12Bravo20
Well-Known Member
I definitely do NOT miss the manual locking hubs. It always seems like I would have to get out in nasty mud and muck to lock them in. Plus having to clean them off to unlock them.
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Radioman
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On my 78 Landcruiser with manual locking hubs, if I thought I was coming up on a location that I just thought I might need 4-wheel drive, I would lock the hubs before hand and just leave the transfer case in 2-wheel. That way, if I needed 4-wheel, I could just shift the transfer case and stay out of the muck.
RedRocker
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We didn't even know what lockers were when I started Jeeping, I had an 86 CJ7 open diffs for years. Later on I had Detroit lockers front & rear. In my 06 LJR I rarely use my lockers, we wheel all over Utah, Colorado, New Mexico & Arizona, some pretty nasty stuff but usually mid level trails. We got over seeing who could do the hardest obstacle after years of fixing all the crap we broke.
JohnnyO
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Cost and not everyone needs them and even fewer people know how to drive them.
I don't go 'froading anymore but I have 4wd to get around in the winter and slippery boat ramps with my jetski. Most people would be better off in snow with two open diffs. Driving a rear L/S or locker on snow is an acquired skill. Dudes I know with front lockers will unlock one front hub on snow.
Lockers main advantage off-road is when you are in situations when one wheel is in the air. The other thing is, when driven right, front and rear lockers will have less breakage because they allow you to go slower and not have to use momentum to get past obstacles.
Every truck I owned up until my '08 Sport Trac (that I traded on the Ranger) had a rear L/S. '07-up Tracs they got rid of a L/S option and had traction control. Off-road I supposed it minimized the difference between an open and a L/S but I didn't like the way the traction control jerked you around in snow so I would usually turn it off and lock it in 4-Hi, since on a Trac or Explorer 2wd is a 4-Auto setting where the computer would kick in the front axle if the rear wheels spun. Only twice in 13 winters with it would a locker or L/S have been helpful.
Sorry to run on.
I don't go 'froading anymore but I have 4wd to get around in the winter and slippery boat ramps with my jetski. Most people would be better off in snow with two open diffs. Driving a rear L/S or locker on snow is an acquired skill. Dudes I know with front lockers will unlock one front hub on snow.
Lockers main advantage off-road is when you are in situations when one wheel is in the air. The other thing is, when driven right, front and rear lockers will have less breakage because they allow you to go slower and not have to use momentum to get past obstacles.
Every truck I owned up until my '08 Sport Trac (that I traded on the Ranger) had a rear L/S. '07-up Tracs they got rid of a L/S option and had traction control. Off-road I supposed it minimized the difference between an open and a L/S but I didn't like the way the traction control jerked you around in snow so I would usually turn it off and lock it in 4-Hi, since on a Trac or Explorer 2wd is a 4-Auto setting where the computer would kick in the front axle if the rear wheels spun. Only twice in 13 winters with it would a locker or L/S have been helpful.
Sorry to run on.
canyonslicker
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If you have truly locked front axles with no differential action or slippage in drive bearings then it’s damn near impossible to steer and you will definitely break stuff no matter the traction conditions..
Try welding the spider gears on a front differential and you’ll see… been there done that when it was economically feasible way back when … It gets ugly pretty quick… ?
I ended up floating down a river because of it trying to force steer it when it broke the linkage… no fun when the water was 36 degrees… ahhh the good life back then.
Try welding the spider gears on a front differential and you’ll see… been there done that when it was economically feasible way back when … It gets ugly pretty quick… ?
I ended up floating down a river because of it trying to force steer it when it broke the linkage… no fun when the water was 36 degrees… ahhh the good life back then.
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