JKUsport16

I don't see why you would want a limited slip in the front?
Granted I've never had a LSD. The lunch box locker in the
front only works while your in 4 wheel drive. So on road driving
is not effected. The first locker I ever had was a Spartan and I
loved it. Since then I've had Eaton E-lockers and I've had
ARB air lockers.

resharp001

The one thing I'd say is that sometimes you might use 4WD while on the road (inclement weather and such...ice snow), and in that case you might not want to be "locked". If purely an offroad rig, I'd completely agree with your statement, but for something that is a daily driver and for someone that might not do heavy offroading, an LSD is actually a really nice compromise. I've wheeled with someone with that setup....LSD up front and locked in the rear. I was actually quite impressed with their capability....and usually the type of things I'm wheeling require lockers to some extent.....so it got a work out.

Rednroll

Many are pretty happy with the Detroit TrueTrac LSDs, and is likely the reason the OP mentioned it in his initial post, but probably didn't realize it's not a "locker" in the true sense of the word.

When I look at it in regards to a locker vs TrueTrac LSD front, I feel the benefit to the TrueTrac is that you wouldn't have the steering bind when turning associated with a Locker and a locked front axle, but when there is spin (loss of traction) on one of the front wheels, then that spin is detected by the Truetrac and it automatically engages and transfers power to the other front tire which is not spinning. It's all gear driven and has been known to be a much more robust system when compared to LSDs which use clutches and those clutch designed LSDs is what often gives LSDs a bad name. Essentially, I feel the Detroit TrueTrac is the best solution for those of us who daily drive our JKs in that it is on all the time and engages when you need it, and disengages when you don't...which is pretty much how a locker is used but the benefit to the TrueTrac is that you get additional benefits from it when driving at higher speeds on slippery highways.

In the case of the Detroit TrueTrac It's a "Torsen" differential. Jump to 6:00, where this guy explains how it works.

Rednroll

Curious to know if he let you drive it. I'ld like to know how it felt when turning and if you noticed any drag of any type with that front LSD.

resharp001

Nah, I didn't drive it. He seemed really happy with it in general though. Jeep was his DD, and I'd say he would generally be a lighter offroader, but also the kinda person that was totally game to follow you through just about anything as long as they saw a couple people do it first.

JKUsport16

Ok.....down here in the South we hardly just drive around in 4 hi unless there is the
occasional snow in which case you wouldn't notice the steering like you mentioned.


I need to remember that I'm not a rock crawler any more......LOL

espi

I have Truetracs front and rear on a 13 JKU and don't notice any drag. I opted for them over lockers because I dont usually have tires off the ground. They have worked great in snow, on the beach and in NJ sugar sand. The best part is the rear is always there and I can go further in 2wd and dont have to worry about locking an axle.

Also with BLD and traction control the tires off the ground issue with the LSD are mostly negated. You can always apply a tiny bit of brake pressure to transfer the torque back to the tire on the ground.

BoraBora

To each their own, but that $4-600 additional for an LSD could be set aside for future axle savings, or used towards a nice selectable for the rear. You never recoup your initial investment, so if he plans on ever upgrading to a bigger axle (44, 60, etc.), he'll wish he hadn't bothered. My issue isn't with the traction device, but rather the $ being put into a D30.

But then again, my background in finance makes me anal about things like this. My ideology is more long-term, minimized losses. For some folks those few hundred dollars you lose is no big deal for some traction now. To each their own.

Personally I wouldn't stress a traction device in the front unless you're building axles you're content with, or spending a lot of time rock crawling or on slick trails. Usually the rear locker can get you out of anything, I hardly engage the front.

nthinuf

Various versions of this same story have been posted by our (former?) Dynatrac rep regarding his findings on the usefulness of the Detroit Truetrac type limited slip. This particular one was in a thread about Limited Slips, not lockers, I chose it just because it is the shorter version:

For what it's worth, I ran front/rear detroit lockers in colorado. Didn't like the front auto-locker on snow and ice, so swapped to a truetrac. A few years later when the rear axle imploded, I replaced that detroit with a truetrac also. For 'MY' use, which is not hardcare by any stretch, the truetracs were perfect, and much more user friendly onroad than auto-lockers.

Rednroll

It's really not a to each their own. I feel we're really saying the same thing but I'm taking it one further step backwards for everything you just described for the reasons you don't want to invest in a traction device for the D30. Why invest the $ into a regear of the D30? A regear just for the front will run you $700+. So what you just described for the reasons of not adding a locker or Detroit TT to the D30 no longer applies for the regear expenses? Why not put that $700+ for the regear towards the axle upgrade which already includes the gears you want just like you described?

When I've been weighing things out there's really 2 options to consider in the decision making process and other options just seem like foolish reasoning and puts you on the path of the non ideology long-term path as you describe.

Option 1. Front HD Axle replacement. More costly but gets you what you really want and will likely cost less in the long run. It will give you the gear size you want without paying for the actual regear expense on the D30.

Option 2. Regear D30. To me if you made the decision you're going to invest in the regear expenses on the D30 and justified going that route over replacing the D30 axle, then you might as well include the expense of adding a traction device with that regear so you actually gain something for that $ you decided to invest. Why make a half assed investment decision on the D30? It seems like a pinch a penny and waste a dollar decision approach.