ThirtyOne
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2017
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- Chapel Hill, NC
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- www.jeepdoodles.com
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- 2021 JLU Rubicon, 2017 Chevy Tahoe
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Right - LSD better on-road (where lockers do nothing), Lockers better off-road (where LSD can be useful, but much more limited).LSD are worse on icy roads, snow or any other surface that has low traction.
Now there are different types of LSD (limited slip differentials) but this is the JLWF, so we'll concentrate on the factory Jeep style LSD. It uses clutch plates and springs to keep both tires spinning with equal load to the left and right tires as long as the surface friction from both tires is equal. As soon as any change in surface friction happens, the tire with the least amount of traction will receive more power from the LSD. So as you go around a corner in the ice/snow/mud/rain, that surface friction on the tires is uneven, especially as the tires are turning at different speeds. That LSD will be loading/unloading the tires unevenly causing a loss of handling. The old saying of "catching posi" around a corner and spinning out applies here.
The easiest way to explain this would be to park an LSD equipped vehicle on the side of the road, with one tire on dry pavement and the other tire on a patch of ice (or mud). As you start to drive, the LSD will send the majority of power to the tire with the least amount of traction (the one on the ice) while the tire on the dry pavement will receive very little to no power. In short you could get stuck on flat level ground quite easily. Don't even think about getting a tire in the air, with no surface load back to the LSD, it will send all power to the tire in the air.
Now there are ways to cheat a little, the easiest is to click the park brake a few notches to get the brakes to preload the axles a little so the LSD thinks the tires have the same surface friction feedback.
Are LSDs bad? Not at all. They are great for those that need/want a little extra traction here and there. Do they perform better than a true locker, In the off-road world, on uneven and loose terrain? NO.
If we go out on a trail here most guys only use their lockers a few times. But they really come in handy those few times. I can get up most of what they get up, but I have to do it the hard way with more skinny pedal and less control. And some things I can't do at all, but that is partially because I don't have a lift. So poor me.
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