General Tech ARB or Detroit

[smans73]

I am under the assumption people are talking about the traditional detroit. Lots of appreciated opinions, I was wondering if people have tried the Detroit Truetrac and what are the results? I watched the videos on how the power transfers to the wheel with traction but I can't find anything on results if the wheel leaves the ground. I am just trying to expound this thread a little for my own selfish reasons. Truetracs can be found new for $400 not $800+. Money is always an issue, just not the only issue.

 

[jackjoh]

I had the old Torsen Gleason in my scout for about 20 years and the only complaint i had was the heat generated. Went to a oversized vented cover and it must have worked. This is the grand daddy of Eaton, True Track, and Detroit Truetrac.
Also this is what they put in the government Hummers.

 

[TJustin]

I run Detroits front and rear in my DD TJ. Imo its not that bad, my .02 people make it sound worse than it is for the most part. The Detroit will bang and pop every once in a while, mine seems to do it more than most other Detroits, but on slickrock sometimes it will lock up solid in the front, but when i push in the clutch it will then disengage, most of the time though it unlocks when its supposed to.

I am satisfied with Detroits, again the selling point was worryless wheeling, not having to turn anything on and knowing its going to be there when you need it.

 

[Spidey]

I just had my rear arb engagement ring go bad after only 5 trips to moab. I never crash locked it once. Always super soft on engaging and it still broke halfway through pritchett.
I hate ARB. Then again, I dont drive on the street. I hate the feeling of having everything dialed for a trip then 30 minutes in find out you need a new locker and nobody at the vendor show brought one. A wasted trip to moab. ARB's cost more and more as time goes, solenoids that go bad, compressors, lines, time wasted. ARB sucks.

 

[turbohaulic]

I just had my rear arb engagement ring go bad after only 5 trips to moab. I never crash locked it once. Always super soft on engaging and it still broke halfway through pritchett.
I hate ARB. Then again, I dont drive on the street. I hate the feeling of having everything dialed for a trip then 30 minutes in find out you need a new locker and nobody at the vendor show brought one. A wasted trip to moab. ARB's cost more and more as time goes, solenoids that go bad, compressors, lines, time wasted. ARB sucks.

I also think there's advantages to running somthing with less moveing parts so there's less to go wrong. But ARB has been a proven product. You might have just been very unlucky or something might have not been set right. My old man's been running ARB's for years on his TJ and now JK with out a problem.

 

[Mope]

I really enjoy my ARB. It's one of the early models, and has quite a few years on it. I have never had any troubles with it. I always make sure I'm not moving etc. when I engage it, and driving in a straight line slowly or stopped when I disengage it.
I have a wheeling buddy who has started having trouble with his full detroit in the front. Sometimes it won't lock up. It doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of miles on it, and he's just running 35's.
The point I'm trying to make is some people will have trouble with one, and the next will have trouble with the other. Just pick what ever makes you happy, and fits your needs/wants.

 

[Jinx]

a bit of a hijack here, but do the detroits really unlock and ratchet that often? A friend had one in the rear of his early bronco and it seemed like it only unlocked like once a month. I'm also trying to decide on new lockers (I hate my welded diffs) but I didn't think a detroit would be any less noticeable than my lincoln locker.

Something to think about here is how a detroit works, it is engaged when there is power to it. So that being said when you have it in the rear, it will not be engaged when you are not on the gas. On the front it will be engaged when your four or front wheel drive.

I ran detroits front and rear on a CJ5 as daily driver, which should be rough based on wheel base, but you just learn to coast through the corners to let the locker rachet and the outer tire travel farther. Lockrites will not do this.

 

[Mope]

Something to think about here is how a detroit works, it is engaged when there is power to it. So that being said when you have it in the rear, it will not be engaged when you are not on the gas. On the front it will be engaged when your four or front wheel drive.

I ran detroits front and rear on a CJ5 as daily driver, which should be rough based on wheel base, but you just learn to coast through the corners to let the locker rachet and the outer tire travel farther. Lockrites will not do this.

I had a lockrite in a zuk rear axle, and it racheted around corners. The front one would never release though.