[krisbman]

Has anybody ran a Truetrac In a Dana 30 in the front of your TJ? I'm doing an 8.8 swap in the rear with a Detroit Locker and 488's. Thinking about a Truetrac and 488's in the front.

Island TJ does. He has them in front and back. Its pretty impressive what his jeep can do. It swayed me to get a trutrac for the back

 

[2006kj]

I have one in the rear of my Daily driver 2012 tacoma and i love it. my friend has one in the front dana 30 of his YJ with a lunchbox locker in the rear. he really really likes it except in the snow. He was said it pulled all over the place on snowy roads

i say do it!


also, good decision with the detroit. I ran one in the rear 8.25 in a jeep liberty and it was a GREAT locker. no comparison to a lunchbox.

 

[Sav99]

I run them front (D30) and rear (D44) and love them. The Trutrac in 2WD in the snow is just fine.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I installed f/r Truetracs and ran them for several years in my previous TJ and thought they were great, at first. They are indeed superb on slick streets and slick/muddy/snow covered flat trails but once you lift a tire off the ground on a Truetrac or other LSD equipped axle when you're offroad on a more difficult trail, then they pretty much stop working. Yes I know you can step on the brakes for a front Truetrac or pull up the parking brake for a rear Truetrac to help them engage, but that still doesn't improve things much. Yes Island TJ shows cool pics of his Jeep on trails and brags about how well his Truetracs work, but I offer that those trails he posts pics of are doable without the Truetracs. I can run that level of trail without engaging my present TJ's selectable lockers.

It was a day on some trails where one particular climb with one of my front tires in the air when I decided enough was enough and I decided to dump both of my Truetracs and replace them with lockers. This particular notch I was climbing put one of my front tires in the air and that tire was spinning like crazy, with my other tire being unable to get enough power to finish pulling me up and over the notch... and I was stepping on my brake as hard as could be done trying to get that front tire still on the ground to 'hook up'. It just wasn't doing it. I ended up having to back down, despite having f/r Detroit Truetracs.

Going back to that same trail later with lockers, it was a non-event climbing up that same exact notch. There is a night and day difference between a Truetrac or any LSD on trails that are tougher than those trails Island TJ likes to show in his pics. And again, those trails are doable with open axles with a little experience. They aren't making the go/no-go difference for him.

So for your front axle Coyotehunter4, I'd go for something like an Aussie lunchbox locker. They will cost less than half of a Truetrac and will perform far better offroad.

I consider Truetrac LSDs to be a superb product but only for things like winter street conditions or flat slick trails where the tires can stay in contact with the ground. I wouldn't waste the time or spend the $$$ installing a Truetrac for offroading.

This is a subject I know better than the average bear. If you want to read more on LSDs and lockers, I wrote a pair of articles on them years ago... http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/4x4-torque-answers-130169/ and http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/what-why-do-i-need-locker-i-thought-i-had-4x4-242949/

They're a bit wordy, I admit, but most seem to get a good grasp for how they work after reading them.

 

[krisbman]

I installed f/r Truetracs and ran them for several years in my previous TJ and thought they were great, at first. They are indeed superb on slick streets and slick/muddy/snow covered flat trails but once you lift a tire off the ground on a Truetrac or other LSD equipped axle when you're offroad on a more difficult trail, then they pretty much stop working. Yes I know you can step on the brakes for a front Truetrac or pull up the parking brake for a rear Truetrac to help them engage, but that still doesn't improve things much. Yes Island TJ shows cool pics of his Jeep on trails and brags about how well his Truetracs work, but I offer that those trails he posts pics of are doable without the Truetracs. I can run that level of trail without engaging my present TJ's selectable lockers. It was a day on some trails where one particular climb with one of my front tires in the air when I decided enough was enough and I decided to dump both of my Truetracs and replace them with lockers. This particular notch I was climbing put one of my front tires in the air and that tire was spinning like crazy, with my other tire being unable to get enough power to finish pulling me up and over the notch... and I was stepping on my brake as hard as could be done trying to get that front tire still on the ground to 'hook up'. It just wasn't doing it. I ended up having to back down, despite having f/r Detroit Truetracs. Going back to that same trail later with lockers, it was a non-event climbing up that same exact notch. There is a night and day difference between a Truetrac or any LSD on trails that are tougher than those trails Island TJ likes to show in his pics. And again, those trails are doable with open axles with a little experience. They aren't making the go/no-go difference for him. So for your front axle Coyotehunter4, I'd go for something like an Aussie lunchbox locker. They will cost less than half of a Truetrac and will perform far better offroad. I consider Truetrac LSDs to be a superb product but only for things like winter street conditions or flat slick trails where the tires can stay in contact with the ground. I wouldn't waste the time or spend the $$$ installing a Truetrac for offroading. This is a subject I know better than the average bear. If you want to read more on LSDs and lockers, I wrote a pair of articles on them years ago... http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/4x4-torque-answers-130169/ and http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/what-why-do-i-need-locker-i-thought-i-had-4x4-242949/ They're a bit wordy, I admit, but most seem to get a good grasp for how they work after reading them.

Ive seen pics of him on the waterfall in TSF and other places. There is no way you are doing that with open/ open

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Ive seen pics of him on the waterfall in TSF and other places. There is no way you are doing that with open/ open

I know enough about LSDs to not be so sure about that. Pics can be deceiving and knowing how LSDs work and their traits, they simply don't/can't do that much for that type of trail. Really. Not to mention I've seen open-axle Jeeps do some pretty amazing trails... it's mostly about the driver on such trails.

 

[krisbman]

I know enough about LSDs to not be so sure about that. Pics can be deceiving and knowing how LSDs work and their traits, they simply don't/can't do that much for that type of trail. Really. Not to mention I've seen open-axle Jeeps do some pretty amazing trails... it's mostly about the driver on such trails.

I dont discredit your knowledge about lockers. You are the one that had me convinced on a Detroit. Im just saying Island has no issues with his set up and there is no way, no way a jeep with open diffs is getting up the waterfall at TSF.

 

[jameslee97206]

Jerry, bring your Jeep to Oregon and I'll place a friendly wager that you don't follow Island with open diffs. I've wheeled with him quite a bit over the years, took video of him on Waterfall. We've done trails and had open diff Jeeps with us that could't follow us.

 

[IslandTJ]

I installed f/r Truetracs and ran them for several years in my previous TJ and thought they were great, at first. They are indeed superb on slick streets and slick/muddy/snow covered flat trails but once you lift a tire off the ground on a Truetrac or other LSD equipped axle when you're offroad on a more difficult trail, then they pretty much stop working.

LOL at your driving skill.

Yes Island TJ shows cool pics of his Jeep on trails and brags about how well his Truetracs work, but I offer that those trails he posts pics of are doable without the Truetracs. I can run that level of trail without engaging my present TJ's selectable lockers.

Perhaps in your Jeep Jerry; however, I doubt you would be able to follow me in an open Jeep comparable to mine sans the limited slips.

It was a day on some trails where one particular climb with one of my front tires in the air when I decided enough was enough and I decided to dump both of my Truetracs and replace them with lockers. This particular notch I was climbing put one of my front tires in the air and that tire was spinning like crazy, with my other tire being unable to get enough power to finish pulling me up and over the notch... and I was stepping on my brake as hard as could be done trying to get that front tire still on the ground to 'hook up'. It just wasn't doing it. I ended up having to back down, despite having f/r Detroit Truetracs.

LOL at your driving skill.

Going back to that same trail later with lockers, it was a non-event climbing up that same exact notch. There is a night and day difference between a Truetrac or any LSD on trails that are tougher than those trails Island TJ likes to show in his pics. And again, those trails are doable with open axles with a little experience. They aren't making the go/no-go difference for him..

In the case above, the hardware showcases experience

So for your front axle Coyotehunter4, I'd go for something like an Aussie lunchbox locker. They will cost less than half of a Truetrac and will perform far better offroad..

I agree with Jerry...

 

[IslandTJ]

Threads like this, makes me think what I could do if I were locked...

 

[jameslee97206]

Now that i'm home at my computer. The guy on the left in the first picture owns the Yellow TJ in the second picture. At this time it was open/open on 33's. The second pic shows how far he made it before he backed out, no way he would of made it on this section of trail.




Here's how far Island made it with Detroit truetracs f/r on 33's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjCzG7oBS9M

 

[Willys_Freak]

I do agree that a locker up front will outperform an LSD off-road, however I will never run an auto/lunchbox locker up front ever again and the reason is simple; Understeer. Having to switch to 2LO in order to make sharp turns where you really don't have the room to dick around is a royal pain. Don't have 2LO? Better hope you can do it in 2HI. Sand, snow, pretty much anything but rocks...be prepared to spend a lot of time going straight.

If you're going to go with lockers front and rear then if you want to be happy I would only recommend putting a selectable locker up front. It won't be as cheap as something like an Aussie, but you'll be far happier and less frustrated. An auto locker in the rear is fine.

Just my $0.02.

 

[krisbman]

now that i'm home at my computer. The guy on the left in the first picture owns the yellow tj in the second picture. At this time it was open/open on 33's. The second pic shows how far he made it before he backed out, no way he would of made it on this section of trail. http://s626.photobucket.com/user/ja...12 tsf wheelin/aug12012tsfwheelin048.jpg.html http://s626.photobucket.com/user/ja...12 tsf wheelin/aug12012tsfwheelin123.jpg.html here's how far island made it with detroit truetracs f/r on 33's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejczg7obs9m

View attachment 1952386

 

[krisbman]

Now that i'm home at my computer. The guy on the left in the first picture owns the Yellow TJ in the second picture. At this time it was open/open on 33's. The second pic shows how far he made it before he backed out, no way he would of made it on this section of trail. http://s626.photobucket.com/user/ja...12 TSF wheelin/aug12012tsfwheelin048.jpg.html http://s626.photobucket.com/user/ja...12 TSF wheelin/aug12012tsfwheelin123.jpg.html Here's how far Island made it with Detroit truetracs f/r on 33's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjCzG7oBS9M

Hey James, have you guys been to Shotgun Creek?

 

[jameslee97206]

I haven't been to Shotgun creek, I might be up for a run there depending on the day. Also, if you wan't to make a trip to TSF I'd be happy to show you around.

 

[krisbman]

I haven't been to Shotgun creek, I might be up for a run there depending on the day. Also, if you wan't to make a trip to TSF I'd be happy to show you around.

Might have to take you up on that. Shotgun is fun but its short. I could have done much better with a good spotter.

 

[berettafan]

island I love those videos. such a beautiful place to play.

love the jeep too. more go than show....love it.