What are your recommendations for LSDs and re-gearing?

[ʘ5₸⌡]

Hello all newbie here,

I finally have the time and money to buy and install LSDs and re-gear for both front and rear. A daily driver of 2005 TJ Sport 6spd and 35s DANA30 front and DANA44 rear. I did some research and saw Detroit TruTrac and 4.88 or 5.13 for re-gear. What are your recommendations for which LSD and re-gear options? Thanks in advance

 

[CharlesHS]

Depending upon what your Jeep will be used for; trail rig, daily driver or a combination of both will depend upon which gear ratio to choose.
As for traction devices; IF this is trail rig only you may want to look at a Detroit Locker in the rear and selectable in the front such as ARB, IF this is a daily driver the TT will be great and IF this is a combination of both then a Detroit in the rear and TT up front should work nicely.
There are a lot of posts on the forum concerning what traction device is best and what is recommended; I would suggest you read thru the posts and decide what will work best for your driving style.

 

[DrDmoney]

If you will be driving on icy roads, selectable lockers at both ends are the best combo, this gives you the ability to choose between traction options to get the best traction for your condition, (ARB is the strongest). If cost is an issue, then a LSD in the rear (Truetrac) and a selectable front (E-locker) this combo works very good all around as well.

 

[Rukus]

Not a fan of having the Detroit Locker in the rear for a rig that sees the street. It most certainly takes time to get used to. But... when on the trail you will LOVE it.

 

[L0jik]

Consider your options, and then consider your needs with this rig. If you see yourself wanting selectable lockers in the future, you might was well do it now if you are going through the process of re-gearing. You already have 35's, biting the bullet and putting in selectable lockers will make it very capable. The ability to keep the axle locked can be very very helpful.

As for the gear ratio, 4.88 with 35's and a manual is preferred.
This website will let you plug in your transmission (NSG370 Close-Ratio), Transfer case (NP231), and tire size and diff ratio to see road speeds, crawl speeds, rpms, etc in all the gears. To give you an idea of your rpms at certain speeds (such as driving speed because you mentioned daily driver).

 

[Steel City 06]

You'll want 4.88 with the 6 speed. 5.13s are generally recommended for 5 speed transmissions, which have a taller OD. You can go deeper if you rarely travel at freeway speeds.

If you can afford selectable lockers front and rear, I highly recommend them. Personally I would go with the 4-pinion Eaton Elocker4. The electronic lockers are very simple and reliable, and don't require on-board air or other complex systems to activate.

 

[billiebob]

Don't do an auto locker in the front, go selectable. the front auto lockers are positively dangerous on the street

Not that this applies, but heres all locked in 4WD.



Very cool car, twin nitro engines, twin Toronado transaxles, 8 second quarters at 180mph. Very Hairy.

 

[Chris]

For re-gearing, see this thread:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...angler-tj-lj-and-other-re-gearing-faqs.17063/
Also, do a selectable locker in the front like @billiebob said.

 

[Midtenn]

Why would an auto locker (or LSD) be dangerous on the street? Don't you drive on the street in 2H? I thought the front was "open" unless engaged in 4L or 4H?

 

[Wildman]

Don't do an auto locker in the front, go selectable. the front auto lockers are positively dangerous on the street

Sorry but I have to disagree with you here. I had a auto locker in the front axle of my last two rigs and driving them on the street was a NON issue. As long as you are not in 4WD you don't even know you have the locker in the front axle other than an occasional jerk going 3 MPH during a tight turn into a parking spot. And driving on snow and ice with auto lockers is also doable just takes a little more learning curve.

 

[billiebob]

Why would an auto locker (or LSD) be dangerous on the street? Don't you drive on the street in 2H? I thought the front was "open" unless engaged in 4L or 4H?

tons of information out there. and quite right almost no difference in 2WD but in a snowstorm, winter driving in 4WD on the street,,,, if you do the auto locker in the front be sure to update us. Personally I love the selectable lockers front and rear on my TJR.

 

[Midtenn]

tons of information out there. and quite right almost no difference in 2WD but in a snowstorm, winter driving in 4WD on the street,,,, if you do the auto locker in the front be sure to update us. Personally I love the selectable lockers front and rear on my TJR.

I see. I didn't realize you were from the north when I posted that. It snows 2 or 3 times a year here but I do not drive my Jeep unless its above 65* outside.

 

[Wildman]

I see. I didn't realize you were from the north when I posted that. It snows 2 or 3 times a year here but I do not drive my Jeep unless its above 65* outside.

Absolutes are always hard to say when dealing with our Jeeps. If you live in the south you might NEVER see snow or only once or twice every 10 years. But as someone who lives where it snows I can also say that you can drive with auto lockers on snow and ice. But it takes time to learn how to drive with auto lockers on slick surfaces.

 

[Sunder]

To be clear though, as the OP was asking about LSD's - LSD's like the TruTrac is awesome up front in snow/ice conditions, and should not be confused with auto lockers (although it's a common mistake).
The TruTrac is "auto", but not a true locker.
It is my belief that in snow/ice driving, a TruTrac is better than an open diff as well as locked axles. Technically, if you are stuck, a locker could be better, but when the trail involves turning or off-camber, I'll personally take the TruTrac over a selectable locker. So much nicer for emergency maneuvers in the city too during a winter storm.

I have TruTrac's in both my front and rear and love them.
It's my daily (only) driver and I see more than my fair share of snow/ice conditions, which influenced my decision heavily.
So far, I have never gotten stuck or unable to complete an obstacle my Jeep group does, which includes a couple mud spots that locked Rubicons got stuck on. (weight, tuck, tires, driver, luck, etc, can also factor in that).

*note: there were some very steep rock climbs I bypassed that the the 4-door Rubicons did.
1 locked TJ also did it, but nearly flipped.
So essentially the TruTrac's have never failed me on anything I was brave enough to attempt. Key word being "brave", lol.

If I lived in a place with little to no snow however, I would put some serious thought into a selectable locker - but I am very pleased with my choice of TruTracs. I think a lot will depend on your expected use of extreme rock crawling vs other types of driving.

 

[Sunder]

I should note that I originally had an auto-locker up front.
Only once when I had it, when driving on ice on the highway, did it spin me around uncontrollably over 360' across the other lane and into the ditch.
If a vehicle would have been coming in the other direction, I might not be alive. So "once" in those 1st 10 years is very infrequent, but exactly 1 time more than I'm willing to risk anymore.

I also had a friend with an auto-locker up front that spun out on the highway TWICE (2 different vehicles).
He even had a dashcam on during his 2nd spin out.
To this day, he swears the auto-locker had nothing to do with it, and continues to drive with an auto-locker up front in his latest vehicle.
I watched the footage and disagreed with him.

 

[ʘ5₸⌡]

Thanks all for the info, I normally use it for daily driving on all weathers for I don’t have the time to do any trail yet. I would like it to be trail ready though. I would either go with Eaton E-Locker or an ARB (only if I have enough $$$) and 4.88 re-gear.

 

[ʘ5₸⌡]

Damn do I need to upgrade my axles since I’m running 35s? Do I need to start a new thread for this?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Damn do I need to upgrade my axles since I’m running 35s? Do I need to start a new thread for this?

What is your rear axle, a Dana 35 or a Dana 44?

 

[ʘ5₸⌡]

Dana 44 on rear Dana 30 on front

 

[ʘ5₸⌡]

What would you guys recommend for a best set up to run 35s for both front and back ? I would like to try to reuse the same gear and shaft housing if possible. RCV or Revolution Gear are what I see a lot of people like and recommend. Is the complete axle swap set up better than just parts by parts? Thanks