and articles I read, and I really like the idea of being able to turn it off on the interstate. Rear first seems to be a widely accepted place to start. As far as function, I can't comment as I have yet to install it. I'm in the middle of a 3.4 swap, but once that's complete I'll be installing the ARB.

 

Lockers are a mixed blessing on snow and ice. A little too much power and all you'll do is go sideways.

Selectable is always best, but I really do like my Powertrax NoSlip.

A little learning curve on how to remove torque beginning a hard surface turn, but very little banging and no racheting.

 

I think the question is, when do you need more traction for the type of driving you do?
dif selection is very specific to individual needs and preferences.

Locking the front means you only deal with the idiosyncracies of a locker when youre in 4wd, which is convenient.

 

My main reason to get lockers would be for snow wheeling, however i daily the vehicle as well. I'm told that detroits wouldn't be too bad for normal city driving.

I don't want to spend the money on getting air/selectable lockers, and since lockers on snow can be hit or miss, i just wanted to hear what everyone's opinion was. If i should just stick with the Limited slip, or if i should put a detroit.

 

Lockers are most useful when the two wheels on an axle see widely different traction; i.e., one wheel is lifted while the other one is on a good traction surface. For snow, in most cases the wheels see roughly similar traction, so the advantage of a locker is not nearly as great. A limited slip like the TrueTrac may be a better fit, and will behave better under normal driving conditions.

As far as front vs rear, here are my pros/cons on it.
- Steering is easier with the locker in the rear
- A locker doubles the maximum torque you can apply to a single wheel. The rear axle is generally stronger than the front CV axles, therefore less chance of breakage with the locker in the rear
- A front locker is superior to a rear locker when climbing ledges, especially if one front wheel is lifted in the process.
- If you have manual hubs, a front automatic locker is completely transparent on the street.

My '06 AWD 4runner with open diffs and center diff is far superior on snow and ice (street driving) than my '94 with a front Aussie and a rear TrueTrac.

 

A front locker is 100% more logical in my opinion. Unnoticeable when not in 4WD, and superior offroad. If you don't an LSD or selectable locker in the rear, it is going to be dog ˟˟˟˟ on the road. Chirping tires around every corner. I vote rebuild your current axle and just add a selectable or lunchbox up front.

 

Ok thanks, this is what I was leading towards. I would be getting manual hubs in the front too so it would be that much better.

If anyone else has a different opinion please let me know, I'm all ears.

 

I know you are probably looking for a new diff, but if you want to stop the leak this ATP-205 reseal is doing wonders for my power steering and is even promoted but Scotty Kilmer (brutally honest mechanic who doesn’t get paid to promote products) on YouTube. Says it works on differentials as well.

Here’s an Amazon link

 

Pretty sure the seal is pretty blown out. My diff breather got stuck and i went through some cold water, which inevitably led to something blowing. I have since done the diff breather mod but have not replaced the seal yet.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Scotty really isn't a good mechanic. He is just a loud wrencher with a large following. He promotes unsafe and questionable practices, like it is perfectly okay to get under a car with only a floor jack holding up the vehicle (hint, use jack stands so you don't get killed when the jack hydraulics fail), and he really doesn't diagnose problems either. For the past year or so, he has almost exclusively been making click-bait videos.

I also don't advocate the use of stop leak type of products. They don't actually fix the problem, as the bad seal is still there, it just band-aids the problem for a while, with the possibility of making a mess of the system you put it in.

Check out South Main Auto, Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics, Diagnose Dan, among others.

 

understand what you are saying, but his video on the product was at least 7 years old, he’s clearly helped a lot of people over the years, and I know the stuff is ultimately a band aid, but they can certainly buy you time on an already failing part of you need to save money or just don’t want to put tons of time and effort into one of our trucks that are 30 years old with 200000+ miles.

What I do know is my power steering leak has stopped, and it’s still working. We will obviously see how long it holds as the gearbox already had shot seals

 

After doing a ton more research, it seems like if I am building something for snow/ice I either want selectable or open front and back, but a lot of the posts were also saying the biggest factor is the driver and the style of driving, and that if you are good enough anything can work.

Honestly what I might do is just keep my current setup as it is (unless I can find a used front locker for cheap), and rebuild the diffs myself. I still have lots of time to think about this, I'm still thinking of regearing when I get bigger tires.


On another note, how difficult is rebuilding a rear diff? I'm somewhat competent with mechanics but the diff is something I have not yet delved into yet.

 

I don't know why there is this perpetuation of a mechanical locker or spool being hard to control in the snow. I have had a Spartan locker in my rig for 8 years now and it's fantastic in the snow. I had them front and rear. Front spartan locker when locked made steering nearly impossible and wrecked my alignment every time I used it. I used to only lock one hub until I really needed both wheels to turn then get out and lock the other hub. Now I am solid axle swapped and I have a selectable front. I love having the spartan in the rear though. Best 250 I have ever spent.

 

i've run a rear lock-right in my cj-5 for a long time; i had no problems driving it in snow or ice, but i'm not a throttle masher, either. can i make it slide around? sure, but it hasn't happened unintentionally. the cj-5 has a short wheelbase, too (84"). the locker does ratchet on corners on dry surfaces, but it isn't objectionable; hardly noticeable after about a month of driving it. the traction more than makes up for the noises and slighlty harsher feel.