Jrgunn5150 wrote:Is it better than an open diff? Sure, of course, anything is. Is it what I want? No, not even close. Will it ever give a true 50/50 torque split? Only when both wheels have the same traction. Is it what I want? Nope, not at all.
IMO, since an actual locker, that will provide a 50/50 split, that will outperform this every time, period, was only 400 bucks, an inferior product is a no go for me.
I'm not paying 700 dollars, for a compromise of what I want, and going through all trouble of tearing the front chunk out to install something that is a pale shadow of what I want, no thanks. My Dana 60 Spartan locker was 330 bucks.
But, that's my opinion. I'd like to see someone try it, I'd like to see vid. I'm also of the opinion that the rear G80 is worthless too, and plenty of people here are happy with theirs, so opinions are worth what you pay for them
That's not actually 100% correct... Stock open diff provides 50/50 torque split. What you're wanting is a 100/0 torque split, in a worst case scenario. Since this torsen provides around a 3:1 ratio, it'll act about like a locker with 25% traction on one wheel and 75% on the other. i.e. One wheel on sand and the other on rock, it'll work great. The up shot about a torsen in the front is that you can still turn while it's powered, and it still provides differential action WHILE providing the limited slip. The lunchbox and detroit style lockers in the front will ratchet when they're not powered, but when they are powered, they are locked and don't want to steer. Experienced in my sister's Jeep with Detroits front and rear, out in CA. You deal with that if you're hardcore rock crawling, but for most of the kind of stuff I do (trails, sand, mud, some rock obstacles, etc.), an ARB is really ideal, but a torsen is second.
Mike