mass-hole wrote:
Gotcha. I've had Open, LSD, and Lockers as well. My experience in LSD's has always been that they act similar to a locker in really slick conditions, but they have always been in an AWD vehicle so it wasnt a huge deal.
This is a pretty accurate description of how I've felt them behave in low-traction situations as well. Granted, that depends on the surface in question (sand is a lot different to snow to gravel to dirt, etc.), but a little judicious use of the throttle and/or handbrake can generally get you what you want
mass-hole wrote:
First was an AWD Astro van with G80, then a Trailblazer SS AWD with G80, then a Subaru Legacy Spec.B with a Torsen rear. My legacy was very tail happy.
One of my Brats (I think it was the '86, but may have been the '85) had an LSD in the rear. That was interesting for a couple of reasons: one, they didn't come that way from the factory so a previous owner must have swapped it in from something else; two, the combination of no weight in the back when unloaded, FWD when in 2WD, and no centre diff meant that you could experience some
interesting behaviour at times
mass-hole wrote:
My F150 has the factory e-locker and I really only use it when things get REALLY nasty.
That pretty much sums up my ECTED experience. In all honesty, that XJ was unbelievably capable in 4FT with them unlocked and just acting as LSDs at each end; I almost never used 4PT after they went in. Even in 4LO it was rare to need full lockup, and I was pushing that thing through some fairly hairy desert and mountain wheeling at times.
mass-hole wrote:
casm wrote:
Thing is, having driven both fully-open and limited-slip vehicles on snow, I prefer the LSD. Yeah, it can make them a little squirrelly at times depending on the conditions, but given the benefits in dry conditions, I can live with the trade-off.
It just comes down to how this KJ is going to be used. If it was being built with a bias towards trail use, I'd most likely be in the ARB camp, or looking into swapping to a D44 and running another ECTED. But that's not even a primary or secondary consideration for this one, so having something in there that's good enough for 99% of on-road and trail situations that it's likely to encounter should be acceptable. Basically, I'd just rather not sacrifice the milder improvement in general usage for the (much rarer) times where a bigger hammer is needed.
Admittedly, a lot of this is subjective, and I completely get that other folks have preferences that don't necessarily match mine. That's fine. But given what it looks like the realistic options are, the compromises I can make are kinda limited.
I gotcha here. I guess i didnt realize the intent. I thought you were looking at all types or traction aids.
In all fairness, I don't think that I did a particularly good job of making the intended use clear. Saying, "for how this KJ is going to be used..." doesn't really give much of a picture of what that actually means unless I add some context to it, so I really should have been clearer from the outset on that
But, yeah, also getting a general overview of what's out there doesn't hurt. For all I know, there may be something I hadn't considered (which is very likely, given how long it's been since I looked into stuff like this for the C8.25).
mass-hole wrote:
I agree that if your main purpose is road use and maybe mild off-roading then the LSD may be the way to go. The Trutrac is your only option here other then trying to fine the OEM traclok or whatever they call it.
Based on experience with the Trac-Lok (one of which was in the XJ when I got it, and, strangely enough, still working as expected), it's not the route I want to go. Nothing really wrong with it in my opinion, but it's just not quite as aggressive as I'd like.
mass-hole wrote:
Oh and I almost forgot, OX locker does also make a rear locker for the 8.25.
Yep, ran across that one as well. Looks like a good alternative to the ARB.