rsmithtesiusa

2014 JK Unlimited - Willey's Wheeler addition so has limited slip on rear but no lockers. We do a few Jeep Jamborees every year and there have been a few things we couldn't do.

Can we get by with Lockers just on the front since we have the limited slip rear?
Or do I need to quit being a cheap bastage and do both?

The Willeys has the 3.73 Axle Ratio so considering the ARB Air Lockers.

Any advice appreciated.

lowendrider

You can only put one locker in the front.

rsmithtesiusa

But is that a good idea? Will it give me significantly better traction. etc?

Thanks

nthinuf

Read as many threads on this as you can find, there are a bunch to browse through. The short answer is yes, you can lock just the front and leave the l/s in the rear.

The longer answer gets into the bigger debate about locking a front d30 vs leaving it open, throwing a grand into a selectable for a D30 vs a cheaper truetrac or lunchbox, the preference of locking the front vs rear when only doing one, various opinions on how much performance you are actually getting from your current clutch-based limited slip vs pulling it out and locking the rear instead, etc, etc. If the debate really gets going, be ready to grab some popcorn...

Personally, I would not drop a grand into a locker for a d30. Pull out the limited and Lock the rear d44. Then either add a detroit truetrac up front, or just leave it open.

rsmithtesiusa

Is the concern the Dana 30 front being relatively weak? Again I am not hammering the jeep off road - just want to get up and down some slightly harder stuff...

Thanks for the reply.

Trail Jeeps

Don't fear the Dana 30, I have done a bazillion posts on this topic here, search is your friend.

Two options: selectable lockers or Detroit TrueTracs. If you were my customer, I'd probably sell you on a regear and a swap to a pair of Truetracs. They don't trip up the factory TCS and are invisible on the street. With a little practice a JK with a pair of Truetracs can get anywhere a fully locked Jeep can go. They're simple, automatic, robust and don't require any special fluids to operate. They are also mechanical, so they do not wear out like a clutch style LSD.

You can do just the front, but traction is your friend and will keep you from breaking stuff and smashing up your Jeep, so I would strongly recommend doing both, and step up a notch in the gear department at the same time since you're already replacing the carrier. Then your Jeep is the perfect daily driven sleeper with factory street manners and the offload prowess of a slightly overweight mountain goat.

Rednroll

This!!!

To add to this, even those who have front/rear lockers often don't lock the front axle except when they find themselves in a situation where everything else fails. The reason being is that a locked front axle becomes much more difficult to steer and maneuver.

How many miles do you have on your JK currently? As Jeep Trails mentions, the factory LSD is clutch driven. The clutch wears out with not very many miles on it and you may not even realize it, but when that happens you're actually wheeling with an open differential. Many have reported having to replace the factory LSD at 20-30K miles. A gear driven LSD like the Detroit Truetracs are a much better LSD solution than the clutch driven LSDs, they will work much better and last much longer.

I've read quite a few of these discussions as suggested. My situation is very similar to yours, Dana 30 front, a few offroad excursions a year, no rock crawling, and I prefer playing in the snow, mud and sand. My take away is that a regear with front/rear Detroit Truetracs is likely my best option. You combine a Truetrac with the JK's already available Brake Lock Differentials (BLD), then it is a very comparable setup as having locked front and rears. The added benefit, is that you don't have to additionally install onboard air or manually enable/disable them. They're always on and engage automatically when a wheel starts to spin. Additionally, if you live in a snow state like myself, you benefit from the LSDs when traveling on snow covered roads at highway speeds. You can't lock your axles when traveling at highway speeds, thus lockers become useless in those particular situations.

Don't get me wrong. Lockers are great but there's also a lot of benefits to the gear driven LSDs as well. Do some further reading, and decide for yourself which you may prefer. I did, after thinking for years, I was going to get lockers and changed my mind once I got more information and weighed out the pluses and minuses for my use cases.

kmrtnsn

We have a JKUS that we had ARB lockers installed in. I contemplated just running a front locker as we also had the LSD in the rear. In the end I locked both. Where you really need lockers is on an uphill climb. When doing so all of your weight is biased to the rear and that is where you really need the traction. There are very few instances where having the majority of your locked traction in the front is the benefit. Mostly, it's the rear where you need the "super traction". Wait a little, put aside some more money, and lock both.

larry0071

I locked the front with an Eaton E-Locker. My rear Willys package LSD was dead at 16,000 miles, so I bought a Trutrac for the rear. I do run ram assist, so steering is the same locked or not... I love the front locker.

rsmithtesiusa

Think I am sold on the Truetracs - anyone in the Houston, TX area know a good shop to use for the install?