Would you add the Locker?

The Fourth Amigo

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2009
641
2
I always thought that if/when my stock rear 3rd gave out I would add some type of locking or limited slip differential I'm glad I read this post and other information on the subject. I will limit my upgrades, if they ever happen, to an air locker. This seems to be the best option for a daily driver on frequently snow covered roads (Canada).

Having no experience with it, I figured that any locker would be advantageous in or on any kind of snow/ice. I was wrong.
 

AndrewClarke

Well-known member
May 24, 2012
60
0
New Hamburg, ON
I always thought that if/when my stock rear 3rd gave out I would add some type of locking or limited slip differential I'm glad I read this post and other information on the subject. I will limit my upgrades, if they ever happen, to an air locker. This seems to be the best option for a daily driver on frequently snow covered roads (Canada).

Having no experience with it, I figured that any locker would be advantageous in or on any kind of snow/ice. I was wrong.

There are tradeoffs with any situation. I'm not a fan of an air locker, because you have to decide when to turn it on. That leads to conditions where you might not have it locked when you need it. Note that I'm not saying they're BAD, just that they're not for me. I've made it through the last decade of winters with my 110 with a Detroit. It's sometimes worse, sometimes better, and most of the time I don't think about it at all, which really is the good thing about a Detroit.
 

DiscoPhoto

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2012
2,581
76
Vermont
There are tradeoffs with any situation. I'm not a fan of an air locker, because you have to decide when to turn it on. That leads to conditions where you might not have it locked when you need it. Note that I'm not saying they're BAD, just that they're not for me. I've made it through the last decade of winters with my 110 with a Detroit. It's sometimes worse, sometimes better, and most of the time I don't think about it at all, which really is the good thing about a Detroit.

......that's literally the benefit of a selectable locker. You should know when you need it, and it's not intrusive when you don't.

I'd never go back to non-selectable.
 

MM3846

Well-known member
Feb 18, 2014
1,221
161
LI, NY
Yea, selectable is best. Period. My plan for my truck was dual LSDs, since it isn't a hardcore truck and two LSDs is the price of one selectable.
 

jwest

Well-known member
May 28, 2006
899
7
WA & NC
......that's literally the benefit of a selectable locker. You should know when you need it, and it's not intrusive when you don't.

I'd never go back to non-selectable.

Almost everyone is talking about the Detroit but not any comparison to the Truetrac which seems to be less intrusive?
 

K-rover

Well-known member
Jan 15, 2010
2,163
62
Raleigh, NC
Almost everyone is talking about the Detroit but not any comparison to the Truetrac which seems to be less intrusive?

And less effective. Trutrac is not a true locker, more of a limited slip diff. Meaning if you get a tire in the air, it won t work very well..
 

AndrewClarke

Well-known member
May 24, 2012
60
0
New Hamburg, ON
Well if you put "Period" at the end of a sentence it ends the discussion. Period.

Since MM3846 was able to so convincingly end the argument, let's go with his comment of "dual LSDs". Truetrac is an LSD, and in fact the only one I can think of offhand that's available for these trucks. Yes I'm sure there are others.

I must clearly not know what I'm talking about with a Detroit. After all, I've only had one in two trucks, across the last 14 years or so. I've owned and driven them everywhere from the desert in California to wading in rivers over the hood, through mud and snow, etc. I've wheeled extensively with folks with ARB lockers, and seen how they're used, when they work well and when they don't. I actually had an ARB in the front of my Discovery but never got around to plumbing it in so it just operated as an open diff. Even though I didn't end my comment with "Period", I still stand by the fact that a Detroit locker has some advantages over an ARB, just as the opposite is true. For me, when the time came to choose, after seeing ARBs and Detroits on the trail, I went with Detroit, and I'm glad I did. That was in my Discovery, and when I bought my 110 it came with a Detroit in the back.

I've never driven LSDs in a Land Rover and I have no personal experience with Truetracs. If I was going to put traction differentials in another vehicle, for the kind of driving I do at this point I'd be tempted to put a Truetrac in front and rear.
 
Hi, I'm used to travel to patagonian snow each winter in order to play with some friends down here. Open axle- and central diff and less tire pressure make a standard Disco 1 just unstoppable

DSCN0449.JPG


With a Disco 2 there are more buttons, so more options in case of difficults, but as it is a standard vehicle too, one must take care that air suspension is lowered after passing 40kmh...

subir imagen

So When I break in the future some differential, maybe i will install an ARB core because it is more robust than the original, cheaper, behaves like the original and it adds another "life guard" button.

Regards
 

jwest

Well-known member
May 28, 2006
899
7
WA & NC
I've never driven LSDs in a Land Rover and I have no personal experience with Truetracs. If I was going to put traction differentials in another vehicle, for the kind of driving I do at this point I'd be tempted to put a Truetrac in front and rear.

My inquiry is specific to general use in both D1 and D2. One will be my moms vehicle so it will rarely if ever have any single wheel off the ground but she does drive in snow and dirt forest roads that could get slick instantly on an otherwise dry day when a storm happens.

I do like the idea of no fuss with the Truetrac, no compressor to teach her about or worry about but basically better traction, maybe this applies more to using Truetrac in a D1 because the D2 has it's computers working on traction control to some extent at least for the above mentioned conditions.

I'll be using the D2 though possibly for full articulation but in reality it's always a day or more of higways or gravel to get to anything where you'd even be in low range. So I'm thinking maybe a mix of ARB rear with Truetrac front... ?
 

K-rover

Well-known member
Jan 15, 2010
2,163
62
Raleigh, NC
Hell yes it will. Use your brakes. I drove across Golden Crack without any wheelspin.

I use my brakes right now with open diffs to achieve the same. That said. I have F+R Ashcroft air lockers in the way with 4.37 gears.. The price difference between a Detroit and air was close enough that I went with air.
 

mick968

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2009
215
0
St.louis area(Waterloo,ill)
I've had the (selectable) ARB air lockers for so long I forgot what the advantage of or if (Detroit)? (price?) They (ARB's)are literally "magic buttons" and have been pretty reliable (had a compressor issue once) I'm sure there are other options but can't complain about my ARB experience.