About all I can say is that to date, I've had no problems with my front or rear diffs (Dana 30, and Chr. 8.25 of course). I've wheeled it pretty hard too, on about 10 - 15 club runs, through mostly mud, and some snow and sand. I take it easy on the skinny pedal of course, and try pretty hard to avoid any wheelspin. I also have ARBs in both ends, so that helps prevent wheelspin. Although there's scattered rocks on the trails, we do very little true 'rock crawling', which would be a lot harder on the drivetrain. I've got a fair bit of water and mud into them (still haven't extended the breathers
), so I've changed the oil a couple times.
I've cut a lot of plastic from the back and front of the front wheels, and the front of the back wheels. I also think my springs and shocks are sagging, so they may get replaced soon. BTW, the 33 x 10 Trxus tires (and steel wheels) are 90 lb. (at 30 psi), and the 33 x 12.50 boggers and wheels are 103 lb. (at 30 psi), and 99.5 lb. at 15 psi.
LOCKERS: FWIW, although the ARBs work OK, I think my next truck will have an automatic locker in the back, and a Tru-Trac (quality limited slip) in the front, which is a setup that a few of the guys here have, and really like. IMHO, this is a better and cheaper setup than the ARBs, which are either open or spooled. When locked (spooled), the front is nearly impossible to turn if you have any traction, so I do most of my wheeling with it open (so no benefit, except for the occasional hill climb or mud hole). They're also finicky, with a few problems with blown O-rings (especially in cold climates).
Also, when
on-roading, on really snowy or muddy roads, I'd like to have both locked (for traction), but then I can't steer, and it messes up the ability of my ABS to steer and brake when you want it (in an emergency). Therefore, on those roads I will also drive in '3-wheel drive' (back locked, front open), which gives my ABS most of the steering ability (the back will pump together, but at least 1 of the front will be independant - It steers around parked cars fine). However, the spooled back will tend to fishtail on corners even when you're not on the gas (where an automatic would unlock), and a Tru-Track in the front would give more traction than an ARB that's turned off (open), and I understand would still allow steering with the ABS (although I haven't tried it). It's also a bit of a pain to turn the ARBs off and on every time you go in and out of the underground parking, especially if it's really cold and you're going to blow an O-ring doing it.
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