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positraction

sportsdad11sportsdad11 Member Posts: 3
in General
I'm looking for a full size truck that can get up and down snowy hills and make it back logging roads, but I really don't want a four wheel drive. I don't know if "positrac" is the correct term anymore, but that's what I want. A true 2-wheel driver that either works by traction control or locking the rear axle. Does anybody know what trucks offer such and what the correct terminology is? My price range is in the 1994-1997 model years. The only term I keep seeing on 2-wheel drive trucks is limited slip differential, but I don't think that is what I remember as positrac. I appreciate anybody's responses. Thanks
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Comments

  • ryanbabryanbab Member Posts: 7,240
    Will probably answer alot of your questions


    http://www.torquecontrol.eaton.com/

  • wkdavistxwkdavistx Member Posts: 1
    There are a lot of aftermarket diffs you could have installed in whatever kind of truck you currently drive. ARB makes and 'air locker' that uses an onboard air compressor to lock the diff. You can run limited slip on the highway and around town and lock it for climbing.
  • ryanbabryanbab Member Posts: 7,240
    HAVE locking rear differentials


    Also you can buy a truck (2wd) without a locker or limited slip and add it.


    They are fairly cheap ($200)


    Check this out


    http://powertrax.com/

  • jim4444jim4444 Member Posts: 124
    Why should it be an option? $230 is only a monthly payment to alot of people. Make it standard.
  • tomh12tomh12 Member Posts: 240
    they don't make it standard because Tim doesn't want one......LOL

    I'm like you, can't imagine buying a truck without it. BUT, we don't want GM taking our choices away like Toyota, now do we?

    Tom
  • txyank1txyank1 Member Posts: 1,010
    haul anything heavy so never saw any need for posi until now. These new GM's are just too easy to spin the tires off!
  • bobsquatchbobsquatch Member Posts: 136
    Chevy is the only one with a true locker. Ford only offers a limited slip and I am not sure what dodge means by antispin but I would bet it isn't a true locker. I am leaning toward ford for my new truck and I think I will get an open diff and add a real locker later.
  • ricschricsch Member Posts: 540
    the new term used for positraction is the locking differential. The new '01 GM trucks offer traction control when you order a locking diff. Not sure how much snow you would encounter on the logging roads(plowed/unplowed roads?) But when I go snowmobiling on or near them, I wouldn't drive my 2wd on them, even with a rear locker and traction control. in the range you state, should be some good buys on some nice 4x4's.
  • markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
    was a trade name for Dodge if I remember right. Kinda like calling tissues, Kleenex.

    A clutch type limited slip is the same as positraction. A clutch locker on the GM's is maybe better. A real detroit locker or ARB locker is best for ultimate performance.

    Lots of weight in the bed along with chains is best, be it 2 or 4 whl drive.
  • txyank1txyank1 Member Posts: 1,010
    with posi is that when it does spin it's going to pull you sideways.
    Best vehicle I ever had in snow was a 1980 2wd Ford pick-up with 6 cyl. and std. shift. Had the ground clearance and with about 400 lbs. in the back never had a problem in those upstate NY Winters.
  • mbwhitleymbwhitley Member Posts: 32
    live in a house in Indiana that had a steep driveway up an embankment to the main road. With a little momentum, it was possible to scoot up the hill in snow. When the wheels started to spin, you just kept going. If you didn't have enough momentum, you slowed to a stop on the hill, backed down, tried again.

    Friends who had positrack, though, the wheels would spin left, then right, then left, etc. The only people who ever had to negotiate the SIDE of the driveway had positracks. They were much more difficult to get up the hill. The shifting drivewheels eventually pointed the car sideways.
  • joeltranejoeltrane Member Posts: 25
    Is anyone here currently using the Powertrax no-slip, lock-rite, or other aftermarket locker or limited slip on their 2wd?
    As some of you know, I drive a Toyota, so the options are limited (big surprise).
    The TRD LSD seems awful expensive as does the (soon to come) ARB locker. The No-slip is quite a bit cheaper and (low and behold) Powertrax has an application for my truck!
    I don't do any serious off-roading, just dirt(sometimes muddy) roads to get firewood or hunt the elusive (to me anyway) whitetail deer. Also light snow maybe two to three times a year(Balto/Wash metro area), which, sometimes it's just better to stay home in this area when it snows. You other Marylanders know what I mean.
    Any real world experience with the new breed of automatic lockers??? I have read the previous posts. Just wondering mainly about the street manners.
    Thanx,
    jab
  • moparmadmoparmad Member Posts: 197
    Actually positraction was a trade name for Chevy.Dodge called theirs sure-grip,Ford had the Detroit locker. Actually none of these were true locking rearends so if Chevy is offering a true locker in their new trucks they are the first to do it,ever. A way to tell is if your inside tire always squeals or chirps every time you turn on dry pavement and you can feel the truck fighting you through every low speed turn then you probably have a locker,they are very unpleasant on dry pavement and that is why they were never used by the manufacturers. I seriously doubt they offer a true locking rearend,maybe it is just a "tighter" limited slip. Actually even the power trax,and Auburn unit you buy aftermarket aren't true lockers,they all give some degree of slip. The only true lockers I know of are the ARB air locker,and the proverbial"lincon locker"(welding your spider gears). The ARB is the best of both worlds but the buy in cost will pay for the 4WD. Even adding a limited slip to an open rear is very expensive unless you can set up the rearend yourself which most good backyard mechanics can't do. I have a limited slip in my 4WD Ram and I still use 4WD quite often which should be good proof that it isn't a viable substitute for 4WD. I have never personally noticed the tires spinning from side to side on my Ram or Cuda. They both will spin one tire a half turn or so then either grab traction and go or spin both tires. They are both limited slip one a sure grip the other called anti-spin,two names for virtually the same thing.
  • bobsquatchbobsquatch Member Posts: 136
    Well some of them anyway. The lincoln locker or spool is a permanetly locked axel while the detroits are mechanically engaged to a full lock position while limited slips on the other hand are clutch type and do not physically lock but only resist spinning. Part time lockers behave like open diffs in normal conditions and only engage when significant wheel spin occurs.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    The Chevy is an Eaton Locker. They have a website explaining how it works. http://www.torquecontrol.eaton.com/prodinfo/products/locker.html
  • moparmadmoparmad Member Posts: 197
    The song remains the same...in heavy offroad use even a 4WD with open diffs will go farther with far less drama than even a true locker equiped 2WD. Very best thing to do is find a 4WD with a limited slip and make sure you have good aggressive tires on it and you will be fine.
  • lad10derlad10der Member Posts: 9
    FYI many offroad racing trucks are 2WD (Prerunners). A 2WD truck with a rear locker with some common sense will do just fine offroad. A 2WD with a locker has about 90% of the capabilities of a traditional 4WD with open differentials. Driving on the snow is another story. A locker will cause the vehicle to slide sideways, so in this application a limited slip rear differential and some weight on the axle would be preferred on a 2WD truck.
  • ryanbabryanbab Member Posts: 7,240
    4wd and locker in my 00 silverado never had the following happen (and we had a 2ft blizzard last december i was in 4 hi all month)

    "Driving on the snow is another story. A locker will cause the vehicle to slide sideways"
  • moparmadmoparmad Member Posts: 197
    90% is not 100% and racing trucks are not driven on the street either. Given the choice I would rather just slip my truck into 4 hi and crawl through the snow nice and easy then have to worry about momentum which is the only way I have ever seen two-wheel drives go 90% of the places of 4WD. Sure you see 2WD racing offroad where the whole idea is to go fast,but I have yet to see a 2WD rock crawler creeping through the boulders. Given my high payments and nice shiny bodywork I'll just go nice and easy through the snow in my limited slip equipped 4X4,and you can go sailing by me in your 2WD. Actually come to think of it the only place I have ever seen that 90% figure was in a Fourwheeler magazine test,and they tested the trucks in a desert,I have never seen this theory tested in the snow. I have pulled many a 2WD out of less than six inches of snow,not when they were stupid and slid off the road,but when they just couldn't get the traction to move. And on several occasions my truck would by spinning both rear tires in the snow and going no where,until I reached down and pulled the 4 WD lever,then it would just take off like it was on dry pavement.
  • eagle63eagle63 Member Posts: 599
    chevy honestly offers a locker in the silverado?? I know the ZR2 S-10 has the Eaton "gov-lok" which is not a locker but actually a limited slip. I'm not calling you a liar or anything I'm just surprised that anyone other than Toyota would offer a locker in a truck.
  • ryanbabryanbab Member Posts: 7,240
    i dont have the website bookmarked here at work but tonight ill post it if anyone else doesnt

    But YES the chevy does offer a TRUE LOCKER and thats what eaton classifies it as. The website has a very long description and even a small video

    Trust me im not lying. This thing is a LOCKER

    Ryan
  • gator36gator36 Member Posts: 294
    I went to the Truck Show in Motion this last summer.
    Put on by GM. They had a demonstration of the Eaton
    Locker. Rather interesting I must say. By the very
    nature of its operation, some may say it is a true
    locker and some may not.
    From what I saw and heard. The unit acts as a normal
    open diff until there is a 20 mph (or something like
    that) difference between the two axles. The
    differential in speed rotates a gear within the
    differential that locks the axle.
    They had several demos on display that were
    very interesting.
    One such demo was a truck that had one wheel on
    the pavement and the other on rollers. One guy
    would put the truck in gear and you could see the
    wheel on the caster spinning. He sped up slightly
    and the other wheel locked in and the truck went
    forward.
    Another display was a differential on a stand
    I could see the operation of the locking gear
    but could not figure out how it disengages, I was
    pressed for time. I think centripital force
    would disengage the locking mechanism when there
    was even load on both axles.

    I don't mean to ramble. Interesting stuff though.
  • lad10derlad10der Member Posts: 9
    G.M. uses the Eaton Gov-Lock. These units are not your best choice, given a choice buy the truck w/out a factory locker and add an after market unit of your choice. Go to this link for a review that refers to the weaknesses of the Gov-Lock.(www.ring-pinion.com/gear/g0599.html)
  • lad10derlad10der Member Posts: 9
    If you read what I wrote you would see I was referring to a two wheel drive (2WD) truck with a rear locker. And yes in a 2WD truck a locker will cause the vehicle to slide.
  • lad10derlad10der Member Posts: 9
    Common sense dictates one would not use a 2WD drive truck as a rock crawler.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Eaton locker worked great on my last truck. I wish my new one had it.
  • ryanbabryanbab Member Posts: 7,240
    http://www.torquecontrol.eaton.com/prodinfo/products/index.html
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