I got to wheel my 2000 D2 pretty good this last week on Christmas adventure in the Arizona strip. There was lots of sand ( dunes even) and a lot of loose gravelly stuff as well as super slimy muck and snow/ice.

So I do not have a diff lock other than a 10mm wrench in my hand, and I did not lock the diff the entire trip, but let the land rover traction control do the job. It worked great.

My question is, when the diff lock is locked in, and the traction control and ABS is disabled, does the rig really work any better? I would think that without lockers in the axles, giving up the TC and ABS may not work as well in sand and low traction conditions. I would be concerned about the reliability of these fancy features, but they sure worked great for me. Hill decent mode is really cool as well.

I can understand if the axles are locked and the center diff is locked, the rig would be like a mountain goat. Not so sure it would have worked as well in the sand with the center diff locked and open diffs on the axles without the TC though.

 

I dont have TC just a CDL, my truck works great in the dunes/deep sand/snow with the CDL locked.
In my opinion having a CDL and TC would be the ideal set up because the TC will give results very similar to a locker.
If you were to actually lock all three diffs you would be at the mercy of the truck as you would not be able to steer.
As for turning off the TC, the only benefit I can think of is when you must spin the wheels to gain traction and keep moving.
Sometimes it is best to spin the wheels at a slow speed to keep moving.

 

If you run with the CDL engaged, along with the ETC working, that will give you the best pulling power. If though, you turn off the engine whiles the cdl is engaged, you will disable the ABD, HD and ETC giving you less traction. If you need to turn off your engine, disengage the CDL and wait for the light to go off, then you will retain all the ABS functions.

 

Even though the d2 without cdl is the redheaded step child of the land rover world (2nd only the the freelander) I have found it very capable with just TC. A big part of the problem is the keyboard wheelers who have never been off blacktop and just regurgitate what they read somewhere else. Is cdl better? No doubt, cdl and TC would be an unstopable but, for 90% of what most people do with their d2 TC will do just fine. I have been impressed with the TC, its noisy, a bit chaotic but, it keeps you moving. If your into hardcore wheeling or long distance offroad travel far from civilization then you would be better served by adding cdl. To your question, I think TC by its self is as good as cdl on a vehicle without TC. Just not as smooth but, with TC you will never get cross axled.

 

CDL splits the engines total torque 50/50 between the front and rear axles, giving you both pushing and pulling traction, ETC only spreads to torque between the left and right wheel on the same axle. ETC by it self give you apx 80% torque to the rear, 20% to the front so not nearly as effective by itself.
Down side to ETC by itself is if you do lots of wheeling, you brake pads will be short lived because of the ABS regulate brake pressure to transfer torque.
Course, then theer are lockers which is a whole other story in itself.

 

small correction the tc also shifts the torque front to back as well as side to side. According to land rover the tc can operate the brakes individually as to shift power from side to side on same axle as well as operate the brakes in pairs to shift power from one axle to the other.

 

The cdl and TC combo is the next best thing to lockers, in my opinion, without the high cost.

It would defiantly be worth while to give yourself a means of easily engaging your cdl, without having to crawl under the truck. (not fun in mud, haha ask me how i know)
No doubt the D1 t-case shifter is the nicest option, but i made a linkage up for my dads truck for very little money, using stuff i mostly had lying around.

Either way though, i have found the d2 to be very capable with just TC and open differentials, and it would probably be enough for most people. All depends on how you use your truck.

 

CDL does a 50/50 split which in no way can the ETC accomplish, that is why the CDL has a locking nose assembly.

 

sure it can, it can send 100% So, 50% is not a problem. Its just not locked in all the time and it would vary as the brakes are applied and traction conditions vary. It says it can brake in pairs to facilitate even tq distribution between axles. Thar sounds like 50/50 to me.
from the rave:

 

On any 99 thru 01 that has been converted to engage the CDL all 3 ABS functions work where are in the 03-04 it doesn't.
We are talking about an 01 being converted, retaining all 3 functions while CDL engaged.
Simple test, go find the steepest, loose hill you can find, climb it till you can't go any further with just the ETC working, back down and do it again with the CDL engaged and see how much easier it is.