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driveability issues with a locker?

58 apache

58 apache

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Posts
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Location
clarksville,Va home of the body bag
I'm building this 58 to be a mostly street/ show truck but i love to play in the mud. i drive this every day just about. highway and country roads muddy a$$ job sites and on the farm. i'm not skeerd to actually use it as a truck. 85 k5 frame sbc 406, 428 hp @5000 525 torque @ 3800 built th350 manual/auto, 208.ordering a tuff country 6" susp lift (for its soft ride) i just got a corp 14bff 4.56 open carrier.and 37x13.5x16mt baja claw radials. lookin for a 60. anyway i have 10 bolts 3.73 and 31's. the engine has so much torque if i tromp on it it just breaks loose and spins.even goin like 35-40. i love to hot rod this thing so i think i want to lock the 14bff (so i can spin both ha ha) but heard that lockers ie. detroit etc, are noisy and seriously effect the driveability of the vehicle.let me hear what you guys think. is a locker the same concept as a posi?
 
they do affect driveability, but mostly if you can actually adapt to different driving situations and antcipate them lockers are fine on the street. My detroit in my blazer is very well behaved.
 
58 apache said:
I'm building this 58 to be a mostly street/ show truck but i love to play in the mud. i drive this every day just about. highway and country roads muddy a$$ job sites and on the farm. i'm not skeerd to actually use it as a truck. 85 k5 frame sbc 406, 428 hp @5000 525 torque @ 3800 built th350 manual/auto, 208.ordering a tuff country 6" susp lift (for its soft ride) i just got a corp 14bff 4.56 open carrier.and 37x13.5x16mt baja claw radials. lookin for a 60. anyway i have 10 bolts 3.73 and 31's. the engine has so much torque if i tromp on it it just breaks loose and spins.even goin like 35-40. i love to hot rod this thing so i think i want to lock the 14bff (so i can spin both ha ha) but heard that lockers ie. detroit etc, are noisy and seriously effect the driveability of the vehicle.let me hear what you guys think. is a locker the same concept as a posi?
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A posi 'slips'. A locker 'locks'.
You'll wear out a posi in no time with that torque monster. Detroit Lockers are pretty bullet-proof but you'll have to get used to them churping the tires going around a corner.
 
It is sometimes wierd when you are on and off the gas on the highway. Also, ice becomes a different animal alltogether.
 
Tromping on it with that motor and a Detroit means going sideways. The ricer beside you at the stop light likely won't be amused. That's why muscle cars have posi's.
 
i'd imagine with that kind of torque and horsepower that driving on ice would be TOTALLY out of the question lol
 
OffRoad said:
what do you specifially mean "ice becomes a different animal all together" ?would studded tires help this?
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Ice and wet road driving becomes a new talent. Where I used to work, there was a loop off of the highway to get there. It went uphil on one side and down on the other. Whenever there was recent rain on the road, almost any throttle would bring the back end around. It is easy to get used to, and kinda fun, but oncoming traffic had a different view, and I would imagine a few of them needed new shorts after seeing a "drifting" Exo'd K5 on 40s coming at them on a 2 lane overpass.
The one day there was ice I had to put it in 4wd and not lock one of the front hubs just to get it to move. Unlocking 1 of the front hubs meant that tire didn't spin under power and kinda held the truck front end from sliding sideways.
 
The term for that is "locker steer" You learn to anticipate it and adjust before it happens. Basically when the locker locks, both tires turn the same speed which causes the vehicle to want to go straight. If your on the inside or middle lane of a turn and you hit the gas, the locker forces you straight...which is into the lane beside you. It scares you at first, but you learn how to avoid it mostly. I drove my K5 with 37's and a detroit in the rear for 2+ years on the street and i didnt find it to be hard to handle or scary.
-Harrison
 
You'd think it would be bad for the axle forcing them to spin the same or at least something. I'll put a locker in mine eventually but I'm thinking I'll save my pennies for a selectable.
 
Regardless if its a selectable or an auto locker, they both "force" the wheels to spin at the same time. Auto's are a lot cheaper and simpler, and the detroit has earned the reputation of being one of if not the toughest locker on the market.

Aside from that, your are correct. It does put more strain on the axle when you install any sort of locker. You might get away with running an open 10 bolt with 35's for years. Lock it up and you may snap a shaft in a day. Remember, with an open diff the power goes to the wheel with the least traction. That doesnt put much stress on the axle. When you lock it, not only does that wheel recieve power, but whatever tire has a lot of traction gets more power too. Thats why most of us on here are running big (and in most of our cases HUGE...ahem 14ff....rears) These rearends can handle the abuse of lockers+large tires+high horsepower.
-Harrison
 
OThers have stated it well. here is my take on it. I have a loc-rite in the back of my Blazer. I recently went up north (Florida to WV). We went up some mountain passes and some basically one lane blacktop roads. The locker effects your medium speed departures out of a turn. If you are in the middle of the turn and punch the gas, itll pull you to the outside of the turn. Because both wheels have power, it wants to straighten out the truck. Its not bad or uncontrollable, you jus have to be aware of it. My loc-rite is pretty noisy at slo speeds, doesnt bother me, but it freaks others out. lol..Id say a locker is totally streetable. I drove my truck around town for the 2weeks I was up north. no issues.

What was cool was impressing my buds goin off roading without putting it in 4wd. I only put it in 4wd jus for reassurance in some of the really bad stuff. But lockers are well worth it IMO. Amazing how some newer trucks are offering them now. huh? LoL. Once you get a locker, youll wonder why ya never did it sooner. IMO.
 
i seem to need a locker just to get out some of my friends driveways. :haha:

i just don't want the rear end sliding all over the place.
 
I have no problems driving mine on the street. It does suprise you on occasion though. The best one was after taking off at a red light I got on it a little and let off. About 100 ft later it unloaded so hard the truck jumped. The funny part was the guy next to me with his window down was the one that changed lanes suddenly. I guess the cab isn't the only place the popping is loud. Either that or he thought my truck was about to blow up (it was pretty damn loud)
 
Lock-rites are a totally different animal and generally have worse manners than a detroit. You will get used to a detroit very fast and it is really no big deal
 
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