Lockers

Also my CJ5 was by far the worst of my three for on-road manners.  A longer wheelbase, more weight and an automatic transmission will all do a lot to damp out the bad manners.  A CJ5 (and a CJ2a even more so) doesn't have any of those.

Automatic lockers are great at what they're great at.  But they sure aren't for everyone.

Powerlocs work great for me. I have moved to a lock right in the rear. It behaves reasonably well. Chirps a little in tight turns on the street. One thing I can definitely say is with a warm odd fire I get some nasty torque steer if I put my foot in it. Otherwise I'll get used to it and learn it's quirks, pluses and minuses.

While I think having lockers is always better than not having lockers for off-road performance there are quirks.

My current favorite combo is an automatic FRONT locker and a selectable REAR locker.

For me, this has the best overall characteristics with the least amount of negative quirks. In my opinion, most of the quirks come from the REAR axle trying to push the vehicle straight. This loads the chassis up under power and pushing the vehicle to the outside of the turn. You can coast through some of the bad rear auto-locker issues....by coasting around all the corners, but on power you will notice more issues. 

With the rear diff open ( locker off ) there are no bad quirks from the front Automatic locker in 4wd ( or in 2wd with the hubs locked ). The only thing I notice is a slight increase in return to center feel through the wheel in 3wd. ( I do have power steering ). I haven't found any increase in steering force with the automatic front locker, even with really big 35 by wide tires at low single digit pressures. I actually think the automatic locker in front helps prevent scrub related steering issues compared to when you use a locked selectable in front. Turning radius seems to be the same as open/open and dang close to what it is in 2wd. It may even be tighter in certain situations because the front tires can 'pull' the chassis around in 3wd a bit more. I notice this more in slick conditions or when trying to turn and go uphill at the same time. In general, the vehicle goes where I point it and a I don't have to fight the steering.

I have found that my REAR locker use is down to the point that I could just about put it on a momentary switch. This is when doing really difficult trails. I think adding rear cutting brakes would decrease it's use even more and increase the vehicle maneuverability even more. A lot of the rock buggy guys do this.

At this point, even owning another very well set up off road vehicle with selectable/selectable locking diffs, I prefer the Automatic front and selectable rear combo in my flatty. Any new vehicle I build for off-road work, that is my go to starting point going forward. The only time I would recommend a selectable front locker over an automatic locker is if the vehicle is full time 4wd or perhaps if you happen to daily drive A LOT of icy roads ( and are the type of drive that puts in into 4wd and leaves it on winter roads.....I am a 'toggler', I only use 4wd on winter roads as needed, and generally below 50mph )

I did run an automatic front locker and rear power-lok limited slip on the flatty when I first put it together. While the addition of the selectable rear locker made it more capable in the end, the rear limited slip did a lot of the in-between things 'better', especially in rwd without having to push any buttons, but without being obtrusive. When pushing things and lifting tires, the rear limited slip did have limits. My ideal rear diff would be a good limited slip with a overriding locker that didn't need any ring gear movement to engage or disengage. My biggest complaint about selectable lockers, especially when used in front, don't like to immediately UNLOCK when you want them to.

Enough rambling.

I won’t try to convince you what to get or even which is better for which type of wheeling, just that this is what I have and these are my observations.

I currently have a D41, D25, L134, D18, and the T90C.  When I built Gus, I knew I wanted a locker in the rear.  I also planned on full floating rear axles.  With the full floater,  I decided to “upgrade” to D44 30 spline axles shafts.  As everyone knows, there are no selectable lockers for the D41 (although, I seriously considered building the Vern-O-Lock), and the Lock Right was crowding $400, so I decided to go with a $80 mini-spool for a D44 30 spline.  I installed that and thought I could go anywhere.  I was running 33x12.50x15 Mickey Thompson mud tires.  I did notice my turning radius was a little larger than what I thought it should be, but I attributed it (wrongly) to the larger tires.  One day in Colorado on the Grizzly Lake gatekeeper with jpet, Stan, et. al, I realized I couldn’t go anywhere with only a rear locker, so I bought and installed the Lock Right for the D25.  When I first installed the front locker, I still had the 33x12.50’s, and I dropped it in low range 4wd going down my neighborhood street and went to make a left-hand turn and it just kept on going straight, right past my turn!  Man, I didn’t like that at all!  I thought I had made a major mistake installing that locker.  That was until I learned what I could do with it.  It changed everything for my off-roading.  Yes, the pavement manners, and even the manners in the dirt are quirky, but I have learned to drive “around” them in order to conquer some obstacles.  I have since swapped over to narrow tires and it has lessened some of those quirks as well.

I like the fact that the lockers I have don’t need any situational circumstance to “work” (read here engage, lock, hook up or whatever).  I have observed many jeeps with LSDs (“Likely-to-Slip“ Diffs..LOL) or clutch packs, etc. that simply don’t turn the wheel when it is needed.  Can those jeeps conquer the same obstacle?  Sure.  Sometimes, the driver is experienced enough and can compensate or simply momentum and skinny pedal make it happen.  I love knowing that all 4 of my wheels are turning at the same speed when I need it.  I don’t even think about it.  Yes, auto lockers have their quirks, but to maintain originality with our little Willys, I think it is a acceptable compromise.

Here’s a video that shows my lockers working.  This trail isn’t rock crawling either.  If you want to focus on the locker traits, skip to about the 7 minute mark.  At 9:20 you can see that both of my passenger side tires are off the ground and I didn’t need any wheel spin to “engage” the tires with traction.  I just gave it a normal amount of throttle and the auto lockers did their job.  Having a selectable or auto locker, in my opinion, simply works better than any other type of mechanism.  Except, maybe the Auburn Limited slip E-locker for the D44.....but I sold that without ever using it.   Ennyhoo, there’s my $0.02.  Don’t spend it all in one place!

The only times I wish I had something different is offroad when really twisted up,  and rear tire is off the ground, or close to it.  The front selectable sure helps in those situations,  but having the rear "locked" also would be better.   I did discover one time this past summer that the "parking brake" trick really does work with TrueTrac.  (Wilson has 11" rear drums, not driveshaft brake).    I plan to try that more in future.

No option is better for everything,   but this combo works best for me. 

Thanks for the kind words!  but we know that is not totally true,   I can't follow everywhere.  Not enough clearance, wheelbase,  or NERVE!      Truly amazing where you can go.