Finally got some GOOD snow here in New Mexico!!! It is a total blessing. This is also the 1st time I got to test the front locker (powertrax no-slip) as well as see what the boggers do in the snow!!!

Locker review 1st. I can’t say enough about having a locker, it is like having a whole other truck. When looking and talking and searching about a front locker everyone and their brother told me not to get a automatic locker in the front, bcuz on snow and ice you can’t turn. Well I’m here to say you can turn, I didn’t have any problems turning at all. The snow was nice and wet, about 14-16 inches and on the way home the roads were snow packed and icy. And this morning on the way to work there was some icy spots here and there, so with one front tire on ice and the other on dry road, I hit the brakes, wanted to see if the locker would un-lock and let the abs kick in. Sure enough it did, acted just like a open diff. In the snow it was great, no problems turning in 2wd or 4wd. Acted just like any other diff. in the snow. On the way home I would hit the brakes as if something just pulled out in front of me, abs would kick in, everything worked fine. Got it up to 45-50 mph on snow covered roads turned fine no problem, thats in 2wd. When in 4wd still able to turn but you could sure feel the front wanting to straighten out as soon as you would give it gas. Over all love it, am not afraid to drive in on icy or snow covered roads.

Tire review, let me just say boggers are AWESOME. Nothing sucks more on the road (dry roads) than boggers but off-road and on snow packed roads these things are unstoppable. I went with a friend, 00 toyota Tacoma TRD with 6 inches of lift and 32 inch bfg m/ts and he could go any where in 4wd that I could but put both trucks in 2wd and start driving on the side of the road and such, he kept getting stuck and having to put it in 4wd where I could just hammer down in 2wd!!!

One problem I did have, not sure if it was locker or tires. When we 1st got there driving thru some fresh snow and my front left tire locks up. Now I don’t know if it locked up bcuz of the locker (which wouldn’t make sense) or if the snow started to get packed up in that tire and than instead of rolling over it ( I was still in 2wd when this happen) it just started to plow it?? Not sure, but this is why I don’t think it was the locker. The only thing that would stop a tire from spinning buz of the locker would be if the front driveshaft was stopped causing the ring gear to be locked. But that would not of happen bcuz I was in 2wd and the front driveshaft spins freely. And theres no way for it to just lock one tire and let the other spin. So I’m guess it was snow packing up in the front tire, I put it in 4wd after that and all 4 tires were spinning. And didn’t have any problems rest of the day.

Enjoy!!

 

very cool... i love that first pic where youre kickin up all the snow

 

Looks good!

 

wow...thats looks awesome!!

 

sweet, looks very fun! lol

 

I guess we can't call you "StuckBoy" anymore. :)

 

bad ***, I can't wait to finally get a Dana 35 and stick a lock right in it, I always had suspicions that those "you can't turn" stories were B.S...

that first pic is pretty cool...

 

Hearing about your ability to go in 2WD with the rear locker makes me want to get mine in so bad. It was shipped today, with the gears and all the other stuff. Maybe by the weekend -- probably next week sometime. I'll start building the following weekend if the brake parts come in.

Still no takers for those 35" BFG's though. I'll be on the 31's for a bit yet.

Looks like fun though! What sucks most about boggers on dry roads? Noise, roughness? Bad cornering? Run that down for me, Adrian, if you would.

 

Damn looks like fun to me....

 

hey n3elz, how good of condition are those bfgs in? are they mud terrains? if theyre in good condition and mud terrains, give me a few months and ill have them off your hands.

 

No, Chris, sorry they're just AT/KO's. I see them in 35's all over the place, but nobody seems to want them so far.

 

awesome pictures, and good review

 

seeing those pics makes me sooooo glad I live in FL

Nice pics Adrian, looks like you guys really go all out!

 

Get more pics of your truck. White boy. haha..

Lookin good man.

 

Better get familiar with cv joint replacement..
I know 2 people who removed their front locker because they kept breaking cv joints... of course they were more into wheeling on rocks and such.

Rand

 

luccccky

 

So is he, Rand. Remember his other pictures? Crap, they were pretty scary some of them.

 

There are so many people here I dont remember them all :)
Anyway it was with a powertrax if I remember right.
Its been a few years. you do need a front locker for the ultimate in traction
However be careful or you will be $$$ in repairs as that much traction can be
unforgiving. The front cv joints seem to self destruct first... but then again you might have years of trouble free service too.. Dont let me **** on your wheaties.. I think the locker is great! :) But I wont get a front one myself on my Daily driver anyway.

 

Sweet pics!

 

Hey Rand, no worries, I know the weak link is the CV's and they will break for sure. But the thing is that with the locker I can now crawl over things instead of having to hammer down. But you are right those cv are going to break. Heres some pictures of the rocks John was talking about. http://fordtruckworld.tenmagazines.c...57-album-38456

John, as for the boggers they just suck period. I'll get you a nice write up today or tomorrow. When I got more time.

 

John, Boggers are loud as hell, and don't last very long on the road, and below 10-15mph, they shake the whole truck b/c of the lug design.

 

Wow, I'm suprised. I would expect an automatic locker like this to have SOME sort of adverse side effect on winter drivability. I thought you had commented as to such before Adrian. The ABS system as it is on our trucks functions differently than I'd expect in some snowy situations as is, I'd hate to worsen the situation by adding an automatic locker like this. Then again it depends on what you want to do. I have no interest in 'rock crawling' whatsoever, but a lot of interest in moderatly high-speed (up to 50 MPH) snow driving..

 

bd man!

 

Per your request John:

Bogger review, off-road these things are the best. Only thing that they’re not the best at is rocks and that’s only bcuz Goodyear and BFG both came out with a rock tire. Road review they are drivable but you just have to remember they are bias tires. So when you make a turn, you better make sure and go slow. They just don’t seem to turn well, lots of under steer. You know when your on a ice cover road and you turn the wheel back and forth you can get the rear to do the fish tail? Well you can do that with the boggers on the dry road. Its fun and scary at the same time. Something you should do if you ever get boggers so you know how they react. People talk about boggers getting flat spots on them from setting in one place for awhile. Well it is true. The couple times I have left the boggers on over night and than drove into work. The 1st 5-8 miles they are really rough. Than as they seem to warm up they get a little smoother. Driving down the road if I let the wheel go (even when I hold the steering wheel) the wheel just wobbles back and forth back and forth. I don’t think the guys that installed the tires really balanced them, how can you as things heat up the tires seems to change. But anything over 35mph just shakes the whole truck, than sometimes there seems to be a sweet spot around 60mph, but anywhere outside that sweet spot my gear shifter shakes at least 2-3 inches back and forth. And coming to a stop, is great just as you get under 5mph you can really feel each lug as it touches the pavement. Its like riding on the side of the highway where they got the graded edge to let you know your going off the road. Its sweet!! I’m guessing that with them all balanced and warmed it might not be that bad of at ride but it would still be loud. They are so loud I can’t even hear my exhaust and I have 40 series delta flowmaster. When you drive next to a semi with your windows down and hear the tire noise its at least that loud. Wish I could show you John.

 

Your right Colin, I had said there was some side effects of the locker on icy roads. I was going down a ice covered roaded and slammed the brakes (I was in 4wd at the time) and the abs kicked in and it felt like both fronts were locked adn the rearend was trying to come around the front. I guessing that being in 4wd caused the locker to stay locked. Bcuz when I would slam on the brakes when in 2wd this time the truck stayed nice and square.

The high-speed driving with a locker in the front would be a little tough. When I kicked it into 4wd at about 35-40 on the snow covered roads, turning was okay but any throttle and the front tires would want to go striaght. YOu would get the torque steer affect much like a front wheel drive car when your hard on the gas in a turn.