Which locker should I use???

[mrtleavitt]

I want to put a locker in my truck. 1969 Ford 9" rearend with 28 splines. I have been trying to decide which one. It's a 2 wheel drive and is strictly a street truck. I've been looking a lot at the detroit true track and the new one from Richmond Gear called Power Trax. Anybody have some experience with these? How about the Power Trax, I haven't heard anything about it and am curious how it performs? Thanks for your help!

[customcrewcab]

i guess depends on what your looking to do. a posi will not hold up to a ton of power. the clutchs with slip. a locker is stronger but if you going to do that i would get 31 spine axles. welding them up is like having a spool and going around coners fast would not be fun. i think the power trax just replaces the spider gears where the detroit is the whole thing.

[averagef250]

I have to completely agree that lockers are pointless. Even the newest "quiet" lockers crack and bang now and then. I for one would far rather drive a truck on the street with a welded carrier than a locker. A powerlock posi chirps tires around corners, if you're even considering a locker you'd better be fine with tire chirping. A spool or welded carrier is 100% predictable. You know both tires are always going to spin all the time. You know both tires are locked together with a locker under power, but what about every other driving situation? A spool will never skip a tooth or bang so hard on a gentle takeoff from a stop that everyone in the intersection thinks you shot your driveline across town like with a locker.

Save $500, go buy a pound of 9018 welding rod, preheat the carrier halfs and spiders to a few hundred degrees and weld away! 9 inches are very easy to weld. Then don't tell anyone the truth. Just tell them you put a locker in. They'll never know. Friends might even comment on how quiet your new locker is and how they wish thier locker was as quiet and tight.

Also, if you go locker, make sure you put a magnet in the diff and change the fluid often. You'll be amazed how much metal those thing generate. Posi friction material doesn't hurt anything and a spool has no moving parts.

[1970FordTK]

I installed the Power Trax unit in a 97 f-150 three months after it was bought new. The truck has just over 100,000 on it with no trouble, only draw back is the clicking sound you hear when turning. It was a fairly easy install of just replacing the spider gears, took about an hour with normal hand tools. The rear tires do "scoff" a bit on the rear, but normal tire rotation usually takes care of that. Just my on the power trax unit that I have experience with.

[heep70]

Go here. there is a whole mess of info for ya about this stuff. Click on tech help. http://www.ringpinion.com/Default.aspx

[DuckRyder]

For a street truck go with a true-trac. It isn't a locker, but a torque sensing limited slip.

http://www.eatonperformance.com/differe ... etrac.html

Spools and welded spiders are dangerous on street vehicles.

[lightning_msd]

get the one that the bullies cant push you in, beware of the chicken prank.

[lightning_msd]

just a quick question, what exactly is the pin for? im clueless when it comes to differential components

[spartman]

Okay what happens if you don't use the pin?

Does the rear become open again?

[averagef250]

No, the pin is what two of the original spider gears run on and it's what the mini spool uses to, well, hold the mini spool in place.

If you want to use a spool and tow, hopefully it is mostly in the dirt. I've had a couple thousand pounds of tongue weight on my '70 and with a detroit in the rear on asphalt she didn't want to turn! Lots of tongue weight with a spool or locker really gives you an appreciation for how tough rear axles are. A spool will turn your axleshafts into torsion springs if the tires can't slip.

[aramil]

ya its always in the dirt cause we go camp on our uncles farm and a couple little lakes so its either in dirt or sand except for when we take it down the highway