Lockers:
I don't have the cash to run selectables right now and probably won't for a while. Priorities dictate that the jeep thing falls in the back of the line.
That said, I'd like to hear your expereinces running full spools on the street, in the rear.
Here me out:
If I'm not going to run a selectable any time soon, I'm limited to auto lockers like detroit and lockrite etc. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to go that route but I've run a detroit in the rear before and it's a little unpredictable with all of it's shifting and bangs. Add to that that now I'll be driving a manual, I'm a little woried that every time I shift the locker will want to engage and disingage. Not something I want on road or off, especially in such a short wheelbase rig.
On-road: I keep spouting off about the ability to drive the jeep on the street. Let me explain. The jeep will see some street time but it is in no way a DD. It will get driven to and from the trails but I do like the idea of having an option to DD it if something should ever happen to my DD or something like that. It's there if I need it.
Enter the Spool idea:
It's predictable in all conditions. It's there when I need it and I don't have to worry about pings and pops. The down side is tire wear but this shouldn't be a major concern because the jeep often sits in the garage for weeks at a time.
Is this what I can expect out of a spool on the pavement?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiROCen8a_U
So what are some of your expereinces with spools on the street. And what can I expenct as far as turning radius off road with my wheel base? Keep in mind, this is a rear application I'm talking about. The front will get an auto locker, probably a lockrite for now.
Wheel base - Stretch
I'm at 84". Soon to be 87" with a 3" stretch in the rear. I don't want to cut the rear up any more than I have to so the primary focus for the stretch will be up front. I can get an easy 6" up front without doing much more than moving the spring mounts forward. The problem I run into is steering. I'm not ready to do full hydro yet so I'll save that for stage 2 build (they're never done anyway right?). I can run the astro van box but this presents a few problems. With a high steer setup the forward facing pitman arm comes in contact with tierod because of the forward facing pitman arm. The only solution I can see is running the tierod behind the axle with those fancy highsteer arms. I do not know what problems this will present with different clearance issues and so on.
So my question here is, should I bother going with the front stretch and all the headaches that it brings, or just run my 87" wheelbase and keep myself sane?
What are your "experienced" opinions regarding the shorter wheelbases on the trails we run?
Sorry for the long ass post. I had to come to work on a saturday and figured it might be good to get some discussion going. It's been kinda dead around here.