Dynatrac

I used to have the Electrac (made by the Co. that made Detroit Lockers before Eaton bought them) in my 79 CJ. The Electrac was an electric selectable that was TT based and when to full lock when engaged. My CJ was very well set up with all the good stuff and it worked very well for what it was.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and we do a lot of wet, slick trail running. Our Jeep club does a yearly run on a trail that closes for the winter. We go in on the last possible weekend to get the worst possible conditions. It was on one of these runs that the TT really showed me how well they work.

One of the criteria for running this trail with our club is that lockers are required. No locker in both diffs and you don't go. This year the snow wasn't really deep and it was raining much of the day. It was a day of slick snow and snotty roots. After we were on the trail about 3 hours I realized I hadn't engaged the locker yet. I had clubmates ahead and behind with ARBs and I could hear them disengaging their lockers all day. As the day went on I had a locker epiphany- most of the time when you engage a selectable locker, it's not because you need a locker, it's because you need something more than open.

I ran the entire day without ever engaging the locker- not once. I never felt I pushed it too far and beat the rig just to make a point. The TT base of the Electrac worked so well I never needed the locker on that trip.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that lockers don't have major value. I'm just saying that for many people, even in some very tough conditions, a Truetrac will be all they really need.

nthinuf

As mentioned in my first post, I ran the front TT / rear Detroit combo for about 6 years. Great offroad, and decent onroad. (Decent only because of Colorado winters and lots of icy mountain roads and icy freeways up to the ski areas. No problems at all on dry roads).

Don't get a full locker just because of the coolness factor, base the decision on your actual needs.
How much time will you spend on snow/ice? (a rear auto-locker is much more user friendly on the slick stuff than a front locker).
How much time will you spend with wheels in the air? (an occasional wheel in the air is no reason to opt for a locker over a TT. Brake pressure will get you through).

tslewisz

That's a great story. In a nutshell, you've pretty much backed up my thoughts on just staying with my open diffs, supplemented w/ the BLD. It's worked pretty well for me, for the moderate wheeling I do, and it's easy on parts. I did screw up and follow a bigger, locked, Jeep through a rock garden once and I think lockers would have helped. In the end, excellent spotting got me through.

Thanks, Cody & Joe.

Dynatrac

I've not seen great results off road with the BLD but everyone has differing experiences.

tslewisz

Somehow, I knew you'd say that.

porters

BLD is better than an open diff, and I have been able to get to a lot of places I could not have with just open diffs. However, there are plenty of times that BLD was just not enough to do the job.

BLD + Truetracs should get you even farther having both working together.

At the end of the day, it all depends on what you do with your JK as others have said. Not everybody absolutely needs lockers. But when you actually do need lockers, there are no substitutes.

Dynatrac

^^I agree with everything said here.^^

Dynatrac

Sorry, it had to be said. I will agree however, the BLD is better than open.

jctnt1

IMO get the ECTED locker front and rear, it provides posi similar to your TT and a selectable locker when needed.

jkfanatic

some of it has to do with afforability too. I'm considering a TT in the front simply because I have a d30 and I want some extra help without spending a ton on this axle. I'll get an ARB when I get a pr44/60