Ok, today’s the day I order my parts. Any thoughts on Yukon Grizzly locker? They claim it’s the same Detroit design but stronger and better warranty.
Gears in 10 days: Locker or LSD?
- Thread starter Jaime313
- Start date
What just happened to my thread
The internet, of course
along those same lines this is really interesting:
Sunder
TJ Enthusiast
I have a Ford 8.8 rear axle, with a TruTrac and 33"/35" tires (depending on the season).
I used to have a Dana 35 with a worn out factory Trac-loc LSD and 33" tires, which I ran for over 10 years.
I never had an "issue" with the rear axle, but I also was very careful.
Warranties don't get you home, I'd go for the real deal.
@Jaime313 ... based off the details in your op... i would just run a front lunchbox and lsd rear. Your jeep is capable now.. and very capable with a front lunchbox. Simple, sweet, done.
If you still want a rear locker, being in California.. we have nearly every terrain within 2 hrs of any direction, so I would want a vehicle that can hit up all types.. including snow.
So a rear selectable would be ideal.. An Eaton Elocker is probably the least expensive.
Keep in mind the front lunchbox isnt the best choice for snow, but should behave better than a locked rear in snow.
If you still want a rear locker, being in California.. we have nearly every terrain within 2 hrs of any direction, so I would want a vehicle that can hit up all types.. including snow.
So a rear selectable would be ideal.. An Eaton Elocker is probably the least expensive.
Keep in mind the front lunchbox isnt the best choice for snow, but should behave better than a locked rear in snow.
Benjeepn
Member
Here's my analogy with traction devices and stereos.
LSD...cheap stereo...it may work, it may not... just keep hitting on it and maybe it might work (slightly better than nothing)
Truetrac...average stereo...lacks some bass (not the best but usually gets the job done for most)
Automatic locker... great stereo...controll knob is STUCK on and turned up, if you don't like the song, wait till the next track (it's there and it works, you just can't turn it off)
Selectable locker... good stereo...(adjustable to what you want)
LSD...cheap stereo...it may work, it may not... just keep hitting on it and maybe it might work (slightly better than nothing)
Truetrac...average stereo...lacks some bass (not the best but usually gets the job done for most)
Automatic locker... great stereo...controll knob is STUCK on and turned up, if you don't like the song, wait till the next track (it's there and it works, you just can't turn it off)
Selectable locker... good stereo...(adjustable to what you want)
Just to chime in and give some additional insight I've had with the lunchbox lockers. I got the cheapest possible when I first got tired of watching 2 wheels spin and I did like it off-road and it was loud and there was some wheel hop around town, but it was a spare vehicle.
My wife drove it in the snow and she uses lots of throttle and brake depending on the speed she wants to go at the time. She had a lot of trouble with Spartan lunchbox locker. After several years, it's great off-road, but on-road and any tight turns that I tend to do a lot more now, I'm planning to go back to open for the time being.
I do like the price of the autos, but when I beef up my rear I'm going to regear and I think I'm just going to save up for selectable front and back, because I don't want to get back in there again. 30 spline in the rear, but I think I'll just go 27 spline in the front with revolution axles (I won't be going over 35" tires). Also I plan to stay with 27 spline axles because my on road gear ratio is weird and there's not a lot of 30 spline selectable lockers available, but I do think OX makes one (I'll beat that dead horse when I've got the money saved). It's going to take some time to save up, but imo it beats buying a new vehicle. Saving a couple hundred a month because I don't have any vehicle payments can sometimes lead to fun builds.
My wife drove it in the snow and she uses lots of throttle and brake depending on the speed she wants to go at the time. She had a lot of trouble with Spartan lunchbox locker. After several years, it's great off-road, but on-road and any tight turns that I tend to do a lot more now, I'm planning to go back to open for the time being.
I do like the price of the autos, but when I beef up my rear I'm going to regear and I think I'm just going to save up for selectable front and back, because I don't want to get back in there again. 30 spline in the rear, but I think I'll just go 27 spline in the front with revolution axles (I won't be going over 35" tires). Also I plan to stay with 27 spline axles because my on road gear ratio is weird and there's not a lot of 30 spline selectable lockers available, but I do think OX makes one (I'll beat that dead horse when I've got the money saved). It's going to take some time to save up, but imo it beats buying a new vehicle. Saving a couple hundred a month because I don't have any vehicle payments can sometimes lead to fun builds.
The stereo analogy was Awesome! Lol, I will try out the Torq Auto in the front and the Detroit in the rear. If I don’t like it then keep putting money aside for selectable lockers and be pissed that I didn’t do it in the first place. Thanks for the feedback guys!
Can you provide a link to the exact model Torq Auto locker you're considering for your front axle?
You were having issues with the lunchbox locker on paved roads when in 2wd, outside of the normal clicking of the spartan and Aussie?
I installed that one in the rear, as people mentioned that with the AWD you have with the np249 that the front would lock up occasionally and wasn't a good candidate in the front.
I don't know if it's still available either I believe the locker was Spartan which was very similar to the Aussie. I might add that swapping those in and out is very simple. I was sent the wrong locker 2 or 3 times which was fun.
That's why it was misbehaving so badly and why you were experiencing wheel hop. A rear axle is never a good location for a lunchbox locker. That's because it's always receiving torque/power from the engine which makes it nearly impossible for it to be able to unlock through turns which is why yours crow-hopped through turns.
@jazngab you would not have problems with a lunchbox locker on the street in 2wd with it being installed into the front axle. Front-mounted lunchbox lockers unlock easily during turns on the street when you're in 2wd which keeps them well-behaved. It's only when you're in 4x4 (4Hi or 4Lo) when a front-mounted lunchbox locker become harder to turn.
Sorry I keep forgetting possibly vital info. One reason for going back to open is that I want to set up my ZJ so my wife can use it occasionally for going to work and she just doesn't accelerate or brake smoothly so she's not a good candidate for that particular locker.
Also the AWD and stuff gives her some additional stability without going back and forth with engaging and disengaging 4wd.
Another point that may or may not be factually correct, but I felt with one axle locked and my tcase locked that even the front applied a bit more torque to the front wheel that had traction. Maybe I just found some binding issue, which was a problem from some po work I slowly discovered.
Also the AWD and stuff gives her some additional stability without going back and forth with engaging and disengaging 4wd.
Another point that may or may not be factually correct, but I felt with one axle locked and my tcase locked that even the front applied a bit more torque to the front wheel that had traction. Maybe I just found some binding issue, which was a problem from some po work I slowly discovered.
That’s what I thought. I was under the impression he had the locker in the front not the rear. I have zero issues with a lunchbox up front.
Yeah I've always seen it's better for front but when you've got AWD you either have to go selectable (which I couldn't afford at the time) or deal with those problems, which are actually only situational and driver error unfortunately. Actually it may be terrible in TJs. The ZJ is kinda long relatively.
I would worry that turning offroad would be harder in 4wd with an auto locker in the front.
An open or locked axle can only split the torque 50:50. So whether one tire or the other has better traction, both still receive an exactly equal 50:50 split of the torque.
And yes even an open axle always (!) splits the torque 50-50 between the left and right sides. Yes I realize that may not seem intuitively correct when seeing one side's tire spin while the other side is not moving but it's true. WIth an open axle, the engine can only deliver as much torque through an axle as it takes to make one side spin. Once one tire begins to spin the engine can't deliver enough additional torque to the tire with better traction to get you moving. If both tires have equal traction both tires will spin.
And it is harder to turn with an auto locker up front at times but not enough to worry about. It's the same as running a selectable up front when it is locked. What actually makes it harder to turn is a locked rear axle which will push you through a turn whether the front is locked or not. When I have an extra tight offroad turn I will unlock the rear locker and keep the front locker engaged. You can make a tighter turn with the rear locker unlocked than leaving the rear locked and unlocking the front axle. That may not sound correct but it is. John Currie made a video that illustrates that point very well.
All you need to do when flat-towing is shift the Atlas tcase front/rear levers into neutral and the transmission into Park if it's an automatic or if it's a manual just shift into any forward gear like 1st gear. That prevents the transmission from being spun when it's not being lubricated properly as happens when being flat-towed with the tcase in Neutral.
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