Hi Ryan,
It's not that it's more difficult, it's just different. You will find
that on all but the most slippery conditions, the LSD will help you maintian
better control of the vehicle. Limited Slip used to be expresssed by
percentage of slip. The 'tighter' the diff, the more resistive it would be
to spin only one tire, but if it was a disk type, the disks would wear out
quicker. As with anything that performs its job with friction, these diffs
will wear and loosen up over time.
You say that you are a bit interested in hooking up better on pavement.
Have you ever considered a locker? Then, there would never be any doubt,
both tires would never spin slower than the drve shaft, and powertrax's unit
can take a beating, (I think they quoted 1000 horsepower). There again,
different technique to driving, but unlike the LSD, it would never ever wear
out. If you might consider this route, go open diff from the factory and
then shell out the ~300 bucks for the unit that you can install yourself
with hand tools. A locker would give you the same feeling back there as
having a spool in snow, the locker tends to cause a little understeer while
on the gas on pavement, like I said, not difficult, just different.
hope this helps,
Bob Cash
98 4X4 5.2L
DAK2K 4X4 4.7L
-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Rodgers [mailto:rodgers_ryan@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 1:54 PM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: DML: LSD in light snow
Sorry if this has been covered before, but being new to the list I would
like some input before I purchase my Dak in the Spring. I live in Northern
Ohio, where we ocassionally get 2-3" of snow on the average roadway in the
winter. The S-10 I will be replacing does not have a LSD differential, and
for the most part I do ok in the snow. The right tire spins a lot,
especially on wet pavement, but I've never gotten it completely stuck. I
know that getting the LSD on the Dak would help with traction, but how will
it make the truck handle in the snow? I'm confident in my abilities to
control a vehicle when the back end gets loose and would like to know how
the LSD would affect my performance in light snow. Also, the Dak I will be
getting will have the 4.7L 2wd with 3.92 rear end. I assume that the LSD
would help it hook up a little better in good weather, but I'm curious as to
the effects of an LSD on wet pavement, snow, and ice. One other point to
consider is that hopefully in the next year I will be moving to Texas. Yes,
I realize that makes me a GDYankee, but my wife was born and raised for the
1st half of her life in Dallas and she wants to go home. :) Me, I just want
out of the snow. Many things I've read say that getting the LSD is the way
to go, but I've run across the occasional opinion that it makes driving in
the snow more difficult. Any thoughts, feel free to email me directly as
well. Thanks.
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