Who here is running lockers on their daily drivers? And what kind?

How do they affect your handling on the road? I'm about to lock mine and my only reservation is the safety aspect. I'm leaning toward the Powertrax.

What about locking hubs? I never see these anymore, why? Would that disengage the wheels so that they would behave like an open or a limited slip when driving on the highway? Would it be possible or worth it? Thanks for any input.

 

I ran full time lockers in the front and rear of my old YJ. It did take some getting used to. Mostly due to the short wheelbase. If you have a 4 door then the affect should not be quite as bad. I found it perfectly livable for my daily driver YJ. Especially due to the huge offroad benefits. I did have some interesting experiences with ice. During one significant ice storm I got called to work, (I was the only one who could make it). I drove the whole 15 mile trip with one sides tires on the dirt/grass on the side of the road. It worked.

Locking hubs. Very expensive to add to our style axles. So much that I would probably order a much stonger custom axle before considering adding the necessary modifications for adding locking hubs. It's not just a matter of adding lockouts.

 

You have manual lockers. apples and oranges.

 

Now I may not of understood your post, but you are talking about Lockers that don't disengage (Full time). If you were to try and drive on pavement or hard ground) with lockers locked in 4WD it would be a rough experience ending with something breaking (drive line or something)

If your talking about auto lockers or selectable lockers, then it's different. Mine disengage so there is no issue at all. I've never had auto-lockers.

 

I run a aussie up front. don't notice it in 2wd and snow driving while locked is not a problem. YOU DO NOT NEED NEW HUBS. Your tcase is not engaged during 2wd operations so there is no power to the front axle. Auto lockers and manual lockers are two different animals. Auto lockers disengage on turns and manual lockers when locked are like a spool. They don't unlock.

 

I'm sorry, I didn't specify, I was asking about the auto lockers, Lock Right, Detroit, etc.

 

I have a TJL that was driven daily for three years, and before that I drove a YJ for 3 years everyday.

The TJL had a spool, while the YJ had a Detroit Locker.

The TJL drove a lot better than the YJ, but with a spool you'll be wearing tires down about 2x as fast.

If I had the money I would have went with an OX locker for the rear like I have in the front. Don't really like the cables they use, but the locker is strong.

Also the open would be better in the winter time.

I've also heard that the Power-Lok differential is a good unit. It would be a lot cheaper than the OX.

Anybody have experience with a Power-Lock how about some info?

 

Just a point of clarification for the OP, they don't really disengage, they allow the faster rotating tire to over-run the speed of locker assembly (dif).

The easiest way of thinking about it is the lunchbox (auto) lockers won't let a tire turn slower than the diff is turning but will ratchet to let a ground driven tire spin faster than the dif.

The result is that in 2wd, you wouldn't even know one was in the front, other than hearing a little clicking from the ratcheting.

In 4wd, especially on ice, they will lock and it gets interesting, but I wouldn't call it detrimental, just different. It is not like an open Jeep doesn't skid on ice, it just slides differently.

I wouldn't hesitate for a second to get one, especially the front. The only concern I would have if that the JK's BLD would reak havoc off road. I am not sure exactly how the BLD is configured, but if it were to apply brakes because you were turning and the speed of the front tires was the same when it shoud be different, it could snap an axle since it is locked. Not sure about this, but wondering.