That probably won't help you with these LSD units as they were setup extremely loose from the factory. The diff should have a metal tag on it attached to one to the cover bolts and if you find one with 3L55 XXXX on it then it has 3.55 gears with a clutch style limited slip. You may have to remove the bolt to see all the characters on the tag. The clutch packs in these diffs can be restacked with new or even used discs to perform much better than stock.

 

I put a "take out" LS in my '89 years back. Bought it at swap meet for $50. I got 7 years from it before it started to not be limited slip. I bought a rebuild kit from Summit for $80? Tore it down, measured the packs and rebuilt it to spec. Worked fine after that. I know there is a spec you can use on a torque wrench for "break away" force to tell how tight the unit is.

You can swap them out pretty easy. Once the axles are out, drop the caps(keep them to their prospective side), pull the shims(keep them also to their prospective side) and remove the carrier. Remove the ring gear and re install on LS carrier. Reverse the procedure and torque the caps down. Install axles and rear cover then some LS lube.

 

Traction and stability are kind of at odds with each other when it comes to open diffs vs lockers or limited slips. A spinning tire doesn't care what direction it slides while a rolling tire doesn't want to go sideways. So a locker or an effective limited slip will let you spin both tires, making it easier to slide sideways. An open diff will usually keep one tire rolling, so you don't lose stability, but then again you might not be able to move forward either.

Another thing to keep in mind about snow is that you aren't necessarily gaining much with a limited slip or locker. Unlike what people like to say, an open diff DOES drive both tires. It always sends the same amount of torque to both tires, which means that once you are giving it enough torque to spin one tire it won't send any more torque THAN THAT to the other tire. But it will send the amount of torque it takes to spin the one tire to the other as well.

In the rocks, when one tire is in the air, this DOES give you effectively one wheel drive because the tire in the air takes zero torque to spin so the tire on the ground gets zero torque as well. But in the snow, both tires tend to get pretty similar (no) traction, so you don't gain a lot of traction by spinning both tires.

Don't take this too far, you will get more power to the ground with a locker or an effective limited slip, but it's not going to be a lot more in snow.

And personally I'd go with a locker rather than a clutch-type limited slip in the rear for snow. A locker is harsher, and if you aren't careful it can spin you out quicker than a limited slip when you get on the gas too hard. But a clutch-type limited slip can spin you out when you're not on the gas, and a locker won't do that. Overall I find lockers more predictable than limited slips, and there's no question that they help more when you need the help. A "lunch box locker" is cheap and easy to install in an open diff.

By the way, here's a link to a thread I started about different traction aiding diffs that might help you. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15935996