Why no Lim Slip in the front?

[GJarrett]

Re: ROFL

Originally posted by ExplorerEB96
... The Powertrax no slip is not a locker, it is their version of a limited slip....

Karol, the NoSlip is a locker, not a limited slip. I have one in the back and it is an excellent product.

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Steve

A previous email that was sent to me ( I don't think if was from Ken though) says yes....it has been done....if you notice at the end of his email to me he mentions that there are detailed instructions on it.... I believe (but don't quote me on it) that the previous email also told me about the detailed instrutions but also mentioned that it also had pictures of the Explorer install...... Now I don't have a copy of that email and right now I wished I'd have saved it..... but well.... as far as I am concerned ,,, I am willing to try it out......I know someone willing to do the install..... any body worthwhile will be able to pretty much tell whether it will be something too tricky to do.... He pretty much told me that he will look at it....look at the instructions .....look at the pics..... and rally around the diff for awhile and study it...... if he feels he can do it but ends up that he can't ....he will only charge me 1/3 labor charge...(he's a friend anyway so the labor is minimal anyway)... I'll keep you up to date on things but it is going to be at least until April of next year to start any of it...rolleyes: the Ex needs a new engine...long sad story hehe)

Karol

 

[SteveVB]

Thats a good deal.

I was going on the premise that they think its a dana 35, but if they have done an install and have the details then shouldnt be that difficult- you can put the drop ins (no slips and the lock rite) in most regular type(non IFS) axles in a couple of hours most of that getting ready and taking the axle shafts out.

The No-Slip is a Locker - its locked but it behaves like a LS with regards to noise, ease of unlock etc.

I read about the engine- been there - dont want to do that again.

Good luck

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Re: Re: ROFL

Originally posted by GJarrett


Karol, the NoSlip is a locker, not a limited slip. I have one in the back and it is an excellent product.

Gerald

Like I said....I'm not the expert and I am only going by what the company has told me......Ken told me that Powertrax does not consider the No-Slip a full locker....they consider it intermediary between a locker and a limited slip.... I had previous emails (which I unfortunately have not saved) with them and they explained to me that the No-Slip will not be as bad on the drivablility in the front diff as would the full locker.... go the the website and read their description of it....but really ...it's not just my interpretation of it....that is what they told me

Dead Link Removed
Karol

 

[GJarrett]

That's right Karol, I just wanted to make sure you understood that it really is a locker. It is in fact a full locker, but its street manners are so good that it behaves much more "transparently" than any other locker on pavement. But it is in fact a locker. I didn't know if you realized that or not. Maybe the reference to "intermediate between limited slip and locker" is how they are trying to describe its street manners. I have used mine hard on the trail at Moab and many other places and trust me, when it does lock up it doesn't slip one bit or let go at all.

 

[Sport (no trac)]

If you look at the post titled "Anyone running a Detroit Locker...", Dannyboy seems to be running LS in the front of his X. Hmmm...

I read through the Powertrax website and it seems like one of their units in the front diff could be streetable, is this what you guys are understanding as well or is it just wishful reading on my part?

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Sport trac

Scroll on up to my earliest post and read what Ken from Powertrax replied to me ...I cut and pasted my email to the this post..... they tell me their "No slip" locker is very very street friendly (ok Gerald?? ) and is the best for the application that we are looking for.... I do not think any other company makes a limited slip for our open front diffs....so this may be our only option.....as of now I am also asking the same question to Oxtrax.... I am stil awaiting their reply...

Karol

 

[SteveVB]

Karol,

Gerald and I both have the No-Slip in the rear axles of our Explorers - I will reiterate what Gerald said. It is a locker- looks like a locker, feels like a locker and acts like a locker. Ken is right about it being the best they have, compared to a lock rite I think it would be much better. But it is much closer to a locker than a LS. The No-Slip will give much more traction than a limited slip when tires are off the ground, or say when one tire is on ice and the other isnt- it will pull you through, in both of these situations a LS usually doesnt send enough power to the traction side to help out.( At least that what happens in my LS equipt truck)
If you have never driven a locked vehicle you really wouldnt know. I have limited slips in other vehicles and the No-Slip acts like a LS except when I lift a wheel or one wheel has no traction- In that case the Limited slip can be "overpowered" and unlock, or slip, the No slip wont , or at least hasnt so far.

I wouldnt put a full time traction device in the front of a street driven vehicle if it sees anykind of snow. It can get to be a handful to drive- going straight on a flat road is ok and you will make it through anything but as soon as there is a crown or you need to turn make sure you use the gas, and stopping becomes more interesting also.

If its the only choice then ... thats it, It will help you on the trails at Paragon no doubt about that, but driving in the PA snow may be more interesting!

just some more input

 

[RangerX]

Originally posted by Sport (no trac)
If you look at the post titled "Anyone running a Detroit Locker...", Dannyboy seems to be running LS in the front of his X. Hmmm...

Dannyboy has a '94, and being a '94, has front locking hubs.

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that without locking hubs, you guys could only run a selectable locker, or nothingat all, I', sorry to say.


Opinions? <---------- inside joke to Gerald

 

[GJarrett]

Bill, you are absolutely right and I have rethought my offer to be a guinea pig. No way will I try this out even if it works. The only true option for us HAS to be selectable such as ARB or Oxtrax. Julie, let me know if you get very far with Oxtrax. I tried last year and they weren't interested in making one for us, but they were new and busy tooling up for more popular differentials to get in the market at the time.

We cannot unlock our hubs. How would I make tight turns in a high traction environment like Moab if my front is locked on both sides? And like Steve just hinted, winter driving with a locked front would be downright dangerous if not suicidal. When both front wheels are locked the front will do its best to pull you straight forward even when trying to turn.

Until a selectable comes out, I agree with Bill.

Opinions?

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

wouldnt a limited slip provide enough slip to effectively manuver through tight turns in a situation that requires full traction? as far as steering on snow you guys are right but before i moved to FL i lived in VA and during the bad storms that iced the roads i was very happy to have a shift on the fly 4x4. i would keep it in 4wd to control my speed and maintain traction but when i had to take a sharp turn i would shift out of 4wd. a group of my friends and i try to help out with people that are stuck in ditches and stuff so we used to get out the straps and go to town and pulll people out for free. i could see how a locker would be great for going up a hill in 4wd in the snow but steering would almost not exist.

 

[GJarrett]

Yes Gabe a limited slip would be an option, I was talking about a locker. As a matter of fact I tried to have a TracLoc limited slip installed in the front last year. That's when I found out what kind of diffy we really have and that all the manuals were wrong. Ray Lobato very soon afterwards that found out the same thing when his gearman tried to do an install on his.

 

[ExplorerEB96]

Whoa whoa guys

Maybe I haven't been making myself absolutely clear on this one..... ok...if and when I do decide to do this...my truck will no longer see the street...(only to get up on the trailer).... I am in the planning stages of both the Explorer and the Bronco....each for it's own use... I will be buying another truck (probably a later model F150 or F250) for daily use and to trailer them....I already have a Dodge minivan and a GMC conversion van so I am not worried about a daily driver.... like I said....I may not want to be a guinea pig for this either...I am studying it...Gerald ....I posted that I was going to talk to Oxtrax also..... btw still haven't heard from them.... This idea is also probably way off in the future because I have so many other mods (to both the Bronco and the Ex) that I want to do first...

Karol

 

[GJarrett]

Karol, we're on the same page here and I understand exactly what you are saying. My point is the same as Bill's: the fact that those of us with '95+ models cannot lock one hub at a time up front negates the driveability of having a front locker. On every moderately difficult run I have done I have witnessed others locking their fronts but leaving one hub unlocked so they can steer, then they'll lock 'em both if they have to at a hard obstacle.

What I am trying to inform you of is the fact that there are many more times while in 4wd low that you are going to want to manuever and make tight turns than there are times that you will truly need a front locker. I already have a rear locker, and can count on one hand the times that a front locker would have pulled me out of a situation that I couldn't already get out of. I have had to take a tow strap less than five times since installing my rear locker.

However I can recall hundreds of times that I was in 4wd low at extreme climbing angles while turning sharply. If my front was locked I could not have made the manuever; I would have had to go to high range and then would have been stuck without the power of low range - a true Catch-22.

Those of us with new models that install a non-selectable locker in the front will be sacrificing our ability to manuever on the trail during 95% of the run in order to be prepared for a possible advantage on the other 5% of the run at the hard obstacles, when just the rear locker might get us over that 5% anyway.

It is an individual decision for each of us, but for me I have to wait for a selectable locker. I have already found my vehicle in its current state of mods to be capable of tackling trails as tough as I care to go on. Purple Headed Monster in Oklahoma, the Airstrip and Moss Rock in Texas, Holy Cross in Colorado, and several Moab trails including Poison Spider Mesa, Porcupine Rim, Gold Bar Rim, Steelbender, etc etc. I'm having fun right now without that locker, and I prefer to be able to steer while I am on those trails.

 

[ExplorerEB96]

ROFLMAO

You mean to tell me there is a real trail called "The Purple headed Monster?"!!!!!!!! OMG I thought this guy was just using a weird pickup line.... lol

Well... Gerald I knew there was a good reason why I come here...... once again I never thought it though enough.... you are right!!! even if the truck can manuveur onto the trailer.... how am I gonna get around all those tight turns at Paragon?? It may be able to get up "Impossible Hill" but how is it going to get there.....that trail is full of really tight squeezes through trees and brush..... hhmmm well my guess is that we are probably going to be waiting a long long time for anything for our front.....aaah well such is life of a 95+ Explorer owner....In the words of Rodney Dangerfield...We get no respect.....no respect at all.....

Karol

 

[rpenner54]

huh?

 

[RFR2212]

Talkin to herself.... Multiple personalities Seems as though, those have been pickin up alot lately....
Pete

 

[leenjen]

Originally posted by RFR2212
Talkin to herself.... Multiple personalities Seems as though, those have been pickin up alot lately....
Pete

lol...

are Karol and Maranda the same person?.....

 

[ExplorerEB96]

damn it Gerald

you got me LMAO and I messed up.....now people think I'm talkin to myself and have multiple personalities too....

my replay is here because I hit the "new thread" button instead of the "reply " button

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=240958#post240958

Karol

 

[leebo]

Karol,

Just merged the two threads together. The other link now dosn't work