New guy seeking input on my plans

[YonderNorthwest]

I’ll admit I’m one of those guys who said “I’m not building a rock crawler”. And then I went to Moab and discovered that’s EXACTLY what I wanted to build. Also , you’re right about the additional complexity (and expense) of lockers. However, in my case, F/R true tracs disappointed me well before my first outing in the rocks.

What was your disappointment? Just curious.

 

[Woodrow]

What was your disappointment? Just curious.

On my first off road excursion with the TJ after getting F/R true tracs, I crossed a small drainage culvert on angle (such that diagonal front and rear tires were over the low spot simultaneously). Not a deep or wide ditch, but enough that the tires had minimal ground contact. In that situation, the true tracs behave as open diffs and I was stuck. I was able to get out by applying brakes to get the diffs to send some power to the wheels with traction, but it wasn't smooth and the helical gears made some unhappy noises.

Since you asked, I'll also share that I have a Torsen differential with a 2:1 torque bias in my Mustang. It is a helical gear unit that functions like a true trac and is phenomenal in that car (which always has all 4 tires on the ground) because it gives excellent control when applying power in corners. It replaced the stock clutch style limited slip, which may actually be better in a Jeep, but in a sporty car engages too hard for track driving (Good for donuts though).