Eski

Well, not really... here's the story in short.

Today I was off to WalMart. Leaving the neighborhood, I saw the mail lady had slid into the ditch near the mailboxes. Instinctively I pulled in to set myself up to pull her out. On the opposite side of the driveway to the mail boxes, I too found myself in trouble. Before I knew it, my driver's side front tire went into a hole obscured by the snow on teh ground. My right rear tire was about 8 inches off the ground. My left bank exhaust, transfer case, and frame cross member as well as my driver's side running board were all hung up. It was funny 'cause I could stand on the right rear bumper and it was so well balanced it'd put the tire on the ground.

Well my running board is bent and busted. A Jeep YJ came along and pulled both of us out.

I was dissappointed to see that when at first I tried to remove myself in 4-Lo, the rear tire in the air was spinning, but not the tire on the ground. This truck has a limited slip rear end.

I tried an old trick. What you do is tap your brakes while applying gas. This momentary lock up of the rear end tricks the differential into thinking both of the wheels are on a good tractive surface. Often it'll engage the tire that is on the ground.

It didn't work too well with me.... I am guessing due to ABS?

Well.... I dreaded the day something would get bent, broke, etc.

I think I'm getting a Detroit Tru-Trac (I think that's it, the worm gear type LSD) after some time... supposedly these Ford clutch-type LSD's aren't that great.

driver444

I've done that before too. Most of us have, but let me give you a tip.

First, the Ford limited slip diffs, are JUNK.
Having said that, the Truetrac wouldn't help much either if you had one tire completely off the ground. I know because I have one in my '08. The True trac transfers 3 or 4 (can't remember which) times the torque resistance from the slipping wheel to the wheel with traction. The problem is 3 times "No Traction" equals "No Traction"! In other words, the spinning wheel has to have at least "SOME" resistance on it to feed the other tire.

The only differential that may have gotten you out of that is a locker of some sort.

As far as the tapping the brake thing, I have another bit of advice for you. Whenever you do that, use the emergency brake, not the pedal. If you use the pedal, it "MAY" cause some power to go to the wheel where you need it, (doubtful), but at the same time, you're locking up the front brakes. The truck won't move. It works great for a burnout competition though!!

The emergency brake thing does work surprisingly well on the True Trac, because it adds resistance to the slipping wheel, and the Truetrac sends 3 times that to the other side.

Having said all this, the Truetrac is 10X better than any limited slip I've ever owned. I'd compare it more closely with a locker under almost all circumstances. The only time, (and I mean ONLY time) you'll spin only one tire with a True trac is when one tire is off the ground. I've said in previous posts, if you get stuck with a True trac, you probably would've gotten stuck with a locker anyway.

Eski

"driver444", thanks alot for your reply! I feel as if I learned something!
I'd like to have an ARB air-locker... what's your thought on that?

driver444

The ARB is an awesome unit. Much stronger than stock, but they require you to have an onboard air supply (compressor). If you already had one for whatever reason, that would be the way to go, but very expensive if you don't.

I would also recommend looking at the Eaton E-locker. It's simlar to the electronic locker in the 2009 F150 FX4. Just install it, and run the 2 wires to a switch in the cab. Lock it when you need it.

Also, Auburn has a unit called the "ECTED." It stands for something, but I forget what. That unit is a clutch type limited slip differential and the electronic locker in one. (limited slip until you flip the switch).

Also, (regardless of what people say about the road manners) The Detroit locker is awesome too. I have one in my 1996 F350. It's very "streetable", and hasn't failed me yet. It lets you go around corners, but NEVER leaves you with just one tire spinning. The newer ones are called "soft lockers". They don't bang and slam like before, even when towing. I speak from experience.

Even with all these suggestions however, If I had it to do over again, TRUETRAC ALL THE WAY! When driving on the road, you don't even know its there. It senses wheel slip before I do, and makes the adjustments before the tires loose traction instead of after. As I said before, both wheels get some power unless there is NO resistance on one of them, and that's pretty rare. Even if one tire is on dry pavement, and one is on ice, you're gonna move. I know a couple guys that have them in the front AND rear on their Fords. again... AWESOME.

Wendig0

Yeah I would go for the Eaton E-locker because it uses electricity to engage and when it is not engaged it acts like an open diff. I was actually going to install one in my truck (2wd) to help me out of sticky situations but I realized if I want a 4x4 I'll just have to buy one. I still drive my truck like it is a 4x4 though.
Surprisingly my truck does well in snow, I actually towed someone out and they were in very deep snow. All you need is good tires and weight in the back. 2wd ftw lol.