Detroit True Trac vs Dana/Spicer Powerlock

Any and all opinions please. I'm about to make my locker purchase for the D30 and need your thoughts. Sandy river botoms, dunes, mud, and occasionally big crusty rocks is the kind of wheelin' we do. I hardly ever drive in 4wd on the road.
Very little difference in price ($395 for PL, $369 for TT) also, so it's a toss up w/o more info. Please chime in.:v6:

 

I'd go with the lockrights, I've had them in both axles for several years. Save $$

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DANA-30-JEEP-POWERTRAX-LOCK-RIGHT-LOCKER-LOCKRIGHT-2210_W0QQitemZ270356123333QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item270356123333&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

 

It's no more to go w/ these units. Both axles I'm doing right now need carrier changes. One's a 3.54:1 and the other is a 3.07:1. They're both getting lockers and 4.88s.For my axle I've determined one of these two lockers will actually be cheaper than changing out the case and spiders and adding a lunchbox locker and I'll get a smoother locker as well.
I've heard a lot of good things about the Powerlock and am tempted to go w/ it. But I know little of the True Trac and it's gear type operation intrigues me. So I'm just looking for others experience w/ them.:v6:

 

I run a Truetrac in my front D30 and I really like it. It sounds like you do the same kind of wheeling that I do. I was so please with how well it worked and how drivable it is I put one in the rear D44. So far I could not be happier with them. One note is that I don't do any rocks. That is one thing that the Truetrac are not built for. From my experience both wheels have to be on the ground for them to work. The guy I spoke with before I bought mine said you can ride the brakes if one wheel is off the ground and that will force it to work. I did find that the D30 unit is set up with 100lbs of preload so if you turn one wheel by hand the other will spin. The 44 unit has no preload so it acts more like an open unit but it locks up pretty quick when it should.

 

Oh yeah, do not use synthetic gear lube with a Truetrac. They make a weird noise and act funny. Once I switched to normal gear lube mine worked great.

 

Just to clarify, the Powerlock and the Tru Trac are both limited slip differentials and not a true locking diff. I prefer having a limited slip in the front. Easier to turn in 4wd and it provides a bit of "pressure relief" to the axles when you get all bound up. If you can get a new Powerlock for less than $400 I'd buy it. I paid a lot more than that for the one I put in my D30. Also, I believe you can rebuild the Powerlock when the clutches get worn (takes a long time to wear them out in a front axle setup) but the Tru Trac has to be sent to someone for rebuild. I can't offer any info about the Tru Trac's manners. You'll love the lower gears.

 

I’m a big fan of the Power Loks and have them front and rear.
My rear Power Lok is so loose it’s almost like an open differential, yet when I’m going around a corner it still barks the inside tire the second I touch the gas.
I have no experience with True Tracks so I’m biased towards Power Loks. You might ask this same question at Jeeps Unlimited CJ forum, I know there are several guys there running a TT.

 

my son runs tru tracs f/r. they work quite well. not noticable on street. you do have to manipulate the brakes in some off road situations but much better then open diffs. the front doesnt appear to be as aggreesive as the rear but i understand they can be preset before install to tighten em up.. he will be changing rear out for a spool soon. thinks he needs more traction. lol

 

TrueTrac all the way. Best limited slip going in my opinion and it's my job to test 'em all. And regular 90W shouldn't make it chatter. They're all gear operation, so no worries there. I think somebody is confusing a Trac-Loc, which has clutch packs and will chatter if lube without friction modifier is used.

You'll need to adjust the backlash for the install, but most Eaton/Detroit Locker products I've used have been very well machined and set up properly using the factory shim packs. Just keep them together and oriented on the right side (drive/passenger) to start your baseline backlash measurements.

 

The powerlock will wear out much quicker (the clutches) but is fully rebuildable by joe schmoe backyard dude. The Tru track is all gear drive so no need for rebuilding but if there is a failure much harder to repair. Both can be helped to "lock up" with a little brake manipulation. If you want a fire and forget the tru track may be for you. I like the Powerlock for some applications better because I can "tune" the clutch packs to be loose or tight depending on what I'm after. For example, the front of my race Jeep I wanted a limited slip but if it was too tight it would push in the corners so by loosening up the packs it minimized that problem but in the straightaways would still pull both wheels pretty even.
I should also mention that the newer Powerlocks that are not manufactured by Spicer that I've seen were nowhere near as good as the old ones. If you go with a Powerlock, try and get a rebuilt original or NOS as the quality is much better.

 

I've got ARB's in both ends & it has turned out to be money well spent. More expensive but worth it if you keep the rig for a long time.

I don't have experience with powerlock or trutrac so I would follow the advice from Dummy - he has a lot of experience.

 

In my mind you already have this quest down to the final two top qualifiers.
Eaton vs. Dana Spicer. Surely it doesn't get any better than these two choices for limited slips!

The Truetrac yeilds a greater "torque bias" to the tire with the best footing.
It features a torque bias ratio around 3 to 1. So if both tires are on the ground the Truetrac will allow a greater % of traction to the good wheel.

But now wait a sec..... On the really slippery stuff the Powr Lok out performs because it always allows some traction no matter what. Even if one tire is completely off the ground the Powr Lok still provides traction equal to the torque rating of the clutch pack. And since it has clutches the Powr Lok should be able to handle a lot of driveline shock.

I admit I like Eaton axles. I have drove some huge ones that were fully locked but my Jeep uses Dana Spicer axles and so I vote for what I have.......... Spicer Powr Lok front and rear.

 

Great info, thanks to all. Smoothness was what I wanted most out of a locker. Down on a river bottom you stay in 4wd all day w/ speeds varying from a crawl to about 40 mph w/ a lot of turning. I usually have both wheels on the ground but do put one in the air occasionally coming out of a hole. I'm used to "braking for traction", got a Trac-Lok in the back.

I am more and leaning to the True Trac. The recs here and the literature make me think smooth.:v6:

 

If your looking for smooth I can testify that the TT is smooth. Other than the short time I ran my front with synthetic lube it has never made a sound or could I tell it was there. I can't imagine you will be disappointed if you try one. I do alot of tight trails and it has never pushed me through a corner or acted weird. Good luck!

 

I'm running a TrueTrac in my front D30 and so far am happy with it. I had it when I went on the Rubicon a couple of years ago and it performed great. Traction wasn't an issue. I wouldn't hesistate going with the TrueTrac again.