Tips on driving safely with an lsd.

[Tiapan]

Take it to your nearest school oval, use a 5/8" socket and take out one of the pine horizontal bar bolts (making like a gate)
have some fun until you are able to slide sideways for at least 30 meters and then pull the car straight using the throttle and countersteering, if you can do this without ending up in a spin or sliding backwards then you should now be right on the street. the more you practice controling understeer the better you will be

TIP: you can sit the horizontal pine bar on its bolt so noone can tell how you got in and therefore you can avoid brick ambushes, also leave a plastic bag on the one which comes loose so you know where you can get out!

I would NEVER do this a friend of a friend of mine told me cough cough

[foxtrot]

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...d=1#post943819

LSD killed my car :(

[GreenMachine]

Originally Posted by foxtrot

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...d=1#post943819

LSD killed my car :(

Incorrect. Driver error killed your car. Millions of other people drive cars in the wet, with bad tyres every day. Occasionally, a mistake is made and a car is crashed. Driver error, terrible luck, shame the car is gone, but still... Responsibility is ultimately held by the person at the wheel.

[Kenaz]

Originally Posted by Casper

A SS can be just as dangerous if not more so as the traction may cause one wheel to spin, then the other, then both, then none.

Yep. I've been passenger in a car when something similar has happened. Scary stuff!

[foxtrot]

Originally Posted by GreenMachine

Incorrect. Driver error killed your car. Millions of other people drive cars in the wet, with bad tyres every day. Occasionally, a mistake is made and a car is crashed. Driver error, terrible luck, shame the car is gone, but still... Responsibility is ultimately held by the person at the wheel.

That's what i meant *cough*

[BlueRaven]

I'm three pages down and no-one else thought..

"Avoid the giant mushrooms and pay no attention to little men on your dashboard that tap dance"

[EFFalcon]

do an advanced driving course.

[seano14]

my old FD LTD with LSD steps out on roundabouts extremely easily in the wet and it only had 111kw @ the flywheel when new.

Though it did have old 205 tyres on it which were no doubt pretty hard rubber. I would simply recommend if you get an lsd or buy a car with an lsd don't suddenly push it into corners hard.. start slowly and then increase the speed bit by bit, you may be shocked in wet conditions just how easily things can come unstuck. And if your tyres are a few years old (even if they still have heaps of tread) consider buying new rubber, as it gets older the rubber dries and gets harder = less grip

[sfr rob]

David Tench blows....

I am considering putting an LSD into my v8 BA Fairmont, but i am a little worried about playing up too much with it.
At the moment my car is VERY unpredictable with what it is doing with a single spiner, and alot more power than stock.
In the wet it is tractrion control ON after a few sideways incidents not driving like a hoon, the car will take the corner then just break traction without warning and your all crossed up, in the dry its a different story.
The car will mainly drop a single skid when you stomp on the go pedal, but it HAS spun both wheels a few times around corners...of course.. on private property.

I noticed when you get the car into a doughnut the thing will spin BOTH wheels no worries, as you come out of the doughnut and heading straight if you plant it.. the car WILL step out sideways and leave 2 black lines.. Am i right in my theory that there is a centrifugal clutch that engages BOTH wheels to spin once there is enough rotation happening? i dont know much about Diff's as you can tell.


So I am still a bit confused, should i get an LSD for added traction with the added power, or just stick with SS?


FORGOT TO ADD..

this is with 20's and Kumho tyres.

[xbgs351]

Originally Posted by Casper

LSD or SS, both will react near on identical with an oil spill unless you choose to keep your foot into it.. in which case the whole "in control" theory goes out the window in both cases.
The LSD does not "instantly" lock both wheels into spinning. Lets take a couple examples:

oil spill hit by both rear wheels together..
LSD.. your spinning
SS.. your spinning
Consider it total loss of control of the rear.

oil spill hit by only rear wheel ..
LSD.. your spinning one wheel for a brief time. As the LSD Clutches lock up the spinning wheel will stop spinning (although still have basically no traction due to the oil film on it). It stops spinning because the unaffected wheel is not spinning (and wont as there is not enough drive to force it to spin) and the "nontractioned" wheel will "lock" to the non spinning wheel..and stop spinning
SS.. your spinning one wheel for a brief time.. then you either get off the throttle and it stops.. or it continues till the oil film is gone. Either way the unaffected wheel continues to drive the car (at a lesser rate) and you maintain forward movement.


Effectively.. exact same result.

LSD is not an "evil that must be learned" in normal driving conditions. Only when pushed (or taking off with one side in dirt and one side on tar) will the LSD show even the hint of difference. If it is kicking out under acceleration you are either driving out of the conditions acceptable to steady and controllable take off.. or you have a problem that would probably show itself under SS conditions as well.

When you said "your spinning" did you mean the car is spinning or the rears are spinning? There is a big difference.

The reason I raised oil on the road, is because it is a classic example of where someone may be driving in a sedate manor in normal driving conditions when suddenly there is a large drop in grip and they are effectively pushing the car to it's limits.

For instance someone may be driving along in damp conditions in a v8 LSD car below the posted speed limit when they drive across a patch of oil. Suddenly the rear wheels are spinning and the tail of the car is inching it's way out. What should they do? Do you recommend that they take their foot off the throttle like in your SS example?

There are plenty of other behavioural differences between a LSD and SS that are readily apparent even when the driver isn't pushing the car.

[Dmax]

It's all in how you drive. I've got a spooled diff my XB coupe with well over 600 hp at the fly wheel. I find I have no dramas driving normally. It's when I give it a boot full, the back end comes around, and just keeps coming untill I back up. There's no bringing it back once it gets going.

[rxsumo]

Have you checked the rear wheel alignment?
If you have a fixed axle....it could be a bent axle thats causing you grief, on IRS its should be able to be adjusted.
If the rear wheel alignment is out, it could give you some unexpected results now your LSD is actually working.


Our original MX5 used to be "fun" (read massive oversteer at relative low speeds) at roundabouts, just after a mate setup the wheel alignment.
What we discovered, was that he must have had a little brain fade on the day of doing our car, as he set it up with quite a bit of toe-in on the rare (a setup he usually does for Gravel cars so they will kick out when cornering).

The LSD in our XH XR8, creates no dramas even when playing silly buggers.
In wet when it breaks traction, it continues driving straight.....and the same with a wheel spinning off the line starts.

[northey]

the lsd in a 302 xd I had was a bit unpredictable but I think due to wear more than design. In the wet it was mostly the same. The rear started to go left. The roads carry a fair bit of camber for drainage even though they look level. That alone will cause the rear to drift left while spinning.

The tightened clutch pack idea is only a temporary fix and in my experience they wear fairly quickly but only until the clutch pack makes enough clearance for itself. The times I've had them done they only lasted a few weeks before it was back to normal lsd.

I still prefer having the lsd than not. Take it easy. It's not a race track.

If your car is wanting to hang it's tail while you're just driving (no wheelspin) the clutch pack sounds too tight. It's needs someone to look at it. Soon.