Well, I am going through a rear end and first I thought about the ratio. I got that all figured out and decided that it would be best to stick with the 3.55s. Now that that is settled, I am now trying to decide between a Ford Racing Traction Lok Limited Slip carrier and a open carrier like it had originally. The difference in cost is about 100 dollars and I can easily afford either option, my question is would the limited slip be the way to go or not. Thoughts?

What are the pros and cons to limited slip??

 

You need to define the reasons you need more traction: type of pavement, mud, snow, ice, . . . If limited slip had no down-side and everyone needed it, all vehicles would be equipped with it. Give us some more facts and you will get a lot of opinions so sort through.

 

Well, I am doing is street driving, mostly freeway. I would not say that I NEED the traction so to speak, but since I have it apart and it would not cost much more to go LS then I figure I might as well look into it. This rig will probably never go off road.

The rig is a half ton truck with a 302 and AOD. I live in the northwest so I do see snow and rain, but not all the time.

I guess what I really want to know is if there are down sides and if so what are they. And would the LS be beneficial to ANYONE whether or not it NEEDED.

 

There are a lot of little down-sides that come with a limited slip. (Taken together, they have always tipped my decision toward an open differential, although I have a Gleason TorSen which is a different technology which uses crossed helical gears to give effects similar to a limited slip, but without clutches. This unit is $500+, so I will not go into it now.)

With clutches comes some small down-sides: One is wear because the clutches are pre-loaded and hence wear a little on every turn. The higher the mileage, the less effective the unit will be. Another minor item is the requirement to use a special additive. Finally, there are many road conditions requiring help with traction and no one setup can be ideal for all. There are a lot of threads giving more pros & cons, so do some searching for more detail.

If there are times when the limited slip will get you home, then I'd go for it for $100. There is only one time when my TorSen made an obvious difference, but I was 500 miles from home in snow with a 9,000-pound trailer and I would have easily run up $500 in costs if I had not been able to pull through and ended up jack-knifed in a ditch on a frontage road. (If anyone thinks this sounds high, I had an accident while towing and it took two roll-backs four hours to get the tow vehicle & trailer off the side of the road, giving me an $800 bill.)

 

Electric locker, best of both worlds.

 

I just put in an Eaton LS this past weekend. The back end feels tighter and the corners are firmer. I am satisfied thus far with the LS. Pros are that you will have a wheel that grips where one would slip. Cons are that the cluth packs wear out with 50 to 100k. I chose the Eaton because it is rebuildable.

Mike
Mostly streets, medians when the traffic is heavy.

 

Yeah, yeah...been there, done that!

 

[QUOTE=mikeyswood]I just put in an Eaton LS this past weekend. The back end feels tighter and the corners are firmer. I am satisfied thus far with the LS. Pros are that you will have a wheel that grips where one would slip. Cons are that the cluth packs wear out with 50 to 100k. [QUOTE]

sooo, i should expect to rebuild the clutches in my truck's 92k mile rear end soon?

 

It would depend on how many corners you drove around. If you did all interstate driving, the clutches should last much longer than all in-town driving. There are specs for your differential on the torque that it takes to rotate one wheel while the other is stationary. If you are below service limits or notice that it is acting like an open differential, then it is time for new clutch discs.

 

as long as it doesn't make noise and keeps on working, i'll keep driving it LOL....although, i wouldn't mind tearing into the rear end for some experience.