I've got an 05' F250 (FX4) with the limited slip 3:73 rear end. In the snow or wet grass, you can tell the limited slip is working because it will spin both rear tires at the same time. Today I was towing my 16ft flat bed trailer and had an issue where I needed to pull over on the side of a country road to check something out. I pulled over far enough to get one rear tire in some wet grass/mud. For the life of me I coudln't get the truck back on the dry pavement.......the tire that was on the pavement just sat there, but the tire in the mud just spun.......it acted just like a standard open diff.

I ended up having to get out and lock the front hubs and put it in 4x4 in order to move the 3-4ft forward in order to get both rear tires on the pavement.

Are the clutches worn out in my limited slip diff, or is that how they are supposed to act when you have one tire with 100% traction, and the other with 0% ? Maybe the clutches just aren't strong enough to put the full load to the tire that was on the pavement? I was pretty disappointed that I had to drop it in 4x4.......

 

If your tire was on the downslope, it may have had no weight on it, and thus zero traction. Limited slip has it's limits.

 

Yes that is normal, if an LS diff is setup tight enough to transfer power when 1 wheel has zero traction then it will scuff and chirp the tires in turns all the time under regular driving conditions. A typical LS clutch setup requires some resistance from both tires to load the clutches and make them grab, in low traction conditions the diff can be assisted by engaging the parking brake a little.

 

Does this mean if you were to throw dirt or sand etc. Under The slipping tire would get a little traction and cause both tires to get traction?

 

YES,

limited is very limited... a 4x4 is one wheel drive in the front and one wheel drive in the rear.. but under some conditions.. its 3 wheel drive 1 in front and 2 in the rear.

reason the E-Locker went into production.... it does LOCK the rear axle.

my opinion most limited slip's need rebuilt every 50,000 miles..

sand, dirt, road salt,,,,,,, even appling the parking brake lightly.. will help the limited slip to drive to both rear wheels.

 

Limited slip in my mind helps a little tiny bit on paved streets only and almost not at all off road. I know others have a different opinion, but I'm sticking with mine.

 

i dont have much faith in them. i think you are supposed to apply a little brake to try and get both spinning but i dont know if that really works.

 

I'm not a hard core off roader but the limited slip works very well on wet boat ramps, loose sand, some mud and most snow. It's not that great on ice.

 

yes stand on the brake some to get them both to spin or turn

 

I'm not big on LS or lockers in snow/ice or muddy side hill.
i have used the applying foot/emergency brake on open differentials with some success.

This has nothing to do with the op question,
Just saying.