A true Locker VS the Detroit Truetrac, Which is better? - Page 2

Solidkm · 01-21-2009, 09:49 AM

hey man i know you are talking about lockers.. but ever think of having an 8.8 done for you? im not talking something crazy expensive. If you are contemplating a super 35 kit for the money you can do better with the 8.8, have it welded and locked probably for about that S35 price or close to it.

I got m 8.8 for 250 with 4 10s anf factory posi. i happen to like the posi but for your needs its safe to say you want a locker. I got mine from dons auto mall in binghamton NY they deliver to local garages. it was 250

welded it up. regeared it my self with a mechanic friend. all in all it was in my jeep for 650$

i have a friend who got his 8.8 from the junk yard ( we pulled it ourselves) for 75 bucks. add that up that much cheaper and much bettter solution then a d35. it is 5x4.5 too so your rims will work fine. it is also disc brake ( 96-01/02 ish explorer (dont quote me) ) 31 splines. it is my understanding that an 8.8 (31 spl not 27) will handle 38s and V8 power. and it is said that the 27 slpine version is still stronger then a stock d44.

all in all i love my 8.8. i love spinning tires. with 35s i have never had a problem. im coming up on 2 years. with the factory ford trac lock i have left posi marks in the pavement and never not gone where some one in my group has. good luck

**crusher242** · 01-21-2009, 06:42 PM

I was having the same ideas for locking up my axles. I just got an 04' rubi axle for my rear to replace my 35c traclok. Up front, I'm still up in the air. I'd like a lunchbox up front, but I deal with a ton of snow driving. I never really do rocks, but I likes da mud. I'd love to go selectable up front, but it's too costly. Looks like I might do TT.

**GOLENJEEPTJ** · 01-21-2009, 06:48 PM

uh oh here it comes?

**elkfan2** · 01-21-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLENJEEPTJ

uh oh here it comes?

yeah i was thinking the same thing.

**badtux** · 01-21-2009, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boonem44

To answer the Axle questions I have a D-30 front D-35 rear. 3.73 gears. I was going to go with 4.10 gears to help with the 35" tires. I have a 6 speed manual transmission but not sure what kind other than that. My initial plan was to put a locker in the rear and then maybe the front if needed later. I will be hitting trails where the tires will be leaving the ground around July and August so I'm doing the research to have the time to get it done prior to the trips. WDW Thanks for the link it helped. I'm lost when it comes to the spline shafts though. Not sure what that means and how to figure out what I have.

The Truetrac won't hold up to 35" tires, nor will the D-35, even if you upgrade it to "Super 35". The D-30 would be fine, though upgrading the axle shafts to "Super 30" is recommended. For 35" tires you don't want 4.10 gears, you want 4.56 at a minimum and 4.88 is preferred if you have the 6 speed (which has a nice "extra overdrive"), the 4.10 would be bog-slow.

I would strongly recommend *against* upgrading to 35" tires at this time unless you're willing to put a new rear axle onto your heep. I would also recommend, if you *do* want to stick with the D-35 rear, that you leave the rear open and put a lunchbox locker up front. Otherwise your D-35 is just going to break axle shafts, even if you upgrade it to Super-35 axle shafts. And because the D-35 is a C-clip axle, breaking an axle shaft means the whole bloody wheel comes off and you're pretty SOL unless you're carrying a spare axle shaft with you and the tools to fix it on the trail

.

**Jerry Bransford** · 01-21-2009, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badtux

The Truetrac won't hold up to 35" tires, nor will the D-35, even if you upgrade it to "Super 35".

The Super 35 kit is well known to hold up to 35" tires with a locker. There are more than a few that even run the infamous Hammers trails in Johnson Valley on 35" tires with Superior Axle's 30 spline Super 35 kit. A locker is much harder on axles than the Truetrac is... which by the way is not even available with a Super 35 kit.

Solidkm · 01-21-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLENJEEPTJ

uh oh here it comes?

I am guessing thats to me,

, just trying to help. there are a million ways to skin a cat

cmc1 · 01-21-2009, 07:59 PM

Why would a detroit truetrac not hold up to 35 inch tires on a jeep?and why would you say that.

**elkfan2** · 01-21-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmc1

Why would a detroit truetrac not hold up to 35 inch tires on a jeep?and why would you say that.

I was trying to figure that out also. I had a tru-trac and 35's on my dana 35 for a little over a year and no problems. I've had a tru-trac and 35's on my dana 30 for like 4 years and its still holding up. I just broke a front outer axle shaft but the tru-trac still good.

**badtux** · 01-21-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elkfan2

I was trying to figure that out also. I had a tru-trac and 35's on my dana 35 for a little over a year and no problems. I've had a tru-trac and 35's on my dana 30 for like 4 years and its still holding up. I just broke a front outer axle shaft but the tru-trac still good.

Detroit does not recommend the TrueTrac for tire sizes above 32 inches. It voids their warranty to use it with bigger tires. I've heard of folks disintegrating TrueTracs with 35's before, it generally takes out the axle. The deal is that the Dana 35 has a very small carrier and the worm gears inside the TrueTrac are correspondingly small because the whole mess of worm gears has to fit in that small case.

You can certainly run a TrueTrac with 35 inch tires. You can run a Dana 35 with 35 inch tires too. You *will* eventually break something, though. Which probably isn't a big problem if you're on a group run and your Heep is a trailer queen, you can get a tow out then tow it home. If you're in the middle of nowhere you have a bigger problem.

**IslandTJ** · 01-21-2009, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmc1

Why would a detroit truetrac not hold up to 35 inch tires on a jeep?and why would you say that.

Is it because the TrueTrac uses 27 splined shafts and doesn't have the option to go to a beefier 30 splined shaft?

Coops · 01-21-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badtux

Detroit does not recommend the TrueTrac for tire sizes above 32 inches. It voids their warranty to use it with bigger tires. I've heard of folks disintegrating TrueTracs with 35's before, it generally takes out the axle. The deal is that the Dana 35 has a very small carrier and the worm gears inside the TrueTrac are correspondingly small because the whole mess of worm gears has to fit in that small case.

What if you've got a D44 and want to throw a TT in it? Does it have a better chance of holding up to 33's or maybe 35's?

**Jerry Bransford** · 01-21-2009, 09:50 PM

In a Dana 44, a 30 spline Truetrac could very likely handle even 37" tires.

Coops · 01-21-2009, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

In a Dana 44, a 30 spline Truetrac could very likely handle even 37" tires.

Thanks Jerry, any idea if they work better with lower gearing due to torque multiplication? It sounds like I answered my own question but it'd be nice to hear it from someone else too.

I've got 3.73's and am thinking of keeping them so I can spread out the cost of putting truetracs in both ends. If I did change I'd probably go to 4.10's as I liked the way it drove when I had 31's and 3.73's. I don't do rocks and have enough power with 33's (to put it in perspective I can pull up a decent grade in 5th on the highway without thinking of downshifting). 4.56's wouldn't help me for driving around town but a lower crawl speed would be nice, than again I could use 4L.

**Jerry Bransford** · 01-22-2009, 12:06 AM

Truetracs don't multiply torque, they just help utilize/take advantage of/access a larger percentage of what's available at the driveshaft. It's only a torque converter in an automatic transmission that actually does torque multiplication.