Thread: SLS vs. coil springs / TC vs. lockers

Backball,

This is only from my own experience, however;

• My 2001 D2 does not have the CDL internals and is definetely on my list of things to do, it is needed. Yours should be ok being a D2a, it should have CDL.
• Mine was converted to coils before I bought it. If I was to do a lot of heavy towing I would stick with SLS, otherwise coils are simpler. No compressor or air bags to worry about.
• The TC is pretty good, I have taken mine further than I thought possible with no CDL but I will be installing front and rear Ashcroft lockers. The reasoning being that the TC works but sometimes needs a heavy foot putting undue stress on the driveline. (I have already gone through a rear diff) The lockers give the benefit of being able to drive through obstacles smoother instead of bouncing and relying on the accelerator.

Hope this helps a bit.

In my experience to get the traction ctrl to work efectively needs at least 1500 rpm and then the brake cycles and that cycling must stress the diff.

But it is very effective in getting you going, just hold the revs and let the system do its things, dont give up, stick with it.


Cheers

I have no experience with the SLS side of things, however as far as lockers go, I reckon the TC in the D2's is all but as good. Mine is D2 2000 with the CDL enabled which I absolutely advocate, and I have pushed the whole car pretty much to the limit. The TC is a work of art and gets me through pretty much everything, more so a crawl than full blast. The only place I rate lockers as superior is under heavy acceleration in sand or mud, other than that Mike, (Hibees), and I have extensively tested a fully locked and lifted D1 vs my lifted TC D2, and even he would admit that the D2 keeps up. He's mad so thats saying something.

I would be wary of the thinking that TC places undue stresses on diffs etc. It does put stress on it, but where we drive, that is a given. The diff is still operating just as a diff is supposed to when TC is operating and while I accept that TC whilst revving the balls off it will put stress on the diff, revving the balls of anything where there is limited and intermittent traction will place stress on a diff. 1500rpm is nothing and just gives you forward momentum. Lockers will give you absolute traction, but reduce manuverability if in the front. It is also well documented that lockers on a D2 will lead to an associated upgrade in axles at some point as these will break with the extra stress the lockers place on them.

If guess what I'm saying is that IMHO you have a bloody excellent traction system in the car already, which combined with some suspension and tyres is as good as anything on the market. Don't get me wrong, lockers will do the job as good or better, but its $$$$ as you said, plus extra dollars for the bits that will break under the loads the lockers place on the drive train.

cheers
Nick