front detroit with a 242

I am in the process of building my xj and really the only major purchase I have left is a front locker. I have a detroit in the rear and am leaning towards a detroit for the front. I like the track record and simplicity of the detroits versus the other designs out there. I have read many time that a detroit up front is a "no no" if it see's the street and you don't have manual locking hubs (which I don't). But my undrstanding of the detroit is that it only locks up when power is applied to it. If that is true, then it should not be noticed in the front in 2wd. Am I crazy to think that?

Alright, I am no master at knowledge on this stuff or anything like that. This is just what I remember hearing.

As long as you don't put it into full-time 4wd on the street, you should be fine. Now if you do that, that's when disaster will strike.

With that said, I have a Detroit Tru-Track in the front, and regular Detroit locker in the rear. Also have the NP242 and I am pretty happy with it thus far, although I haven't been on any really tough trails since I got it.

Yep an auto locker in the front means you should not run full time 4x4 again. This is why, if I ever do it, I will be putting a selectable locker in the front. This way I can still run full time 4x4.

You might consider putting in a 231, I hear they are slightly stronger and they don't have full time 4x4.

If I can ever afford it I want to do the air lockers front and back.