ARB AIR LOCKER ON
ARB AIR LOCKER OFF
Here are some pics of the ARB Air Locker at the ARB booth. You can see how the ARB locker operates. The toothed gear slides toward the ring gear to lock the ARB into a spool. In the left photo, the unit is unlocked. The unit is locked in the right photo.
ELECTRIC LOCKER ON
ELECTRIC LOCKER OFF
Star of Tractech's differential show was the new Electrac. The Electrac is a lockable Truetrac. Contrary to previous rumors, the Electrac is a spool when engaged. In the left photo, the unit is unlocked and operates like a standard Truetrac. When the user presses a button, the locking mechanism slides toward the ring gear to lock the unit into a spool. The locking mechanism is driven by a worm gear contained within the black plastic box on the exterior of the axle. Hardly bulletproof but at least you have a Truetrac if the unit should fail in the field.
DETROIT LOCKER UNLOCKED
DETROIT LOCKER LOCKED
Tractech's booth contained numerous demonstration models of its traditional locker products. These are photos of the Detroit Locker, Tractech's most famous and popular product. Turn both wheels in the same direction and the unit is fully locked. Turn one wheel one way and the other wheel the other way, and the toothed clutch plates separate and permit the unit to differentiate.
DETROIT EZ LOCKER
Here is a photo of the Detroit E-Z Locker. This unit is designed for customers who wish to save money by retaining their differential's carrier. The E-Z Locker is thus considerably cheaper than a Detroit Locker, but weaker due to retention of the open carrier.
LOCKRITE UNLOCKED
LOCKRITE LOCKED
Here are some photos of the Powertrax Lock-Rite locker. This locker is very similar to the E-Z Locker from Tractech. In the left photo, the Lock-Rite is locked. In the right photo, the Lock-Rite is unlocked.
GEARLESS LOCKER
Here is Tractech's Gearless Locker. Unlike other locker designs, the Gearless Locker uses steel clutch plates. When both wheels are driven together, the clutch plates compress together in such as fashion as to make them solid and give spool-like performance. When differentiation is required, the clutch plates separate. Operation of the Gearless Locker is said to be very smooth and transparent.
EATON LSD
Unlike the Truetrac, most limited-slip differentials like the one shown above operate like open differentials but have spring-loaded clutch packs to mitigate the otherwise unrestricted slip between the two sides of the differential. This is a far inferior design to that of the Truetrac. These clutch packs wear out and the differential becomes more and more like an open differential with use. Also, these differentials create handling problems on high-traction surfaces like the road because they want to remain tight and prevent differentiation between the two wheels. Finally, these clutch-driven limited slips require special friction modifiers to be mixed into the gear oil to permit the clutch packs to operate smoothly.
TRUETRAC GEARED LSD
The Truetrac is gear-driven, just like the standard differential, and operates on a completely different principle. The Truetrac operates like an open differential in high-traction conditions. On low-traction surfaces, the helical side gears prevent one side from spinning out of control while the other side remains stationary, as often occurs with an open differential. During times of severe differentiation when one side of the axle wants to spin out of control, the helical worm gears are pushed away from the larger helical gears and pushed into the carrier. The additional resistance on the side with less traction diverts torque to the other side of the axle. The gear-driven operation provides several dramatic advantages over the clutch-operated designs. There are no clutch packs to wear out on the Truetrac, and a Truetrac wears no faster than any standard differential. The operation of the Truetrac is also smoother and more transparent than the clutch-operated designs. Finally, there is no special friction modifier required for proper use, and standard 90wt gear oil is the fluid of choice with the Truetrac.
QUAIFE GEARED LSD
STANDARD LSD WITH CLUTCH PACKS
