After driving in the snow the other night I realized how much better the truck would be in snowy conditions if I had a limited slip. I don't do any super serious offroad since I'm 2wd so I don't need a locker or anything crazy like that. Would this be a good limited slip for just bad weather conditions and a DD? http://store.summitracing.com/partde...827+4294901314

 

It would be "good" but not great, take it from me, factory limited slips with the clutch packs wear out. At 85K my limited slip isn't so limited anymore. If I were you I would get something with gears (nothing to wear out) like a Detroit true track. That is what will be going in my truck soon...

http://www.eaton.com/EatonCom/Produc...iteId=EatonCom

 

i've heard lockers aren't good in snow.. or maybe just ice.. i'm not sure we dont have any of it here.. but i want it to snow this year so i can try mine out.

 

Yeah but thats more expensive haha. I was just looking and saw the price for the Ford Racing compared to the other ones. Whats the difference between the Eaton and the Powertrax ones?

 

Its not a locker, its a gear driven limited slip, so there are no clutches to wear out like in factory units. Its like the differential in the FX4 level II trucks.

 

That Truetrac is exactly what I want, but all I see it for is the 31-spline. I guess I'll wait and do it after I get my Explorer axle.

 

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

Ah I was looking for it under the Ranger setting thats why. Awesome, no I know what my next mod is gonna be. Time to start saving.

 

Yeah, your telling me on the saving part. I wont allow myself to go into debt modding my truck. So all my mods are paid for with green backs. I am almost to the point of getting the L/S and 3.73 gears.

 

Why would lockers be bad for snow? (honest question) I've dreamt of one day getting an e-locker to help me in the snow.

 

Yeah same here, I hate owing people money and don't do it unless its absolutely necessary. I'm debt free currently and hope to stay that way for a while.

 

I have basically the same truck (28 spline 7.5") and just got the truetrac installed last weekend. Its a great mod, and wrote about it here:
https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...707#post820707

 

a limited slip is not going to help in the snow at all. just an FYI

a limited slip or even a locker will cause the truck to want to slide around and fish tail.

my truck in 2wd is absolutely horrible with the limited slip in the snow.

what is going to happen with the limited slip is it does not allow the wheels to spin at different speeds but does give some. well with snow/ice its not going to give any its jsut going to lock in and spin both and around you go. it will be this way in the corners especially.

taking off from a stop may help depending on the situation.

IMO get 4wd if you want to GO better in the snow.

Now if you are wanting it for wheeling that is a different story.

 

Zach this is where we both split sorry man. I have had my limited slip in my truck for 3 winters now and will never go back.. first things first. when its slippery out DO NOT with a limited slip take off in first gear, that could be part of your problem.. 99% of the time in the winter when its snowing, i take off in 2nd gear. I have no issues it just hunkers down and goes no slipping because i am not putting alot of force to the wheels by taking off in 2nd.. and also if i am coming around a corner in the winter i dont gas it till i am out of it. OR just do it in 3rd.. if its really slow 2nd.. and just feather on the gas..

now i am not saying its a cure all for ice.. hell nothing is but studded tires but in snow i DO NOT have issues with my limited slip i can count on 1 hand how many times i have spin out because of my limited slip and all those times i was being a moron and trying to take something with to much speed.. and that being how much i still drive in the winter thats nothing..

 

so whats one to do with an auto? i am not saying you cant compensate for it, that is what you are doing, you got a limited slip then you compensate for it to what works well for you.

99% of people are going to say it drives with more control on an open differential if all you have is 2wd.

I still think for his condition and what he thinks he needs it for is wrong. its not going to help him.

adding weight will help the most.

I have been in the same spot you are, with a I4 manual trans open then limited slip. now 4wd, 4.0, auto and limited slip.

 

like with my dads f-150 I take off in 2nd with the auto drop it down.. then click it back to D when you get rolling...

its just i lived years with an open Diff F-150 then my open diff on my ranger it was horrible. yes you have less likely of spinning out but then again it would CONSTANTLY get stuck because the 1 passenger tire would be on crappy surface and just spin and wouldnt go anywhere at all. i was having to push out my ranger and my F-150 both when they had open diffs all the time.. especially when my street or my GF street wasnt plowed, I cant park in a Garage when i am at my GF house Zach i am stuck parking on a street that doesnt get plowed and has tons of ruts, try getting moving, turning around with deep ruts in the road with open diff 2wd little truck like mine.. min your front tires hit the rut and you rear are still in snow you stop instantly because that back 1 tire just spins it cant push you out of the snow. but with a limit slip the front tires hit the rut and both tires keep spinning giving the traction you need to get out of it.. you have to drive L/S with care not just hammer and go..

hell i got stuck in my college's parking lot, they run the plow down the lane and put a dam of snow about a foot to foot 1/2 high and i couldnt get out with the open diff in the ranger thats when i had weight in the back of my truck.. , but last year when they did it to me with my BFG and L/S, i just hoped right out of it...

now i run the L/S with no weight and have no issues.. maybe its my driving style in the snow i am not gas and go person i feather the gas alot and not as many rev's.. only weight i have in the back is a 265x75x16 on a steel wheel and a milk crate with some supplies in it.. thats all...

now i am not saying with a limited slip no weight is best but i havent had problems at all.. people need to find the style of driving that works for them. some people cant control a L/S in the snow some can.. its all in how you drive it...

 

i know you had the little blue one. did you never have trouble at all with going threw snow and the 1 tire desides its worse off and just spins and your stuck? then man you guys have way better plowed roads then us..

edit... yes getting a 4x4 would fix ALOT of the go problems NOT stopping like we both agree...

but not all of us can afford to get a 4x4 truck.. and i could get a older one just dont want to waste what money i do have on buying a beater..

see you have said i complain about not having enough money see the thing is i want to buy a newer truck used with a loan i have money just dont want to go into dept. i was close VERY close to buying a used nice 4x4 twice and had things happen in my life that left me spending a decent amount of money. thats why i am dont like payments afraid of the oh crap moments in live leaving me un able to make the payments...

 

im not gonna argue with ya... whatever man.

i dont really care what he chooses.

 

i am not arguing i am quite far from being even close to mad.. just having a discussion with ya.. beleave me not mad in the slightest LOL...

 

Yeah I don't know. I'd like to be able to try it with it but thats not gonna be possible. I wish it was easy enough that I could go down and buy a truck with 4wd but its not. I'll think about, I doubt I'll need it tho.

 

i wouldnt spend all the money of an expansive one. i picked up a 8.8 28 spline L/S unit for my splash for under $35

 

ebay

 

As I said on the post before Zach and Zach, I just had the truetrac installed last weekend so I don't really have that much experience in it yet. But there are lots of reviews on it all over the internet, and I don't think you need a test drive. Some Rangers and B-Series, like my Dad's, come with the Ford or Torsen limited slip from the factory, and I couldn't see Ford putting them in the trucks if they weren't safe.

I traded him my DD a few years ago and drove his truck through a winter of snow roads in rural British Columbia --roads that are nothing but snow, sometimes plowed sometimes not, sometimes icy, sometimes not. Sometimes I was in 4x4 but usually wasn't (to save gas) and the LS never made me spin out. Isn't to say sometimes i wasn't plain stuck after a big snowstorm, but i would never spin out at all. Spinning out, like Zach S said, has almost everything to do with how you drive, and I had about 100 pounds, BFG AT tires, a gentle foot on both the gas and the brake, and always steered as gently and fluidly as possible.

Also like Zach S said, there is nothing worse than having just one wheel on some ice or in some mud and being totally stuck. So this time I didn't want the 1/3 higher payments or the 1/3 worse fuel economy of the V6 4x4's for a truck I primarily drive in the city/highway, so I bought a new 4x2 and had a truetrac installed. And I've been sticking to the wet/icy/snowy roads here in Vancouver during the past week like glue.

The Truetrac is a gear driven LS just like the Torsen that the FX2's sometimes come with (if you're lucky!). If you like the idea of two wheels spinning instead of one, I wouldn't worry about it and just get one.

 

Eh. I'm with Beard on this one. A limited slip or a locker are gonna get you into more trouble in slippery weather than an open diff will. Sure it has a lot to do with how you drive, BUT when both wheels are spinning together then there is a much greater potential for you to start sliding.

 

potential yes.. but i have never slid on a banked road while driving... idk just never happened in my years of driving... locker would be far worse but the stock L/S unit with clutch packs honestly isnt that great. i mean at times it doesnt work also... so idk.. just the only times i have ever had a problem with a l/s unit is when i was being a moron driving never when i actually pay attention...