detroit truetrac test

I had a detroit truetrac installed today. the TrueTrac works extremely well. had dry pavement so i killed the trac control and did a little bit of tire smoking and it left two solid black marks... then wanted to see how it worked in the snow so i set up my phone in the snow and took a short video to see how this LSD worked. almost as good as a true locker and cant tell its in there AT ALL on the street. 100% suggest this product and mod!

http://youtu.be/dzoVaBD0lAI

 

Only thing is, you don't want both rear tires spinning in all situations in the snow. You'll just dig for days....

 

never had a problem digging with both tires in the snow... now locked front/rear and trying to turn is a whole different story. especially on a hill. some dont like a locker for snow driving but in my experience it's EXTREMELY good! this is my first truetrac instead of solid detroit locker. i'll see how it goes. but so far so good!

 

so happy to hear this from a 4x4...
my first gen is in severe need of an LSD
one tire fire for days....

 

just drove 4 hours from near erie PA back to north central WV... through winter storm Titan. anywhere from ice, sleet, freezing rain, up to 5 inches of snow, slush... really didnt 'need' 4x4 the entire time. the truetrac is incredible. really makes the difference from 2x4 to 4x4 without 4x4.

 

how hard was the install compared with putting an actual locker in there??

 

the truetrac is a carrier replacement. so it's exactly the same as an actual locker install. a lunchbox locker that just replaces the spider gears would be a MUCH easier install then a truetrac or other carrier replacement locker.

now for a selectable locker it would be a little more difficult then a truetrac to install because you'd have to run either wires, cables, or air lines.

 

+1 on the TrueTrac, got mine installed, love it. Way better traction, especially on wet roads from a stop or accelerating out of a corner and just driving in slick conditions. My Auto LSD hardly worked to my expectation; now this TrueTrac hooks up real nice and it drives as if it is not even there, it's seamless and transfers torque very quickly (no noise, funky manners). As well, two tire fire if so desired.

 

In sport models, do any of the electronic traction control do-dads still work after truetrac is installed?

 

Yes, nothing was changed with the electronic doodads, still have those. Except now I have a mechanical Limited Slip Differential (TrueTrac) all the time in the rear.

I also can push the button and have Electronic Auto LSD and Mechanical LSD together (not needed really). The TrueTrac is way more responsive, stronger, and sensitive than the Auto LSD which relies on braking to control wheel spin. But if you are putting the throttle down hard, that one brake isn't going to cut it or will eventually burn up that right rear brake pad quick (without TrueTrac).

Or hold the traction button down for 3-5 seconds to turn the nanny's off and light up the rear tires. You can't do this without turning the traction controls off as the truck would just cut fuel/power when it sensed the wheels spinning. You could probably do this with Auto LSD on as well but no reason to get the rear brakes overly involved here in this situation.

Wet roads is where I get the most benefit as stated prior. Really helps with traction in the wet and sends power solidly to both rear wheels, as we all know spinning that right rear is easy with an empty truck bed when it's wet out. Of course, the off road benefits too for us without lockers and don't want full time auto lockers, and you could still put an ARB or selectable locker in the front if you are that into going off road and standard 4x4 isn't enough. The street manners are good.

Also, +1 East Coast Gear Supply

 

Looks like just what I want. Which one do I order for my truck, I am having a hard time finding it listed for my application. I have a 2008 regular cab, 2.7L, 4x4. From what I have found so far there are two rear ends, the 8" with the e-locker or the 8.4" but I really need to verify this before ordering. I don't want to order the wrong one.

Also, where did you order yours? I would like to get this ordered and installed soon. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I ordered through East Coast Gear Supply. You can search online and see if you can find a better price somewhere else, or maybe they can price match, I don't know. I would also check with them on part number. The part number for mine was 913A541.

Check out Summit Racing, Jegs, or the Eaton Detroit TrueTrac site.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/product-line/eaton-detroit-truetrac-differentials

I'm guessing you need this one (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-913a610/overview/make/toyota) but you need to double check that.

 

just call east coast gear supply. they are a great tacoma community supporter and have the cheapest prices anyway. Plus know what they are doing and always send correct parts.

 

After your post I have researching a ton on truetrac. This is what I have been looking for (though I will not have the funds for a LONG time).

I am curious how these will hold up under heavy loads. I am assuming just fine since I have read a lot of full size truck owners quite pleased with these and haven't read of one failure.

Any of you guys have this AND have done the YWM?

Anyone have this front and rear? Do they make one for the front?

Seems these are VERY popular with the 'non-rock crawling' off road jeep crowd

 

Detroit truetracs are used in many on road racing and off road applications. Should hold up fine under heavy loads. They are used in autocross racing and drag racing. Many people put them in their old hot rods and classic muscle cars. I think I recall something around 600WHP suggestion though...but, it's plenty strong. The big time, big hp drag racers use spools or auto lockers, but that's track duty only cars, similar in use to off-road only buggy's that would use a full locker or spool setup. Serious hobbies/competition, not daily driver/weekend warriors. If I had a big modded diesel truck, I'd probably run a Detroit auto locker or modded version of one though.

I have seen people post failures (not specifically on TacomaWorld), but anything can fail. As well, failures could have been attributed to incorrect installs or straight up just breaking sh*t by being a complete moron (hold my beer).

No wire mods on my side.

I only had installed in the rear of my truck. You can get them for the front as well. Many people in the jeep communities if not running selectable lockers up front (ex ARB) will run a truetrac or other traction aid in the front.

 

There is nothing to worry about when using the electronic LSD/traction control with the truetrac. In fact, I think it compliments the truetrac nicely. I just recently installed a truetrac on my truck and tried testing it in different situations with and without the electronic aids. (BTW i did the YWM as well) From what I can tell the truetrac works so well that the electronic aids almost never kick in as opposed to when I had the open diff. Another observation I made was that when in an off camber situation with one tire completely in the air, the electronic braking LSD applies just enough resistance to allow the truetrac to engage.

 

That has been my concern in getting one, Im worried about a wheel spinning if I'm three wheeling. The TRAC seems to give enough to get the true trac working when a rear tire is up?

 

The short answer: Yes, TRAC gives enough braking pressure to engage the true trac.

Long answer: I did a comparison before i installed the truetrac where I had my truck straddle a ditch to lift one rear tire in the air. I was trying to see how well TRAC itself would get me out of that obstacle. I then pushed the TRAC button to turn on AUTO LSD so that the engine power/rev weren't limited. What I found was that track was able to get me out...but just barely. As I kept the revs steady (around 2500 RPM) the truck seemed to slowly pull its way out of the ditch.I could feel the ABS system pulsing the brakes and with each "pulse" the truck would slowly inch forward. After installing the true trac i went back to the same ditch and tested to see how/if the results would differ. What i found was that at idle the true trac acted like an open diff and the tire in the air was spinning freely (as expected). I again proceeded to push the TRAC button to engage Auto LSD mode as i did in the first test and applied some throttle to get the revs to about 2500 rpm. What happened next was drastically different from the test before. As soon as the ABS began to pulse I could feel a more definite "lockup" rather than a soft push with just the TRAC system alone. Instead of slowly inching forward, the truck just drove out of the ditch just as if both tires were still on the ground. I went back to check in the ditch where the tire on the ground had been an I found that I actually left a small skid mark on the grass. This led me to think that the True trac performance was aggressive enough to actually apply enough force to transfer power from the spinning tire to the one on the ground to leave a little skid mark.

 

Curious if any of you guys still have the True Trac and what the durability has been like. Considering it for my build.

 

I’ve run them a few times, front and rear. The replacement of the weak spider gears with the helical gears of the Truetrac makes it stronger and more durable than stock.