lockers and snow (sorry)

sorry about posting another locker question right after another guy did.

my question is also about lockers, but more specifically about how a locked vehicle reacts in snowy/icy conditions and locker choices based on that.

right now i'm living in TX and ice/snow is not an issue, but in about 9 months i'm moving to greater denver/the high rocky's where it is.

i don't want to go with a sellectable locker because of price concerns. both detroit and aussie DO NOT recomend the use of their lockers on snow. with sellectables detroits and aussies out (as well as welding and spooling) that seems to really only leave a lunchbox or limited slip as viable options.

can anyone validate or refute the use of lockers in snow/ice?

i'm thinking of a front tracloc rear no-slip combo...does anyone have any experience with the no-slip in snow/ice or opinions on this set-up?

thanks in advance and again, sorry.

I live in New England and I was also thinking about the no-slip in the rear. Sorry, I have no information for you jallen, but I would like to know the same things you do! Hopefully someone will give us the Info!

an ARB would be best, but you said that is out of your price range, and I'm in the same boat.

A limited slip would be next best, but wouldn't be nearly as good offroad.

Welding it is both the cheapest and best method of having a full (non-selectable) locker in the snow. I say this because all lockers will behave oddly in snow and ice, but a spooled or welded rear will be predictable, whereas a lockright, aussie, detriot, etc will lock and unlock when you're not expecting it.

You're not going to go with a Trac-Lok in front, because it isn't available for the Dana 30. You could do a TrueTrac, though.

In snow and on ice, there is little difference between a locker and a clutch-type limited slip, because the tires don't have enough traction to get the clutches to release. The behavioral characteristic that scares the doomsayers is that if you are going up a hill and the road has a crown or cross-slope (and what road doesn't), the rear has a tendency to want to slide off the cross-slope. I don't find this to be a problem -- just turn the steering wheel slightly, and the Jeep walks up the hill at a slight sideways angle to the direction of travel.

I live in New England. I have either ordered from the factory or installed afterwards (if I bought used) a limited slip in every rear-wheel or 4-wheel drive car or truck I've owned since 1966. I would not own a rear wheel drive without a limited slip (or a locker for a vehicle used primarily off-road). I had multiple istances pre-1966 when I was unable to get home because my car wouldn't make it up a hill. I have never had that problem with a vehicle equipped with a limited slip.

I don't want a locker for a daily driver, but because of the dry pavement behavior, not because of the snow and ice behavior.

I lived in the snow for three years and my daily driver was a CJ-7 with a lock right in the rear and a true trac up front. It took some getting used to, but so does driving on dry pavement with a locker. I found that it was critical to not "power" into turns and to drive a bit more gently. But it seems to me that snow driving requires those same techniques anyway. Hope this helps

in my experience you can control the ass end from sliding all over the place, just stay easy on the throttle.

my only problem was making the front end go where i wanted, it kept trying to go straight. if i was in 4wd i could turn the wheel and give it a little gas to spin the jeep in the direction i wanted to go.

it sounds unsafe, but i felt like i had 100% control at all times.

mad maXJ said:

but a spooled or welded rear will be predictable, whereas a lockright, aussie, detriot, etc will lock and unlock when you're not expecting it.

Click to expand...

Let me expound on this a little bit. Most lockers are very predictable. Take the lockright, ez, aussie, and other gear type lockers for example, just because this is not a selectable locker doesn't mean it's not predictable. If you're in snow you can pretty much expect any of these lockers to lock whenever going around a corner where traction is comprimised. Especially if the locker is over a year old and you're running a tire 33" or more. Now, that's not a good thing but you can count on it happening if you're giving it much gas. These lockers only unlock when the torque from the tires (traction necesary) overcomes the torque applied through the driveshafts to the center pin that expands the gears and causes them to mesh. In any case, a locker unlocking is never a problem since it doesn't ever happen when you need the locked diff. So, you can either have a welded diff that chirps around every corner and spins on every snowy corner or you can have a locker that sometimes will do that and sometimes wont.
I live in Utah, we have terrible winter road conditions, I prefer to have my locker in the snow so long as it's in 4wd.

we had a snow filled winter last year here, but it was still virginia. that said i loved my detroit in the snow, in the city and on backroads in the mountains. i wasnt however travelling at highway speeds, and if i was it wasnt for very long and it wasnt on the highway.

Hunter

I ran a limited slip from 97 to 2003 in the rear of mine. All kinds of weather from snow/ice, offroad, heavy rain, you name it. Never had a problem. The only problem I ever had was with Super Swampers in the snow. Once they got down and had some bit, not a problem. Never slid out of control, driving in the snow is something that is learned and takes sometime. Practice. Having lived in the Mid Atlantic area my whole driving life, I have seen some pretty heavy snow. This past winter was a huge one. Living in the Philly area now. Didn't have a problem. I have now switched to a ARB in the rear. More because I got a great deal (400) than the lack of control of the limited slip. Juice

Jallen,

If you are worried about how it will react around town, don;t worry. The plows work overtime out here and rarely are the major roads covered.

Now up in the mountains is a different story. The main roads to the ski resorts are always maintained for the most part and wheeling trails are closed down for the most part during the winter and early spring.

Run a locker and don't worry about it. If you can drive in snow, you can drive in snow with a locker. I've run a locker in the rear of my CJ-7 daily driver (32's) for years and at least 100,000 miles on it (Lock-right). With the CJ, the locker might as well be a spool. I also run a 401 (mildly built) so it's not like I baby it around in the winter. As mentioned above, lockers are very predictable and so is the handling once you understand how they work. I actually use most of the "handling characteristics" to my advantage while driving. Plus it keeps things fun.

I agree that using a locker on ice and snow is not a problem as long as you learn to drive with it. I have lived in Northern Colorado and Currently live in Wyoming and have had multiple vehicles with rear lockers, and in my opion I feel that they are more of a benefit in snow than anything else. What I suggest is take your Jeep out on the first snow day to a large parking lot or some other large area ( Free of other vehicles and light poles ) and play with it. I did this and it helped me learn a little in a large obsticle free area instead of on the public roads where I could hurt someone or myself. I think that you will find that if you drive easy you will love it and soon not even notice it is in there. Oh and when you are in the hills take it easy on side hills if it is slick the rear end will take a quick dive downhill if you spin the tires.