[Zoomad75]

I've wheeled with DirtyLarry before and after he installed his detroit and tru-trac. It's an amazing change. I've got a pretty good comparison too, because my tire size/gearing/open diffs is exactly what larry had before he upgraded.

That day he did the big crack in the pic above, we played follow the leader. Now I new my K5 with open diffs wasn't going to crawl through that crack so I tried to go every where else he did. Now I was able to, but driving style could not have been more different. Climbing up a loose shale hillclimb with a nice little lip poking out half way up, Larry was able to calmly idle his way up the hill. He hit the lip and walked over it and crawled to the top. My first attempt had me at the lip and couldn't get over it so thats where the size 13 firmly planted on the floor came in. I hit that lip like a bull and the front end popped up so all I could see was sky. Larry told me the front end was more than a foot off the ground. Once the front came down the rear hit the lip and I charged over it and crawled the rest of the way to the top. I made it, but it was a wild ride that I almost slipped off the edge to the side when my front end went skyward.

A detroit out back is what I'll get when I find a 14b to put in. Street manners with a detroit is not that bad if you keep from appling power in sharp corners. For me, I wouldn't weld the front spiders, spool or install a locker with a 1/2 ton axle. With 35's or greater your going to bust an axle shaft being locked up. Shifting in and out of 4wd or unlocking hubs might be an option for some. But for some of us with high mountain shelf trails that are barely wide enough for our fat full size rigs getting out isn't an option. One side the door opens into the face of the hill and the other to a 1000ft or more drop. The trails are steep enough that shifting out of 4wd and loosing traction just to be able to turn is a big trade off.

It all depends on the terrain you plan to run. Ideally, running a selectible locker (air/electric/cable) would be the best of both worlds but those with budgets have to be realistic and plan for the intended terrain with what you can afford.