At 05:08 PM 5/9/00 -0400, you wrote:
[...]
>Unfortunately we don't have the limited slip on the '95. Jason has been
>wishing for this for quite some time. I've got it on mine. I don't know
>much about the LSD and what the benefits would be off road. Can you tell me
>if it would make our adventures on the trail easier? If so, how much do
>these cost to buy and install? I may buy one for Jason for Christmas or
>something. SH*T... I just sent that to the list. No surprise now :) Hey
>Jason... I was just kidding... wink wink, nudge nudge ;)
I've been doing a little bit of reading regarding all things off-road
lately, and from what I've been able to determine, a limited slip isn't
terribly useful offroad. It is great for us drag racers and street driving
though. My understanding is that it can compensate somewhat for a
difference in traction between the tires, but there is a limit which once
you pass, it will no longer work. (The tires have to have basically the
same amount of traction.) So, say you were driving with one wheel in the
dry and another in the mud. The limited slip will try to keep both tires
turning at the same rate, but as the tire in the mud gets less and less
traction, eventually the limited slip will "give up" and provide full power
to the wheel in the mud. :-(
The best thing to have for offroad is a locker, which will keep both
wheels turning at the same rate, no matter what. (It essentially locks
both axles together.) Unfortunately, they are supposed to be a bit
annoying on the street, even after you adjust your driving style. I
believe a locker is in the $400 range. The king of them all is the air
locker, which gives you an open diff until you hit a button in the cab, and
it locks the axles together (using compressed air); thus, you have complete
control and the truck's street manners are completely
unchanged. Unfortunately, they are over $600. I've heard rumors that
somebody is supposed to be coming out with a cable activated locker which
would at the very least, eliminate the cost of the compressor. Note: I
think I've got the above info right; I don't have any firsthand experience;
I've just been reading the offroading magazines to get better informed in
case I want to do something like this with my Ram someday...
Lets see if we can convince Jason to let us rip out his IFS for a solid
front axle, then you can buy him air lockers for the front and rear. ;-)
-Jon-
.--- jon@dakota-truck.net -- or -- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------.
| Jon Steiger * AOPA, DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA * RP-SEL |
| '92 Ram 150 4x4 V8, '96 Dakota V8, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly 447 |
`---------------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:51:15 EDT