An old but insightful Brake Lock Differential blog for newbies

[DadJokes]

Brake Lock Differential Explained: https://blog.fcanorthamerica.com/2008/02/11/jeep-brake-traction-control-explained/

If you’re new to Jeep, relatively new to off roading like myself, and do not have lockers, I happened across an old blog when BLD was still relatively new to off road that you may find insightful. While it doesn’t give exact scenarios on its use and exactly how it may be different from a locker in a scenario, knowing that you need more throttle than a locker to get torque to the ground is a start toward better understanding in real world obstacle encounters where BLD may be of help.

If anyone has tips for those new to off roading with their JL and getting that BLD to work well, please share your experience, stories, and even the negatives you’ve encountered with a BLD.

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[scrape]

There are no real negatives or driving style adjustments needed to be made, really. It's a good system and works well enough for most trails. One main thing it won't do is climb a face. If you've ever seen a picture of a jeep with its front tire on top of another jeep's tire, BLD is not strong enough to do that.

 

[timn1984]

https://blog.fcanorthamerica.com/2008/02/11/jeep-brake-traction-control-explained/

If you’re new to Jeep, relatively new to off roading like myself, and do not have lockers, I happened across an old blog when BLD was still relatively new to off road that you may find insightful. While it doesn’t give exact scenarios on its use and exactly how it may be different from a locker in a scenario, knowing that you need more throttle than a locker to get torque to the ground is a start toward better understanding in real world obstacle encounters where BLD may be of help.

If anyone has tips for those new to off roading with their JL and getting that BLD to work well, please share your experience, stories, and even the negatives you’ve encountered with a BLD.

Thanks, that's a nice overview.

 

[timn1984]

https://blog.fcanorthamerica.com/2008/02/11/jeep-brake-traction-control-explained/

If you’re new to Jeep, relatively new to off roading like myself, and do not have lockers, I happened across an old blog when BLD was still relatively new to off road that you may find insightful. While it doesn’t give exact scenarios on its use and exactly how it may be different from a locker in a scenario, knowing that you need more throttle than a locker to get torque to the ground is a start toward better understanding in real world obstacle encounters where BLD may be of help.

If anyone has tips for those new to off roading with their JL and getting that BLD to work well, please share your experience, stories, and even the negatives you’ve encountered with a BLD.

Where are you in KY?

 

[DadJokes]

Where are you in KY?

Louisville region

 

[BadA$$Rubi]

Thanks for the information, good to know.

 

[8flat]

BLDs are unmitigated horseshit dumpster fires if you're stuck. My dodge ram has it. So glad my jeep does not need to rely on it.

 

[DadJokes]

BLDs are unmitigated horseshit dumpster fires if you're stuck. My dodge ram has it. So glad my jeep does not need to rely on it.

If it was mud, I can’t really see it helping much there. What were you stuck in?

 

[8flat]

If it was mud, I can’t really see it helping much there. What were you stuck in?

Mud, snow, jello, haha it's all a dumpster fire. I suppose if you were stuck in a ditch with a back wheel off the ground it'll help. The way it bangs things around and hammers the drivetrain is a mess and also slows overall wheel speed, which is super important when stuck in snow.

 

[DadJokes]

Mud, snow, jello, haha it's all a dumpster fire. I suppose if you were stuck in a ditch with a back wheel off the ground it'll help. The way it bangs things around and hammers the drivetrain is a mess and also slows overall wheel speed, which is super important when stuck in snow.

Yeah, it seems for it to help the tire that isn’t spinning or at least one needs to be in a situation where it has available traction. Kinda like being in a ditch and one wheel off the ground.

To add, if one is running larger/heavier wheel setups, I wonder if the BLD applies the brake a certain/predetermined amount of pressure in a certain amount of time if it wouldn’t help to get unstuck to have better braking performance. Something like better biting brake pads could better transfer torque to the other tire at the expense of rotor life.

 

[The_Phew]

I had a Deere mower with a differential lock foot button; you could vary foot pressure on it for varying amounts of lockup (I assume it was clutch-based).

No computer wizardry, but a really easy/intuitive way to maintain traction on slippery slopes without having to manually engage/disengage a locker over and over. I wish there was something analogous to this for modern 4x4s.

 

[8flat]

Yeah, it seems for it to help the tire that isn’t spinning or at least one needs to be in a situation where it has available traction. Kinda like being in a ditch and one wheel off the ground.

Yeah where I hate it is when all tires have the similar amounts of traction. All BLD is doing is braking (stopping) the 2 wheels that are spinning in order to force the other 2 wheels to spin, then it brakes those 2 wheels so the original ones begin spinning again. Keep repeating this continuously back and forth, hahaha it's maddening.

 

[redsyphon]

Brake Lock Differential Explained: https://blog.fcanorthamerica.com/2008/02/11/jeep-brake-traction-control-explained/

If you’re new to Jeep, relatively new to off roading like myself, and do not have lockers, I happened across an old blog when BLD was still relatively new to off road that you may find insightful. While it doesn’t give exact scenarios on its use and exactly how it may be different from a locker in a scenario, knowing that you need more throttle than a locker to get torque to the ground is a start toward better understanding in real world obstacle encounters where BLD may be of help.

If anyone has tips for those new to off roading with their JL and getting that BLD to work well, please share your experience, stories, and even the negatives you’ve encountered with a BLD.

Thanks for the share. My 2018 JLUS is the first Jeep I've had with this system and from what I've experienced it's worked well. I don't think it's the right tool for a true rock-crawler setup, but I've yet to throw a situation at it that the Jeep has failed to tackle... be it FL mud or NC roots and rocks, etc. Mine does struggle more than if it had lockers, especially for climbing situations where I'm off camber and one wheel in the air. But I've learned to give it just a split second to kick in and let it do it's thing. I will admit at first it was a bit odd to get used to at first.

...I still wouldn't wheel without my winch and recovery tracks though!

 

[DadJokes]

Is this standard equipment, or does it just come on factor LSD vehicles.

Standard across all trims.

 

[shekmark]

So do have to actually put your foot on the brake to activate this BLD, or you simply keep foot on gas and it happens automatically?

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