Posted by Dave Jensen on Saturday, March 03, 2007 at 14:10:45 :
In Reply to: Any one running detroit lockers ? posted by wet coast bruce on Saturday, March 03, 2007 at 12:44:49 :
As far as I know the detroit locker in the rear my '68 IH hasn't ever needed attention... although the rest of the truck is falling apart around it...
It takes some getting used to. It took me longer than it should have to figure out you have to back off the power to make a turn (ie, stop spinning which is counter-intuitive when you're going up a steep, slick hill), and then hammer on it again to get to the top. But under power in slick/steep situations you probably wouldn't be disengaging an ARB and then engaging it again to make quick changes in direction. Just like the selectable lockers in mogs and the landcruisers, it seems like you would engage the lockers when you hit the rough stuff and keep them on until you're out of the woods (?)I think the detroit is probably superior in that respect, because you can often get it to release quickly for a short distance and it engages on its own as soon as you start to spin again, no grinding and no worries.
Having the locker has saved me from getting stuck many times when I was able to keep going in places that I would have spun out in my M-37, particularly when I've got chains on. But I still end up winching out a lot because if you do get stopped, the locker doesn't help much...it's just one more wheel spinning.
I've never driven the a rig with the air lockers, and it seems like they would be best for a truck that was going to see a lot of time on icy paved roads, where not having a locker engage at all would be desirable. Particularly when I don't have much of a load in my truck and I'm on pavement, being propelled straight on a corner is unnerving.