My Trail appears to do very well in soft sand with Multi-Terrain and no locker.
With M/T and the locker is also good, but on the side of a dune the rear was trying to slide down. Makes me think the locker helped induce the slip similar to what a locker does on snow.

Did not want to get off camber on a dune, but the terrain gave me no choice, the ridge became too narrow.

I'm tempted keep the locker off except for flat areas or straight up dunes. Not sure I want to test it next time out.

Opinions/experiences appreciated.

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Yes, on off camber slipper slopes lockers off if possible, otherwise you'll 'crab' downhill. Multi-terrain is more like an LSD/locker mix, so you won't get as much if any crabbing.

OKoffroad.com - Editorial - Driving with Air Lockers
"First: be careful on side angled (off-camber) hill sides; i.e., the vehicle is traveling on a side slope. If it is mucky, icy, snowy or any other type of slippery-slidey side slopey slope, use open diff, if possible. Lockers will tend to "walk" you sideways down slope. This is because both wheels are rotating at the same speed. If one wheel is "static" and the other is rotating, the static one will act as an anchor or stabilizer that will keep the rig from slipping sideways. When on these side slopes, let the vehicle idle across, giving the tires a chance to dig in and get the best traction. "

I do a decent amount of sand driving. There is some pretty deep, soft sand where I go. I’ve tried different combinations and the best results I’ve gotten is with the locker off and all traction aids off. You want as much wheel spin as possible to keep momentum. Sand mode is decent but I’ve found that just turning off traction and stability control works best. That being said, I have gotten stuck. It was totally driver error as I was driving up a slope diagonally and as I went over a berm I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t carry enough speed. I high centered and sunk down pretty far. I tried all combinations with no luck. I was ready to get the shovel out and start digging when I decided to try crawl control. In under a minute, it had me backing down the slope. It’s a good tool to have if you do a lot of driving in sand.


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I wouldn't recommend driving with the locker on by default. Use for the special occasion when you are or might get stuck.

With sand I suspect it could digitally nice holes.

In sand momentum is your friend.. flotation is key (low tire pressure) and watch where you stop (always stop flat or downhill to avoid digging)

To me traction aids are useless in sand, so I turn everything off. The exception is crawl control which is useful when your stuck

Lockers are good in controlling wheelspin and fully locked front/rear diffs beat any type of traction aid. I sometimes engage the rear locker when the dunes are too steep and I'm looking for max control or taking a steep climb.

In the end, driving on sand is a different game where you get better by experience

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I’ve been driving in deep sandy roads in AZ and UT. I agree with your recommendations to turn all traction aids off. To keep up speed and momentum uphills I stay in 4Hi with VSC and TRAC both off. I’ve also had good results setting Multi-terrain Select to Mud-Sand-Dirt since it can be used in 4Hi. When I’ve gotten bogged down going uphill, but not actually stuck, I’d back up a little, drop it into into 4LO, ATRAC On, Locker On, to power up the hill.