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Detroit Locker vs Detroit TrueTrac... Opinions?

CJ7Pilot

CJ7Pilot

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Marysville
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History: back in the early/mid 2000s, I had a CJ7, and I set it up exactly the way I wanted it. I never should have sold it... you know how it is.

Anyhow, it came with 3:31 open diffs, and I swapped it out to 4.10 TrueTracs. I loved this setup (for my kind of driving)!

One time, after I had changed the rear, but before I had changed the front (so 4x4 was a no-go), I was hauling away trailer loads of pine needles from the family cabin. I had backed the trailer up to a dump pile, pitched out the pine needles, and I needed to pull forward and make a sharp right turn. Well, a rear wheel slipped in the dirt, the TrueTrac locked up, and the CJ7 just pushed straight ahead, with the front wheels turned full right!

To me, that's a pretty tight lock-up... I was super impressed with the Detroit TrueTrac!

Fast-forward to today: I'm trying to make my Scrambler as nice as my CJ7 was ( I love my Scrambler, by the way, and I would not trade back)!

It's time to look at the axles. The rear diff is in terrible shape. The yoke has almost 1/4" of end-play, and every bit of 1/4 turn of backlash (some of which is due to the Warn axle kit)... I'm afraid to drive it out of town (even though I picked it up sight unseen two years ago, and drove it 400 miles home)!

My plan was to get a TrueTrac for the AMC20, which worked out so well in my CJ7, but a few months ago I found a lightly used Detroit locker for half the price!

I figured, "what's better than a Detroit locker?!?"

Well, now I'm second guessing myself, and I'm inclined to go with my own personal experience....

At this stage in life, my Jeeping will be mostly Forest Service roads, some fire trails, and maybe a few sand/gravel bars. It's not likely (although it's not totally out of the question) that I'll ever tackle the Rubicon.

I like to hunt, fish, and camp... and I want my Scrambler to get me to the places where I can do those things.

I guess after all this monologue, my question boils down to the street manners of the Detroit locker.

I know the TrueTrac is virtually invisible around town, and it handles pretty darned well off-road!

I also know the Detroit locker is the KING off-road... but, how does it handle around town?

I'm leaning heavily toward selling off the Detroit locker, and buying a TrueTrac... any thoughts? :shrug:
 
I drive a 2006 LJ with a Detroit locker all over. Yes it will clink and clank once in a while and scare the crap out of you thinking it broke. If you get on the gas hard enough turning the corner it will lockup and spin the inside tire. But Most of the time it does not bother me haveing it in there.

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Haven't driven a Detroit locker. Have a true trac. Only downside of the truetrac that I can tell is if you completely lift a wheel and can't use brakes to provide slight pressure (as long as you are on reasonable size tires). I've heard that the Detroit lockers are scary on the snow (where the true trac works great).

TT are cheaper new...I bet you could get most of the funds for TT selling the DL in the propper place....
 
don87401 said:
I drive a 2006 LJ with a Detroit locker all over. Yes it will clink and clank once in a while and scare the crap out of you thinking it broke. If you get on the gas hard enough turning the corner it will lockup and spin the inside tire. But Most of the time it does not bother me haveing it in there.
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Yep, I have one too (in my CJ8) and same opinion. Used to run a spool. They do still push a little in the snow. I also run a Detroit in the front axle.
 
I installed a Trutrac in my Scrambler for the same thought process as you and love it. I would say go with a full locker in the front and trutrac in the rear if you never plan to drive it in the snow on the street. If you do plant to drive on the snow for the street then go with both trutracs or an open front dif. I do not see the need a for a full locker unless you are rock bashing all the time. Over the years I have owned a lockright locker, ARB air locker and now the trutrac and I really lover the trutrac for simplicity and road manners.
 
My tan '84 Scrambler came with/still has a Detroit Locker in the rear. This Scrambler has an automatic transmission. The Detroit is invisible most of the time. I have drove this Scrambler back and forth from the bottom of Mississippi to Michigan several times, and to South Dakota and back, plus numerous other long trips. It is mostly invisible. On the street, tight turn from a stop will cause a little tire scuffing. Rarely, say in a parking lot or some other random time, it will unload, go "BAM", scare the crap out of people LOL. All in all, not terrible on the street, but not invisible like an open diff/selectable locker/limited slip. I have no experience on snow/ice. Off-road, it is wonderful. It just works. No switches/cables/air lines to foul up, and you can't forget to turn it on LOL. If medium to heavy off-roading is in your future, it is a good choice. If mainly street/easy gravel dirt roads is your future, kind of overkill, especially with the slight on road "bad manners". Like I said, most of the time it is fine, but it will grab your attention every once in awhile. On the Scrambler, with an automatic transmission, I give it a B+ on-road, A+ off road. I let other people drive this one on road, pretty tame.

I daily drove a '78 CJ-7 for years with a Detroit in the rear, T-18 standard transmission. The locker was much more noticeable on the street. The shorter wheelbase, and the manual transmission, made a huge difference. Besides the tire scuffing and occasional "BANG", it was very sensitive feeling when on/off the throttle, semi-coasting through sweeping turns, shifting gears. You had to pay attention to it. On the CJ-7, with a standard transmission, I give it a C on road, A+ off road. I would not just throw the keys to someone with this Jeep for on road driving.

Both Jeeps, Scrambler and the CJ-7, had Warn full float axles. Get rid of the lock in hubs and run drive flanges. The extra internal play of the Detroit, plus the play in the hubs, is too much. Both vehicles behaved much better with drive flanges :twocents: Dana 44, 30 spline drive flanges are what you want. Even with the Ox Locker in my Red Scrambler, with over 30,000 miles, I changed out the lock in hubs for drive flanges. You can easily reinstall the lock in hubs for towing, if needed. Or, certain drive flanges allow you to remove the slug and still attach the cover for flat towing. The RPM Offroad flanges in my tan Scrambler are like this, the flanges in my red Scrambler are not.

If I was starting from scratch, and mainly on-road/easy off roading were my goals, I would go with the Tru-Trac. If a bit more heavy off-roading is the plan, go with the Detroit :twocents: I "might" re-gear my green Scrambler, if I do, I will probably put a Tru-Trac in the rear as an upgrade from the Trac-Lok. Definitely not a Detroit, especially with the manual transmission, and its expected use :twocents: Another thing to consider with the Detroit, it does put more stress on the rest of the power train. So, if you are running a T5/T4/SR4, two piece axles, it might be the straw that breaks the camels back so to speak :twocents:
 
Thanks guys, you've made lots of good points!

If I did not already have a Detroit locker sitting in my garage, I really wouldn't be considering it... I'd go straight for the TrueTrac.

Maybe it's best to follow my gut on this one. As mentioned above, if I can sell the locker for what I paid for it, I'll be halfway to the cost of a new TrueTrac anyway.

I'm not too worried about my transmission (SM465), but I am a little worried about the Warn hubs. Drive flanges are a good idea, and I think I'll include those when I do the axle.
 
The pest price I have found for the Trutrac was through Summit Racing but on their E-bay store. I got mine for $475 shipped.
 
Kane said:
The pest price I have found for the Trutrac was through Summit Racing but on their E-bay store. I got mine for $475 shipped.
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Was that for the AMC20? All the AMC20 TrueTracs I can find are over $600. The Dana 30 TrueTracs are quite a bit less, but I suppose that is because there are more of them out there.
 
CJ7Pilot said:
Was that for the AMC20? All the AMC20 TrueTracs I can find are over $600. The Dana 30 TrueTracs are quite a bit less, but I suppose that is because there are more of them out there.
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No I have a Scout Dana 44 but I just wanted to let you know where I found the best price.
 
Thank you! Summit still seems to have the best price. :thumbsup:
 
If you're going to drive in rain/snow regularly: trutrac
If not: Full detroit
 
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