What is the best type of Locker / posi track to install in my Dana 60 on my 4x4

[Brewski*]

I want something that is tough and quiet. I hear the detroit lockers are a little noisy is this true? Any input is appreciated???

[Yukon Jack]

My Detroit Locker is a factory one in my 69 K20. It will get your attention occasionally when turning a corner. First time I heard it I thought something broke. You get used to it real quick and I wouldn't let that keep me from buying one at all. They perform great. My 69 will walk up stuff in 2wd that my 95 Yukon could never go up in 4wd.

[danho]

The best in my opinion is ARB.
Dan.

[JIMs70GMC]

I like the powr-loc in my rear dana 60.

[drink2mny]

Here's my .02..
If you are to daily drive your truck on the street more than offroad. I would look at a powerlock or trac-loc.. They give a little more than a detroit as for tire wear and noise. Now for more off road and less on street I would go detroit, detroits do pop very loud every once in awhile and sound like your R&P will come through your truck, but the hold more horsepower and can be beat on with bigger tires..

Power-loc and trac-locs have clutches. I know for a 14bff detroits are clutchless. I have never seen one for a D60..
As for ARB, if you have time and money, they are nice because they are selectable, helped install one in a d44 and never will again..

hope this helps a little.

[JIMs70GMC]

From the reider racing catalog:
Powr-loc 75% more traction than an open diff
Trac-loc 50% more traction than an open dif

An article in four wheeler I believe had the powr-loc as the tightest clutch type diff available.

[Mike C]

I have the same dilemma, but with my 2x4. My truck is darn near useless in anything slicker than dry pavement with the peg leg 60. I almost got stuck with my car trailer going around an uphill right hand turn on wet asphalt! Embarrasing... The Powerlock is the best clutch LSD for the 60, but at $550 it is as pricey as the Detroit Locker. Here are some solutions and my reasons yay/nay:

Detroit E-Locker-best of both worlds. Worm gear torque biasing LSD with no parts to wear. Flip a switch and fully locked. Cost about $1000. (edit: found for $800 several places.)

ARB- open or locked, also about $1000 with compressor, but not
as useful as e-locker imo.

Ox Locker. This is a cool mechanical cable actuated locker. Open or locked. About $900 and also not as useful as the e-locker.

Detroit Locker or soft locker- $550 or so. Super durable. Noisy, not good for pulling a trailer as they say you get some butt shake. This is a deal breaker for me. Also introduces a lot of drivetrain lash that is not present with other type diffs.

Powerlock-best clutch type LSD for 60, but also expensive at $550 as noted above.

Lock Rite-Less than $300 and can be installed without removing the carrier and ring gear. This is a real plus because 60 preload is set with shims between bearing and case, so everytime you adjust preload or backspacing, the bearings have to come off. PITA.

Traklok- The deal in 60 LSD. About $290 at Drivetrain Warehouse. This is the solution I made. I don't need 100% traction to one wheel pulling a boat. I just need something to reliably send power to both wheels. I find it hard to believe that on wet pavement or mud that their is much lost efficiency in the Trak Lok.

FWIW, I have a used Trak Lok for sale. I'll take $125 plus shipping. I bought it from a guy on the board for the 60 in my Jimmy, but I have decided that when I go to 8 lug wheels I'll just suck it up and buy the e-locker since it is what I really want. It is a 30 spline unit for 3.54-4.10 gears. Possibly 4.30, not sure where the break on the 4.30's is as they don't show them usually. Same with the rare 3.3's, but obviosly they go with the lower case.

Where is Rocky Mount? I am in St. Louis doing 9 weeks of training for a new job. Be here for 5 more weeks if you are anywhere close wouldn't mind having a cold one and checking out your truck.

[Brewski*]

Hey Mike C, Thnks for all the input. I may be interested in the used Traklock. I need to figure out what the spline count is first. how hard are these things to install?

[Brewski*]

What do you all think of this system?Powertrax
Here is more info I found:http://pacific.telebyte.com/allanw/b...fo/locker.html
This guy states:

Trac-Lok: Made by Dana/Spicer, This is the weakest limited slip available. Wears out quickly, usually under 30K miles (in my experiences anyway). Hardly to not noticable on the street or in the dirt. PIA to rebuild, spring retainer clips prone to break wreaking havoc with diff internals. Available for Dana 44 (30 spline) & 60 (30 & 35 spline). This was an IH option. The owners manual calls for 2/3 oz of limited slip additive for each pint of gear oil.

Powr-Lok: Made by Dana/Spicer, also briefly explained above. Arguably the strongest limited slip available. Lasts well over 100K if proper oil is used and changed per service manual. Set up in stock form not very noticable in turns or icy conditions. Can be adjusted tighter for more positive performance but then is pretty noticable in turns/ice. Easy to rebuild. Almost as expensive as a Detroit Locker to buy new. Available for Dana 25, 27, 30, 44 (all spline types), 60 (all spline types) and 70. This was an original IH option.

TrueTrac: Made by TracTech. A gear type limited slip. No clutches to wear out. Limits slip by binding gears. Early versions used two gears and tend to break easily. Current version uses three gears and is fairly bullet-proof. Hardly to not noticible on the street and very effective off-road, but in the tradition of limited slips, if one tire has ZERO traction (like in the air) it will not transfer torque unless you 'fool' it with brake application. Available for Dana 30 and 44 (30 spline).

Lock-Right: Made by Power-Trax. A automatic locking differential that replaces spyder & side gears in an open diff. Weak point is it uses stock carrier and single cross pin. Special hardend cross pins are available and recommended by Power-Trax for hard-core/big tire use. Very noticable on the street, especially coming out of turns on the throttle, can be tricky for the inexperienced on ice. Noisy when locking and unlocking and may be hard to unlock on short coupled rigs like CJ's. Available for Dana 30, 44 (19 & 30 spline) & 60 (30 & 35 spline). I've heard they also have Dana 25 & 27 versions, but my catalog doesn't show a listing for those applications.

Detroit EZ Locker: Made by TracTech. Virtually identical to the Lock-Right. So much so that federal court has ruled TracTech must pay royalties to Power-Trax, still they tend to cost less than a Lock-Right. TracTech recommends not to use with tires over 32". (Probably because they'd rather sell you a full-on Detroit, IMHO.) Availibility same as Lock-Right.

Detroit Locker: Made by TracTech. In Dana axles, it replaces the carrier. Has equivilent of 2 cross pins. Can be quite noisy when engaging/disengaging. Very effective, like a spool when locked. Very bullet-proof. Driving characteristics like Lock-Right. Available for Dana 44 & 60 in all splines.

Detriot SoftLocker: Made by TracTech. Virtually the same as a regular Detroit Locker, except has Belleville springs to soften shock loads to axles and thus quieter operation. Available for Dana 44 & 60 in all splines.

ARB Air Locker: Made by ARB. A manual locking differential, it also replaces the carrier. When 'off' it is an open differential with all the charicteristics of the open design. When 'on' it is a spool and offers no differentiation. In front axle applications, it may have to be turned off to negotiate turns if suffecient slippage is not available. Pretty strong, but not quite as strong as either of the full-on Detroits. Most expensive unit. requires an air compressor to operate. O-ring failure is not uncommon, rendering the unit open. Available for Dana 30, 44 (30 spline), 60 (30 & 35 spline).

[Mike C]

Some good info. He is talking about OEM equipment on IH Scouts. Out of production now for 25+ years. Materials have come a long way since then.

I have a TruTrac for my Impala SS. Haven't installed it yet, but am looking forward to losing the stupid Auburn cone clutch posi that is trashed.

I have a Lock Right in the rear of my 44 Jeep. It is a Dana 23 and the Lock Right is the ONLY choice for a traction aid in a 23 or 25. The Jeep has a 25 in the front. The 23 is the only full floater used in a 1/4 ton. (Traditional Jeep, CJ, etc.) I have not noticed it at all. It works great in the jeep, but does put a significant amount of driveline lash into the system.

As I noted before, a Dana 60 is very difficult to do a carrier swap compared to other rear axles. To do it right you need a case spreader in order to set preload. You can do it without, but it makes it easier. You also need a bearing puller to get diff bearings off in order to adjust backlash and preload. That is the beauty of the Powertrax or LockRight in that a DIYer with limited experience and lack of special tools can install. Taking that all into account, the Powertrax would be what I would recommend for you.

[1969 GMC]

the same trak-lok and power-lok that were original options on Scouts were also original options on our trucks, as Jim noted (which have been out of production for 32 years, compared to the 24 years the IH scout has been). so are they also made of the same inferior materials?

i dont think that the materials in a limited slip have changed that much. maybe he has bad experiences with trak-loks? but it seems to support with what i have heard that the trak-lok just is not as good as the powr-lok, bottom line. trak loks only showed up in 67-72 trucks as the elusive front positraction option, and i imagine that they are well suited for front diffs. also, i have seen used dana 60 power-locks sell on this board for $125, but they most likely need rebuilt. that still sounds like a deal compared to $550 new! i am also in the need for a traction aide of some type, and i think used power lock is the way to go, cost wise at least. if i was going for a detroit, i would probably upgrade to 35 spline axleshafts first for added durability. OR, i have heard about getting the eaton ho52 axle, and putting in shortened 14 bolt 30 spline axle shafts and a 14 bolt detroit, but not sure on cost for that. or just locating a ho52 with the factory detroit and doing a direct swap. plenty of options out there.

oh, and btw, the dana 60 axles in our trucks (at least in the 8 lug 3/4 ton version) have 30 spline axleshafts. i do not know if the 6 lug 1/2 ton versions are the same or not.

[Mike C]

I should have been more specific. The only things are the clutch packs and the bevel washer. The bevel washer is basically a spring washer in the clutch pack, it is what preloads the diff like the coil springs in an Eaton. With friction modifier and new gear lube I would think 100k mile reliability would be fine.

The PowerLok is easy to rebuild because it is a 2 piece case. You don't have to rotate the spider gears in. It is also a 4 pinion limited slip, so each spider gear has 1/2 as much load as in a Trak Lok. The Trak Lok was the G80 optioned diff in the 3/4 ton trucks, while the PowerLok was the max traction axle in the Dana 60 trucks I'm pretty sure.

But like I noted above, it is reasonably complicated work to install a diff in a 60 and get backlash and preload set. It requires a bearing puller and case spreader to do it right. I know several guys on the board have done their own without the spreader and seem to have no troubles. We will see what the bearing life is as time goes on.