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Front lockers...pros and cons, let's hear em.

tRustyK5

tRustyK5

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I'm kind of thinking of a lock right up front in the 10 bolt...

The thing is I will be DD'ing this Blazer, and that does include snowy roads in the winter. So, let's hear some firsthand experience with a front locker. I'm mainly concerned with poor steering control and general bad manners in the snow. I am aware of the benefits off road...

Until now I have always run the front open.

Rene
 
i have played in lots of snow.

if me i would want full selectable locker only. that whay when i need it i got it.


use to have a gov loc in my old truck 14ff and loved it in the snow.

went to detroit and hated it most of the time. when more than 2" of snow it always wanted to kick the rear out. had to have 4wd in all the time to drive stright.

old gov loc worked and then drove great no major kicking out in the rear.

so i bet the front would be around the same.
 
I've driven a ton with the rear Detroit...ain't skeered. I will be running another rear Detroit. I would most often run in 2WD, the extra traction from the Detroit got me through the most of it, and when needed I'd pop it into 4HI. I never had much of an issue with the rear kicking out, unless i was driving it too hard, and that was with 15x39.5" TSL's and manual tranny.

I have not run locked and locked on snowy roads though...so this is what I'm wanting to hear about.

Rene
 
I say do it, it's there if you need it, and to say you are running 2 10 bolts with lockers would be really funny for the rest of us (and those soon to be) running a D60 and 14BFF
 
tRustyK5 said:
I've driven a ton with the rear Detroit...ain't skeered. I will be running another rear Detroit. I would most often run in 2WD, the extra traction from the Detroit got me through the most of it, and when needed I'd pop it into 4HI. I never had much of an issue with the rear kicking out, unless i was driving it too hard, and that was with 15x39.5" TSL's and manual tranny.

I have not run locked and locked on snowy roads though...so this is what I'm wanting to hear about.

Rene
Click to expand...
all i can say Rene. is a couple brothers i hang with that have ARB's. bust chit all the time in their 44's.the stub shaft snaps like a twig.:laugh: with 38.s.
 
I'll be running 35" radials, and not doing any really hardcore stuff. I hear the argument when you're locked up front it's easier to use some fine control, rather than having to throttle it. Therefore less breakage...

Not sure about that. I ran a D44 successfully with 36" TSL's for about 5 years, and never broke anything. It was open.

Rene
 
I ran a Dana True Trac in my front d44 for years... It worked great...

I've never ran a lunch box style in the front, I know guys that have on the trail and there's a lot of clicking and popping... I would think that it would drive like sh!t on the road and even worst in the snow...

As far as breaking 10b/d44 shafts, you never want to be in 4wd, full lock on the steering wheel and drive in reverse... Unless you like spitting caps or snapping outers...:D

I would look into some sort of lsd... Or a selectable type...
 
dirtygoat said:
I ran a Dana True Trac in my front d44 for years... It worked great...

I've never ran a lunch box style in the front, I know guys that have on the trail and there's a lot of clicking and popping... I would think that it would drive like sh!t on the road and even worst in the snow...

As far as breaking 10b/d44 shafts, you never want to be in 4wd, full lock on the steering wheel and drive in reverse... Unless you like spitting caps or snapping outers...:D

I would look into some sort of lsd... Or a selectable type...
Click to expand...

Or leave it open...sounding like locked up front and rear is a bad idea for snowy streets. Not gonna drop the cash for an ARB or full case LSD.

Curious why reverse makes much if any difference? When I ran the D44 I was always very concious of where the steering was and tried to keep throttle input smooth and 'tame'. With the extra low gearing of the SM 465 i knew I was able to snap stuff at will, but I never did.

Rene
 
jms said:
Very simple. You just hit the front locker button when you want it. :D



I find it difficult to remember not having a front locker available.
Click to expand...

All good Michael, but an ARB or OX isn't within my limited budget. Regearing is gonna be spendy enough. I only considered a drop in locker like a Lock Rite because it's comparitively affordable.

I managed to find a smokin deal on the rear detroit...

Rene
 
I've never had any issues with my front lockright, drives normal in 2wd. the way an auto locker works it needs power to stay locked, so if it's not in 4wd, it's not "on". plus your hubs are free spinning anyways. you will occasionally hear it click but that's just letting you know it's there ;)

as for the snow, I've had some experience with it, but not enough to give any good advise

off-road, it has never let me down, ran one in the front of my Jeep for years and it's carried over to my K5
 
Thanks, I do realize in 2HI it's a non issue. My concern was snowy roads in the winter, as we average a bit of that crap each year and this'll be a DD.

Rene
 
Driving on roads with snow, a selectable locker front and rear are the preferred setup. full lockers that are non selectable can throw the truck about without much notice. makes for "interesting" driving.

Rufus
 
I've got lockers front and rear on my Cherokee and it's squirlly as heck in the snow. Just gotta get used to it and drive like a normal person.
 
Honestly I DD my truck for a long time with Detroits front and rear, I didn't like being in 4WD for the snow and rarely felt I needed it even here in CO.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Curious why reverse makes much if any difference? When I ran the D44 I was always very concious of where the steering was and tried to keep throttle input smooth and 'tame'. With the extra low gearing of the SM 465 i knew I was able to snap stuff at will, but I never did.

Rene
Click to expand...


Not sure why, but that's the easiest way to break them... With big tires and a locker you can almost do it on command...
 
i have driven my k5 on 42s in the snow, on the street, with a spool in the rear and a lockrite in the front.
under normal driving its ok. but a little bit squirrly compared to the front diff i had for 4 years.
would i run one again? you bet. but it's heavy, 5900lbs and has a 3" extended wheelbase.
i have driven my rubicon in the snow with the lockers locked. it sucks. it's not even fun unlocked because the rear is a limited slip too. that thing slides around everywhere.
i'm assuming that this is a truck or k5, so i think you would be fine with it.
 
Rene you know as well as I do you tire choice is going to have alot to do with this.

I ran locked front and rear for years on snowy and icy roads. It takes some getting used to, but not only can it be successfully driven it can make the rig very capable on icy roads.

IMHO you are only going to need 4wd on icy roads when you are going slower than normal. Or when you are driving through a blizzard and are not sure if they are going to be giant drifts in front of you. So this reduces the effect of the locker cause you are going slower. Like I said it takes some getting used to. You learn to coast through corners, learn to be super easy on the gas, learn that your rig will slide but its a very predictable slide when the tires slip.

I think it makes your rig more capable on road. And now here is the kicker, I did it in a zuk first. You wanna talk about a squirrly ride try less than 80" of wheelbase and 32" bfg mud terrains.
 
I have a Gov-Loc in the rear of my 14bff, and a Loc-Rite in the front 10 bolt, and was curious about the winter driving as well.

I just recently moved to an area that gets some pretty decent snow in the winter, and was also curious as to if i should remove the Loc-Rite from the front for better driving manners, or leave it in for better traction.

I have wheeled this thing out in Arizona on the rocks, and love it, but driving with it engauged on something like dirt roads, it's alittle more of a hassle to steer than i like. Wondering how it's going to act on snow/ice slicked roads.

Would like to hear from more people with this type of winter driving experiance chime in here :ears::crazy:
 
I live in Michigan's Up where we get on average 300 inch's of snow a year. My blazer has a rear detriot and a front lock right in the D60. On snowy roads i did not like it, it was way harder to steer, i honestly liked the way my front wheel drive car with snow tires handled better.
 
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