Truetrac in front axles of Series

[oneandtwo]

Has anyone tried a Truetrac in the front axle of a series? I have a front specific one intended for my Series but have shied away from fitting it in case it makes the steering heavy. There is very little info on Series Truetrac fitment

[Snagger]

Do you have an 88 or 109?  If you have an 88, you can open up the Trutrac, flip the internals over and make it a rear axle unit, which is the better place to have it if you only fit one - it’ll make the axle stronger, which is more useful at the back being the axle that is always driven rather than sometimes engaged, and it’d give the most traction benefit.

[oneandtwo]

18 hours ago, Snagger said:

Do you have an 88 or 109?  If you have an 88, you can open up the Trutrac, flip the internals over and make it a rear axle unit, which is the better place to have it if you only fit one - it’ll make the axle stronger, which is more useful at the back being the axle that is always driven rather than sometimes engaged, and it’d give the most traction benefit.

I already have a Quaife unit in the rear axle 😃

[garrycol]

I have no personal experience but people who have put them in the front of their Defenders have not had any issues with increased steering loads etc.  They are more of a LSD rather than a diff lock and in Defenders owners put a diff lock in the back and the TrueTrac in the front.

Garry

[Snagger]

11 hours ago, oneandtwo said:

I already have a Quaife unit in the rear axle 😃

Now I’m jealous!

I have read that they make the steering self centre a bit more positively and help with stability, initially fairly pronounced but becoming less noticeable after a few hundred miles, but haven’t seen comments about the steering becoming heavier.  You could infer a slight increase from the centring comments, but I don’t think it’d be a big issue.  It is worth noting that all the comments came from drivers of later vehicles, Like Defenders and Discovery’s, with permanent 4wd.  On the plus side, it should help with the steering when braking, as it will bias loads in the same way from uneven braking as with uneven grip under drive.

[oneandtwo]

My thoughts were that as it makes the steering self centre more (probably not a bad thing on a Series) presumably you would require more force for initiate the turn; it seems almost every Land Rover with a front Truetrac is a Defender / Disco with power steering so the initial extra turning force would not be noticed.

I guess I’ll have to fit it one day and find out!

[Snagger]

That would be my expectation.  But Series steering is fine if you have standard wheels and tyres; it’s only when you get offset rims and big tyres that it becomes heavy, so the Trutrac should be well within handling norms.

[Daan]

Main question is whether you run a permanent 4wd transfer box? If you do you will notice a difference, if you run only rear wheel drive, there should not be any affect from the front for normal use.

[nickl]

Did you fit the Truetrac in the end to the front?  I'm looking at doing the same to an 88 SIII and been told the steering would be heavy and I would need free-wheeling hubs.  I've got normal 235/85 16 tyres.

[Snagger]

It might make the steering slightly heavier, but not much, especially at low speed.  I think the 235s would have more effect in that respect.

[Carloz]

I have no experience with Truetrac in Land Rover yet (it is collecting dust waiting to be fitted in my RRC). And I have same kind of diff in my garage for Alfa Romeo (trademark: Q2).

Both are TorSen type differentials which doesn't use friction plates like Limited Slip Differentials (LSD). LSD's are known for heavy steering when used in front axles not TorSen type diff's (also known as ATB: Automatic Torque Biasing).

 

I have driving experience with a FWD car equiped with this type of diff (Alfa 147 1.9JTDm 150hp/305Nm) and also the same type of car without: there is ZERO negative effect for sure. No difference in steering feel.

This is logical because there is ZERO resistance, it is easily turned by hand.