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What is the point of the limited slip differential?

Revolution_322

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Does LSD have any benefit in the rain?
I’d say yes and no, the majority of traction loss in rain is when I'm making turns and the rear slides out. This happened more when i ran smaller tires like 265’s lol which i still do on a wj i have. In that case the vehicle stability takes control and starts applying the brakes the the slipping side. Short answer is yes, limited slip is good for the street and some situations off road. And provides a good compromise between an open diff and a locked spool. On rocks they are unpredictable and the clutch packs wear out. Also it takes a second for them to “lock” up so often times power delivery isnt linear and you have to approach an obstacle with way more throttle than youd want to with locked axles...
 

entropy

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Ive been in situations with a wheel on the air and the LSD + Break locking has gotten me out with 0 issues. It is not like lockers. theres a little lag and you still get a little spin but it works. The issue with LSD is that you technically still need to have a little traction, so that's why break locks help in this case cause they will apply breaks to the spinning wheel and then LSD should kick in and get u out.

This post makes no sense. either your Jeep is broken or your tires are crap. The road could have had black ice as well.

And yes @Jennalee LSD is good for rain, but cant make up for an unstable brick on tires so dont count on other than driving carefully.
 

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Go Outside

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Does LSD have any benefit in the rain?
That depends on what you are after.
If you want better launch times to beat that prius through the passing lane and know how to keep it straight then yes.
If you want to cut off on coming traffic pulling out of a parking lot with cold tires and dont know how to keep it straight then no.
Although, with traction control, maybe the jeep would self correct and you would still get up to speed faster than with an open differential. Someone needs to try this. ... oh wait i have, kind of. Initiating rear slides while making uturns in the rain with an lsd and traction control on is difficult.
So, YES, if you leave the traction control on or are a skilled driver LSD is better in the rain.
 

sudeepi

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I hit a similar situation, my rear passenger was completely on ice, rear driver on partial ice (if I back up a bit, it will be fully on ice) whereas both front wheels on dry pave. It started slipping. I turned into 4WD and it backed up with no effort. Yes, I had to struggle a bit to engage 4Hi while no motion.
 

fat_head

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I hit a similar situation, my rear passenger was completely on ice, rear driver on partial ice (if I back up a bit, it will be fully on ice) whereas both front wheels on dry pave. It started slipping. I turned into 4WD and it backed up with no effort. Yes, I had to struggle a bit to engage 4Hi while no motion.
The first few times shifting into 4wd it can be stiff. It will loosen up the more you use it.
 

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Limited Slips are great for "normal" off-roading that 98% of us do. Such as going thru mud and snow, or climbing steep hills while out hunting. If you are rock-crawling and etc down in Moab, they are probably not going to be much use. About half of my 4X4 vehicles have been LSD and I loved each and every one of them.

Rubicon Lockers are great, but they only work in 4L (think rock crawling). This is not going to do you any good when you need the speed of 4hi to conquer that mud hole or snow drift. Scenarios like this is where LSD really shine, pedal to the medal with both rear tires locked up.

As to the OP's question: You are correct, the other tire should have engaged in the scenario you described. If this ever happens again, just tap on the break while you push on the gas. Sometimes this will get the clutch plates to engage and lock up.
 

entropy

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Limited Slips are great for "normal" off-roading that 98% of us do. Such as going thru mud and snow, or climbing steep hills while out hunting.
Yes, until the clutch goes....

As to the OP's question: You are correct, the other tire should have engaged in the scenario you described. If this ever happens again, just tap on the break while you push on the gas. Sometimes this will get the clutch plates to engage and lock up.
Exactly. which is why LSD in a the Jeep actually works so well, because we have the break lockers that should automatically do this for us!. and in my experience, I've never had to tap on the breaks on my JL to get the LSD to engage. Which is why I find strange the OP's situation. I've definitely gotten myself in situations a few times where I can hear the clutches engaging and my Jeep just gets out with no issues. If OP was on flat terrain, with the Goodyear AT tires (I assume), full traction on one tire, I truly can't see how a Wrangler with LSD can't get out!. Maybe OP just experienced a bit of lag with the LSD clutches engaging? or the road was frozen and very slippery, in that case I can definitely see ANY vehicle, even with lockers, struggle.
 

word302

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Rubicon Lockers are great, but they only work in 4L (think rock crawling). This is not going to do you any good when you need the speed of 4hi to conquer that mud hole or snow drift.
Unless of course you have a tazer.
 

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