LS options for a 9"

For a car intended mainly for the strip, the locker is hard to beat. Positive engagement and no clutches to wear out. The drawback is street use; when cornering they make some scary sounding clacking sounds. They can also lock up unexpectedly in a turn on wet pavement, creating oversteer and possible loss of control.

The torque sensing (torsen) diff is the preferred option for cars intended mainly for cornering. Eaton makes one they call the Detroit True Trac. Like the locker the torsen also has no clutches to wear out and it offers smooth lsd engagement at all times. At the same time, I believe the torsen would be more likely to fail under high torque dragstrip abuse than a locker, although I have no data to back that up.

An option with the strength of the locker but without the drawbacks is the Air Locker. Here's a link:

My other street hot rod has a locker. It's not all that bad on the street. It does make a little noise but the car is loud anyway. Has annoying "slop" in the rear end if you goose the throttle.

Al