Do you really need rear locking differental?

[AlphaSpace1]

Is anyone without sasquatch or badlands regret not ordering one of those for the rear locking differental? How important / necessary is a rear locking for light service roads and mild off roading ?

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[Rush4th]

It's the front locker for sasquatch and badlands. It got me out of some crazy situations. If you're not rock crawling it's not needed.

 

[Mikerider]

its a good tool, in my opinion and experience, if you ever think you might need it, get it from the factory. Locker (and gears for that matter) are very expensive to install after the fact.

if you plan to do much mountain snow driving (12" plus off snow) the locker is well worth it.

additionally the bronco has limited rear articulation so the rear tires like to come off the ground in even mild offroad situations. forward progress in these type of situations is vastly improved by a rear locker.

have you gone to an offroadeo? may be worth going to see how much you use the locker and how similar the terrain is to what you see yourself driving.

 

[PSUTE]

Is anyone without sasquatch or badlands regret not ordering one of those for the rear locking differental? How important / necessary is a rear locking for light service roads and mild off roading ?

Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Having said that, to answer your question, in Atlanta, probably not. Buried my F 250 with a locking rear in snow up here...

 

[tourproto]

So I was one that wanted the BD, and was "forced" to get the BL because I wanted the MID package and the manual. Wasn't really happy about having to spend $5-7K more than I wanted because I am not a big off-roader and just need something to get me to some steep hilly places for fishing and hunting.

Then I went to the offrodeo. And while I don't intend to go rock-hopping at all, it was amazing what the front and rear lockers (and the disconnecting sway bar) could do. I will probably never take my BL on terrain like we did in the offroadeo (by choice) but I was dumbfounded by what the vehicle can do.

It totally raised my expectations of what I can do with my Bronco. Not that I am going to start rock-hopping at all. But when faced with some terrain that I would have (pre-offroadeo) said "I'll pass, or look for a different way", I know I can do it with my BL.

But to put in perspective (JMHO), I would have normally used my Bronco for terrain that probably falls from 1-3.5 (scale of 1 to 10) and at the offroadeo I was maybe at a 6+, and I have seen videos of Broncos going full tilt 10 (stock configuration). I might now take my Bronco to a 5 and know I have room to spare and that is kinda nice to know it can do it.

When I was on a side angle of 20* in the offroadeo, I was freaking out, and the instructor said "there is no need to get nervous until the gauges say you are at 30*. There is no frigging way I am every taking my Bronco to a 30* side angle tilt fughettaboutit! But nice to know that the vehicle is WAY more capable than I am comfortable of driving it (when it is my Bronco)

 

[PSUTE]

So I was one that wanted the BD, and was "forced" to get the BL because I wanted the MID package and the manual. Wasn't really happy about having to spend $5-7K more than I wanted because I am not a big off-roader and just need something to get me to some steep hilly places for fishing and hunting.

Then I went to the offrodeo. And while I don't intend to go rock-hopping at all, it was amazing what the front and rear lockers (and the disconnecting sway bar) could do. I will probably never take my BL on terrain like we did in the offroadeo (by choice) but I was dumbfounded by what the vehicle can do.

It totally raised my expectations of what I can do with my Bronco. Not that I am going to start rock-hopping at all. But when faced with some terrain that I would have (pre-offroadeo) said "I'll pass, or look for a different way", I know I can do it with my BL.

But to put in perspective (JMHO), I would have normally used my Bronco for terrain that probably falls from 1-3.5 (scale of 1 to 10) and at the offroadeo I was maybe at a 6+, and I have seen videos of Broncos going full tilt 10 (stock configuration). I might now take my Bronco to a 5 and know I have room to spare and that is kinda nice to know it can do it.

When I was on a side angle of 20* in the offroadeo, I was freaking out, and the instructor said "there is no need to get nervous until the gauges say you are at 30*. There is no frigging way I am every taking my Bronco to a 30* side angle tilt fughettaboutit! But nice to know that the vehicle is WAY more capable than I am comfortable of driving it (when it is my Bronco)

Better to have the knowledge and not need it than to need it and not have it. The future has yet to be written, (Dr Emmett Brown) It's something you can keep in your back pocket for the rest of your life, just in case...

 

[1979]

To answer your question, no you don’t need it for service roads or mild off roading.

It’s good to have if you ever plan on doing anything more but if that’s your limit, you’ll be fine without it. I wheeled my Jeep TJ for years with no lockers and did fine.

 

[Frankie945]

With Independent front suspension offroad your almost always going to have at least one wheel not making good contact with the ground. Light off-road use you’ll be fine without one but sometimes you might find yourself needing to step on the skinny pedal harder and more often to get over a obstacle. With a locker on you can go more slow and controlled.

 

[mountainbronco]

You should have the rear locker, the front is truly optional and only used by 5% of owners, and then only rarely.

That is why Black Diamond is such a good mid point in the offering, and 10k cheaper than those with front lockers!

 

[MNBigfoot]

You should have the rear locker, the front is truly optional and only used by 5% of owners, and then only rarely.

That is why Black Diamond is such a good mid point in the offering, and 10k cheaper than those with front lockers!

Still waiting on my Bronco, but it's a 4 door, hardtop, 2.7, with front lockers for $43k, never new I could get a BD for $33k.

 

[Mpatient1]

Is anyone without sasquatch or badlands regret not ordering one of those for the rear locking differental? How important / necessary is a rear locking for light service roads and mild off roading ?

So it's clear, BB and OBX can be optioned with a rear locker without going full Squach, and it's standard on BD. One of my main reasons for going BD over Base was the rear locker.

 

[DrewBronc21]

I was going with a Badlands 7MT or a BD Mansquatch more for the 4.7 gearing than the front locker. It’s just a bonus. In reality, nobody really needs a Bronco at all to do most on and off-roading. Any 4x4 would be good for what most of us want to do.

 

[Jdyount]

First, it would cost you at least double to add the lockers, gears, and tires from the Sasquatch package after the fact. I wouldn't buy a non SAS Bronco period.

Second, as far as using lockers, are they absolutely necessary for mild off-road? no. They are however SUPER useful, and necessary for anything beyond mild trails. They also help around the house, driving through a wet yard with an incline, not wanting to tear up wet grass. Super helpful in the snow and mud. Anything off-camber where you're going to lift a tire.

 

[Fly by Nite]

I test drove a BB w/o lockers at one of the Bronco Drive (off road) events.
The traction control will help in some situations. It's not immediate, the wheel has to slip/spin a little before the traction control kicks in. It works by applying brakes to the spinning wheel(s).
I ordered a BaseSquatch, a great package for $40k.

 

[RagnarKon]

For most people who are looking to do basic off-roading on unmaintained roads, I think a rear limited-slip differential is all they truly need.

Unfortunately the Bronco doesn’t have a limited-slip option, so the next step up is a rear locker. Ford’s traction control with the open differential is good, but it isn’t perfect and it doesn’t replace a limited-slip. I assume the reason why they don’t have a limited slip is because of the trail turn assist feature. But regardless… if anyone from Ford reads this, adding a limited slip upgrade to the Base Bronco would be fricken amazing and I would gladly sacrifice trail turn assist to have one.

If you are not traveling on unmaintained roads, and the most you will be doing is forest service dirt roads… then you definitely don’t need a locker. It could be a good insurance policy if you find yourself in a sticky situation, but not required.

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