I really want to install my limited slip unit that I have in my garage... but it's going to cost around $500 to install the unit. For that type of money, I can install/buy a brand new one. SO! I was looking around (i've searched the differetn types I can get) and I'm stuck.

Locker or Limited-slip?

I drove on the road 90% of the time, with the occasional offroading with the SoCal crew.

Pros? Cons?

Here are the two i'm considering

Detriot True-Trac

Detriot C-Locker

Auburn Limited-Slip

 

Describe your offroad driving and problems or goals.

 

personally, i'd say since 90% of your driving is on the highway, i'd just go with a limited slip...

lockers suck when you do alot of daily driving and they can be quite dangerous in inclement weather such as snow and ice..

 

I do fine on going up hills with my L/s when you hammer down on dirt roads, it will engage as well... as soon as one wheel starts spinning, it will lock up.

 

i agree that you should run a limited slip since most of your driving on road.......

a limited slip is just as dangerous as a locker if you dont know how to drive in snow and ice......

 

Offroading driving... usually dirt roads. I've been having the most problem trying to go up hills. During the last meet a few days ago, I couldn't go up 3 different hills, i had to back up and gun it up faster. Also, with uneven terrain (like.. one side is super rocky, the other pretty smooth), I've had so many problem trying to get through it. I hate gunning my truck just to go up hills... so yeah, i'd rather get more traction and thread lightly.

I dont' know if this makes a difference, but i have traction bars and they help tremendously.

 

do they make limited slip units for soild front axles or are those just all lockers?

does it hurt to run LS in rear locker upfront?

 

in the front i wouldn't want a limited slip.....i would perfer a full locker in the front.....

 

will it hurt to have a locker upfront and LS in the rear?

 

nope......that is prolly the best combo (in my opinion)..........

 

hmm funny... i dont have any probs runnin around in 4x4 in the snow and im locked front and rear

 

see im not gunna be offroadin in my truck but i also want to be able to say i can pull with all 4..i pull people out of the mud here and there but i guess this is someting ill need to do some more research on..

Thanks fellas

 

locked front, ls rear is best. manual hubs and you only have to lock one.

 

Limited slips do NOT lock up, lol...and there's a WORLD of difference between the two. I have run both and the limited slip is best on the street, but there's NO substitute for a locker offroad. That's why the question of what his problems offroad are is key. Without asking that, you CAN'T give good advice, lol.

 

Okay, the "follow-up" questions, lol.

How important is that traction to you? Are you willing to spend some more to get both worlds?

There are at least 2 different limited slip/locker combo's out there, but it's more money and QUITE a bit more if you pay for the install and can't get someone to help you do it. That's what I'm running and I love the limited slip in dirt and on the street and the locker on more extreme offroad terrain. It's one of the main reasons I can halfway wheel my 4x2 at all.

Without manual hubs, or hubs that actually unlock well automatically, a locker up front can be trouble for sure. There are people using the LockRite or NoSlip lockers that insert into the carrier up front for even some more extreme wheeling. Adrian, SupersonicFX4 comes to mind. He's running an automatic locker in the front only.

I sure disagree that a LS in the rear and locker up front is "optimum". What's best is SELECTABLE lockers front and rear! But of course, that's some serious $$$ that most aren't willing to spend. If you make the rear locker a LS/locker combo in that case, it becomes quite a winning combination.

The biggest obstacle you face is the inevitable $$$ problems. There are products out there to give you the best of both worlds, but they require installation.

Some folks really like the Detroit Locker as a full carrier replacement, as well as those LockRight/NoSlip products mentioned earlier. The cheif disadvanatage I see with them is hard driven street handling.

What that comes from is some of the same problems you can have with a limited slip. There's a rule-of-thumb for tires: when traction is lost in any direction, traction is lost in all directions.

When you are doing tight handling under throttle, an LS or locker can cause you to lose control. What happens is you can break BOTH tires loose and lose your lateral traction on turns. The hot-rod community has known this for years and light RWD muscle cars with LS rears have to be throttled VERY gingerly through powered turns. An open is more forgiving.

The automatic lockers can cause even more sudden loss if you get on the throttle too hard in the middle of a turn. If they suddenly lock, you can lose traction from both wheels with predictable results.

So, if you drive hard on the street, an automatic locker may not be the ticket.

So, reviewing: we know your offroad problems, and they would be helped (but not solved) by LS, and helped much more by a locker.

But when you indicate your street style, it may come more into focus with the comments I've made above.

To make a good decision takes some "analysis", lol!

 

A locker is a hazard for snow? I've put on e-locker on my "to get list" for snow usage alone. I've heard that the limited slip can be tricky in snow, but is this true for lockers too?

 

if you dont know how to drive in the snow with a locker, or have never done it, your first few times will be tricky! just like a limited slip, they disengage whenever you go around corners.....that is were most people have the problem....

 

They also have a tendency to make the rear end slalom a lot -- but it requires the "judicious" use of power, lol.

 

Well I have posi and it rocks. Its the best of both worlds.

 

Not hardly. My limited slip is a "posi" until I lock it. There are lots of situations the LS just doesn't cut it.