stock lsd sucks

[.44 mag]

Is there a trick to making the stock limited slip work better???

I went out on some desert trails last weekend and was totally unimpressed with this truck off-road. I've had trucks in the past that had a traction differential in the rear and have needed to be into the worst of it before shifting into 4x4 range. This truck acts about like one with an open rear end. I had to enguage the 4x4 way before I'd have ever thought needed.

What's the trick? I can't believe this is the best Dodge can come up with these days! I really don't want to have to junk the brand new factory lsd in favor of a Detroit locker or something. Any suggestions???

 

[Red Rocket]

With all due respect, you have to consider what is different on these trucks from the older 4x4s which you set the standard with. Consider these,



3000 pounds more than a regular pickup,

400+ ft. lbs. of torque at the wheels,

longer wheelbase,

Lots of extra weight on the front axle.



Consider these,



I think my cummins does very well off-road, considering all, but you shouldnt be afraid to lock in the second axle with almost 2/3 of the pickups total weight on it.

 

[BV]

LSD's

Another thought is that DC put to much friction modifier in the pumpkin. You could drain and refill and add the amount of modifier a little at a time until you reach the desired slippage.



You can test your LSD for slippage by jacking up on side and turning the wheel. If it turns without effort than it's way to loose. I don't have the manual in front of me but the spec was something like 25-200 Foot pounds. This assumes the brakes are not draging.

 

[LSMITH]

You also need to keep manufacturing tolerances in mind and that all of the auto makers are doing anything and everything they can do to lower their costs. Lowering costs means opening tolerances and I am seeing that more every day. That said, I must be lucky because my LSD works great. If anything mine is a little too tight, but that is a lot better than not working.

 

[johnrv4]

I can attest to LSMITH's LSD working fine... The black marks he left in front of my house are equal in length for both tires. .

 

[Fireman Dave]

Yeah, what John said. It was cool!

 

[LSMITH]

You guys are telling on me!!!!! LOL. Maybe I will do a big burnout for you guys next time

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Mine's working great after over 250 dragstrip runs (and 88,000 miles):



#ad




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That's on top of a lot of off roading - rock crawling, sand dunes, and trail driving. First thing I'd recommend is that you drain the factory fluid and fill with your choice of differential fluids (personally I'm running LE 607 90W - but there are many other good differential oils) then go and do some testing to check for chatter - add a couple of ounces of LSD additive (aka fish oil) at a time (and do at least 4 figure eights after adding the additive) until the chatter goes away. If that doesn't work then it's time to have the LSD checked.



Also, keep in mind what's mentioned above - a LOT (the majority) of the weight of your truck is on the front axle thereby reducing the amount of traction you can get with the rears alone. Also, with the amount of torque we can and do produce axle wrap with the leaf spring rear suspension can be a serious problem. I was unable to use more than half throttle most of the time when off roading at the sand dunes because of axle wrap until I added ladder bars to my truck to control the rear axle movement fore and aft - now I blast up the dunes with the best of em!

 

[MikeR]

Hank,

I was pretty upset with mine when I first got it. There was not enough lsd additive in it and the rear chattered badly going around any corner. I took it to the dealer and was dumb-founded as I watched the tech dump in unmeasured amounts of lsd additive just to shut me up. So then it had too much and was basically an 'open' diff.

I drained all that factory crap out and filled it with Amsoil Series 2000 75w/90 without any lsd additive,and now the rear works just like it's suppose to.



-Mike