Rear Axle Traction Enhancer

The next item on the disassemble, improve, reassemble and install will be the Dana 44 rear axle for my project. Who would like to help me spend my money? ;-)

The front is done, and has an Eaton TrueTrac limited slip. The rear needs something but, being a bit of a noob, I’m not certain what to add.

Another TrueTrac?
Spartan locker?
Detroit locker?
Ox/ARB selectable?

Spartan or Aussie are inexpensive but have their own drawbacks.

Selectables are terrific but expensive.

TrueTrac seems to be the Goldilocks solution to me but…

Ideas? I have 4.27 gearing, if it matters.

Jon B.

 

If you can afford and justify a selectable than do it.
If you just need a bit more grip on the drive home than the true Trac.
But if you expect wheel lift or criss cross terrain than the true Trac is not what you want and you are on a budget than the spartan is what I went with. Yeah it's a bit of a handful on rainy days but predictable. They don't just randomly kick.

 

Selectable hands down.

 

You want Rear Axle Traction Enhancement? You can't handle Rear Axle Traction Enhancement!!!



This belongs to a good friend of mine. Their club had to cancel today's rally for lack of safe ice on the lake.

 

Perhaps you can help explain to Management that it’s *only* another $500-800.

Jon B.

 

Management. lol that’s why I do side jobs then there is no question on money spent….

 

Explain to mgt that getting the selectable the first time will save you $ in the long run. Ask me how I know. I have a used Spartan if you want to make an offer.

 

I love that. So cool.

 

The instructions were to help you spend your money.

 

The traction device kind of depends on the terrain you plan on driving on the most and if your jeep is going to see a lot of street driving or just offroad. Autolockers are great offroad but in short wheel base jeeps the handling can be sketchy sometimes. Trutrac hadles on the road like an open diff but has good performance offroad but not ss good as a full locker. Selectable is best of both on and off road but $$$

I ran a spartan front with a trutrac rear for years. Good offroad performance and street manners plus i was able to go from 19 to 30 spline shafts. Currently running ARBs in both axles and to be honest i liked the front spartan locker more.

 

Don't forget one of the oldest and most reliable traction devices out there:

 

As mentioned already, it depends on how you plan to use it. If you often get into twisty situations, with two opposing tires off the ground, then you need a full locker in rear (since you "only" have limited slip in front). If you never, or extremely rarely, see that situation, then another TrueTrac might be best choice.

My '2A is mostly a "working" Jeep, and I like to "tread lightly" as much as possible when in my yard, or on trails on my property. The TrueTrac in rear is good for that. On uphill turns, an open diff will spin one tire (and possibly stop moving), an automatic locker will spin the inside tire until the outside catches up, a selectable locker will either be "open", or make skid marks with both tires. The TrueTrac leaves no skid marks (unless traction is so bad that both tires spin). Also, the TrueTrac is invisible on the road.

The only times that I regret my selectable front, and TrueTrac rear -> is in extreme situations that I wish both front and rear could be fully locked, which is a very small percentage of my use.

 

Ha! The ‘72 parts pile has a ‘Lincoln’ locker. Hey, today is Honest Abe’s birthday! Cheap, reliable, inconvenient.

Jon B.

 

I've run a Gleason for years in the rear of my CJ. Hands down the best auto traction diff for any vehicle.
The Tru Trac is a variation of the same design. IMHO, unless you have a need for a locker (extreme articulation with one or more tires off the ground) lockers are a mixed blessing and selectibles are just miserable expensive.
In Minnesota, I would be leery of any auto locker in the ice and snow.
My vote is for the Tru Trac.
While old school, a Powr Lok is an option.

 

You can always pull the handbrake to help the True Trac along if you lift a rear wheel. You can't do that on the front. For a rear axle the helical gear system makes a lot of sense until you are in granny gear territory.

 

Or even better . . install electric disc brakes in rear, or cable-pull cutter-brakes, with separate controls for left/right.

By "helical gear" . . is this referring to Gleason and TrueTrac? The TrueTrac in rear of mine works great, crawling at "Dauntless" slow idle, in granny gear.

ie. I have zero experience with other limited-slips, (which might require some rpm at axle to work?), but the TrueTrac works for me at all speeds.

 

Both.

My Gleason will literally lock up when applying brake with one wheel off the ground.

The Gleasons came out in the early 80's. I got one of the first units in 84 when my trash lock blew up on me. They garnered a reputation for weakness under shock loads and the 44's were pulled off the market for a short time. They wound up being the diff of choice in many high end European all wheel drive transfer cases and AM General ran them exclusively in their military Hummers. I believe they have improved the units as they are now available for all major US axles including the D30.

The tru trac took over the market with the Gleason fading due to early high prices and lack of availability. They are the gear diff of choice now with virtually nobody having any knowledge of the Gleason.

I pounded my Gleason for years in the back of my CJ, then swapped it out into a Wagoneer I owned when I swapped the CJ to 4.10's (has a 4 series Gleason in it now). It did break a few years later but the amount of abuse I put it through left me happy with the unit.

It is interesting to watch videos on how both work.

https://torsen.com/

 

Perhaps but worth every cent if the Jeep is to see both on-road and off-road use, most especially if ice/snow pack is involved. Off road you can't best being completely locked up when you need it and on-road it's nice to have differential action like it was supposed to be. Just wait until you have the funds available and bite the proverbial bullet.

 

I still like my old-school PowrLok as was available as an original option. Clutch type limited slip, and you can assemble in a more aggressive stack, if desired. New plates to rebuild, if necessary, are still available. A WTB in the classified will likely find one here on our forum.
-Donny

 

The hood from my 5 through college…
Bonus points if anyone remembers what back-of-the-magazine advertisement the girl was from.