We kept trying to look on the bright side as our ring-and-pinion clanged and banged while we limped our '94 Suburban home at about 2 mph; we now had a candidate to try out Auburn's Electronically Controlled Traction Enhancing Differential, or ECTED for short. Currently the ECTED is available for the GM 10- and 12-bolts, the Ford 8.8-inch, Dana 30 and 35s, and the AMC 20 found in Jeeps and H1s. Its limited application availability had kept us from testing it in the past, but now Auburn is ramping up production of more applications, and we were able to get our hands on one for a 10-bolt before our 10-bolt axle even came apart (hmmm...perhaps this contributed to its premature demise?). Whatever the reason, this rig made itself a perfect candidate for this limited slip/selectable locker with our Suburban outfitted with 31-inch BFG tires. The Suburban is kept at a dwelling with a steep dirt driveway that has its share of ruts and holes and high spots, and when snow gets laid on the path, the 'Burb sits at the top of the drive near the highway. To try and come down the drive when it has a thick winter covering would have been crazy...until now. This truck will also never see severe trail duty and is primarily transportation for us, but it definitely has to get us to our stories and their locations, past where most stock 4WDs would be stuck or turned around. It just wasn't a possibility to leave this 4x4 with an open differential after such an opportunity presented itself. With the help of Renegade Metal Works in Athol, Idaho, we towed the Suburban to the shop and installed the Auburn inside the gutted 10-bolt rearend.
To date, our Auburn has performed flawlessly. Like we said, we don't get too many miles on this rig, but we put 1,000 miles on it in about four days, with another 300 miles done a few weeks later, and we've been very pleased with the results of our ECTED install. Even unlocked in limited-slip mode, we can almost crawl out of the snow-covered dirt drive that many times required our frontend to be hooked to a towstrap. Would we throw one under a truck with 44-inch Swampers? Probably not, since there isn't a large enough (axlewise) version yet. But we'd definitely recommend it with any tire size that is reasonable with a 10- or 12-bolt differential (read: 35s or smaller!).
How It Works:
The ECTED (Electronically Controlled Traction Enhancing Differential) is a selectable locker filled with clutch packs that let it perform as a limited-slip differential when no power is being sent to the diff. Once the interior switch is thrown, power (no more than 10 amps) is drawn in and the electromagnet turns on. The coil is magnetized which pulls the pilot cone in, in turn forcing the bearing balls to ride up the side gear. This side gear moves laterally, placing pressure on the center block that places pressure on the other side gear. All this compresses the clutch pack and locks the two side gears together, resulting in a full spool instead of a differential.