limited slip?
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What rear end ratio is in my Ford , do I have positraction? - Drivetrain.com
#14
Thank You for posting that.
To answer the question on what the LS is good for.
Lest say you get on some slick stuff on one side if you have a LS
then the other side would get some traction if you did not then you would
just sit there and spin one wheel.
Sean
#15
To be a little more clear:
A differential's job is to allow the axle shafts (and thus the wheels and tires attached) to turn at different rates. That's because when you turn a corner or go anything other than absolutely straight, the outside tire needs to turn a little faster to cover a little more ground than the inside tire, just like the outside of a record is covering more ground per revolution than the inside, right?
Well, one side effect is that the power ends up getting transferred to the wheel that's traveling the fastest, and unfortunately that sometimes means the one with the least traction. Let's say you're on the side of the road in the rain, out in the country somewhere. Your driver's side tire is up on pavement, your passenger side tire is in the slick and sloppy mud. When you put it in gear and hit the gas, the tire in the slick mud is going to spin and spin while the tire on the pavement does nothing, because the tire with almost no traction is the one getting all the torque. I'm sure this has happened to all of us or at least seen it happen to others.
That's why they invented various "traction aids" such as a limited-slip differential, a locking differential, and various iterations on that theme. The LSD in particular means that due to one of several different mechanisms (usually spring-loaded clutch plates), when one tire ends up spinning too fast compared to the other, the clutch plates are forced together, transferring some of the power to the wheel that otherwise wasn't doing anything because it had all the grip.
So in your situation with one tire on pavement and one in the mud, the tire on the pavement ends up getting power now, too, and it is able to move you forward and out of the rut you've dug for yourself and hopefully up onto the road and home.
A differential's job is to allow the axle shafts (and thus the wheels and tires attached) to turn at different rates. That's because when you turn a corner or go anything other than absolutely straight, the outside tire needs to turn a little faster to cover a little more ground than the inside tire, just like the outside of a record is covering more ground per revolution than the inside, right?
Well, one side effect is that the power ends up getting transferred to the wheel that's traveling the fastest, and unfortunately that sometimes means the one with the least traction. Let's say you're on the side of the road in the rain, out in the country somewhere. Your driver's side tire is up on pavement, your passenger side tire is in the slick and sloppy mud. When you put it in gear and hit the gas, the tire in the slick mud is going to spin and spin while the tire on the pavement does nothing, because the tire with almost no traction is the one getting all the torque. I'm sure this has happened to all of us or at least seen it happen to others.
That's why they invented various "traction aids" such as a limited-slip differential, a locking differential, and various iterations on that theme. The LSD in particular means that due to one of several different mechanisms (usually spring-loaded clutch plates), when one tire ends up spinning too fast compared to the other, the clutch plates are forced together, transferring some of the power to the wheel that otherwise wasn't doing anything because it had all the grip.
So in your situation with one tire on pavement and one in the mud, the tire on the pavement ends up getting power now, too, and it is able to move you forward and out of the rut you've dug for yourself and hopefully up onto the road and home.