Can someone explain limited slip to me and if u have to be going a certain speed for it to engage

 

Basically, if one wheel slips, the other will start to spin.

So, if your right tire starts slipping, the left will start turning.

 

Ha, somehow I wound up on the 1000th or so page of posts and resurrected a thread from the dead.

 

Well... at least his question finally got answered...

 

I have another Diff question. Should there be ANY shudder from the rear end when accelerating from a stop while turning, or when powering up hills and turning? Mine is still shuddering after a complete rebuild and fresh fluid/modifier from a dealership. Need to know whether or not to take it back to them and make them fix it.

 

Let me give you a better understanding of a differential and what the purpose of limited slip is. When turning, your outside wheel is going to turn faster than your inside wheel. That is the purpose of a differential. It allows for differentiating in wheel speeds. A limited slip has spring-loaded clutch packs that apply pressure to both axles. This prevents one wheel from grabbing a strong surface and staying stationary, whilst the other wheel unloads on an unstable surface. When accelerating from a dead stop, into a turn, the wheels are still going to want to turn at different speeds. That shuddering noise you here is the clutches slipping to allow the differential to do its job. Slight shuddering is acceptable, but if it's too terrible or extremely noticeable, it's possible that the clutches were not shimmed correctly. I hope this helps, buddy.

 

Nope it's slight. I understand how diffs work, I've just never owned a car with a diff that shuddered, especially one that shuddered that had an open diff. Never had a problem with open diff and VLSD diff shuddering, so it's just new to me for it to do that. Thanks for letting know it's normal. Much appreciated.

 

Not a problem, Cutless009. Glad I could give you some insight.

 

Hi guys,
Just joined the forum today, and thought this post fit my issue, so thought I'd add to it.
I just got my 2010 FX2 a few weeks ago and have the shudder when taking off on a turn. Really bad with a trailer hooked on.
Brought it back to the dealer I bought it from and they said it just had new clutches installed in the differential before I bought it, and that they need to be broken in. I've put a couple thousand km on it now, and still have it.
Sound normal? I've had several F150's before, and never had one do this.
Thanks.

 

...another thing that can cause shuddering is dragging brakes. If a caliper [disc] or parking brake is stuck/dragging, it will cause a shudder.