Been putting it off for some time.  Second-guessing myself & what exactly I wanted to do w/ my rig.  Finally broke down today and ordered a lock right from  Trail Tough.  Tracker's a '99.  I shouldn't have isssues w/ the third member.  Their price is less than RRO's.  I feel kinda bad 'cause my lift and rails came from RRO.  Rails shipped fast.  Lift took months.  Their bumpers "under development" have already taken years. 

...And for everyone's info, the folks at Trail Tough say their front locker will work, also. :oThought that was supposed to be a RRO "first".   Let's see how much trouble I can get into w/ the rear locked first, though.

You'll be amazed.

I put a Powertrax NoSlip (the Lock Right's stronger, better mannered younger brother) in my '96 Ranger's rear axle and the difference in traction compared to open or limited slip is amazing.  You just have it, always.  I don't wheel hard enough that I need a front traction adder so a rear locker did everything I could ever have asked of it.  It was kinda cool idling through places in 2wd where I'd have been in 4x4 and gassing it before.

Just drive carefully and pay attention to it's quirks and you shouldn't have much trouble onroad.  I never did.  Hell, even the Detroit Locker in my 1-ton is mild manored.


Oh yeah, and every now and then when you're in a parking lot your locker might partially engage, slip, and go BANG and scare people.  Completely normal, no damage problems, and kinda fun to scare passerby's.

now you'll here  "hey your rearend sounds bad"

...or get accused of whacking a car in the parking lot because all they saw was your vehicle jerk and heard the bang...

Let us know how it handles.  I'm scared to go with a full-time locker because my GV is a daily driver.  I do a lot of city driving, and a lot of 70-80 mph highway driving.  Can't risk any quirky or dangerous movements.  I've never driven with one.  Maybe I'm worried about nothing, but I'll wait and get an ARB......eventually.

Dave

wasn't sure i wanted to lock it up until i drove my buddies sami w/ front and rear detroits and decided it wasn't that bad.  I'll keep you all posted on its mannerisms.  I'm planning on taking it it to tierra del sol for some fun next month.  If i want to test it before that,  I'm only 15 min. s. of Johnson Valley OHV area  .  Gotta love SoCal's deserts.

DavyBoy, just letting you know. I ran a full time rear locker in my 4-door kick. It was my daily driver. I had the same worries as you and for some reason I thought it would be worse on gas. The truck was no different at all in any way. The only on road thing was a clicking sound in really tight parking lot stlye corners. Thats it. Off road it was great. I didn't even have any problems with it in the snow.

Can't believe I hadn't reposted here yet.  It took me a while  to get around to having it installed.  That's right, I'm a wuss.  I paid the driveline shop to install it.  Come to find out my local guy in Yucca Valley, CA moved here from Oregon and used to do a lot of work for Hawk.  Long story short: love my locker.  It's like having a a different vehicle off road.  I've found traction I didn't know was available.  Going around corners on pavement, it sounds like you're going up a roller coaster when it's ratcheting.

Transfer case gears next.  I'm on the brakes WAY to too much on steep rocky declines (4 low, first gear).  I used to creep my F-150 down that kind of stuff at idle.  The Tracker's so much more maneuverable, though.  I'll probably never go back to wheeling a full-size.

...Then I'll get around to locking the front.  I still want a a little more grip on the inclines.

Thanks for posting again, and letting us know how it worked out.  I'm inspired!     Once I get my 5.12 Sidekick diffs, I'll definitely add the same locker to my rear diff.  I just can't fathom dropping a thousand big ones to install an ARB Airlocker.  I still need to get the diffs, get the wheel wells trimmed and sprayed with bedliner, bumpers fabbed up, rock-sliders, my SPEC clutch installed and a million other things.  By the time that's all accomplished, it'll be time to put a low-mileage XL-7 engine in.  Who has money for ARB lockers??  Later!