Ok car guys (and girls...)

I'm curious. I bought my GT used and really don't know everything about it. In looking on the net it says a 2001 GT has a 4.6 V8, adds traction control, and limited slip differential.

First question: What is a limited slip differential? I assume it has something to do with traction.

Second question: How do I know if I have one? Are they standard? The previous owner did some work on my GT. Could he have removed it?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

every car MUST have a differential...a limited slip differential is just much better (performance cars that have a lot of power most likely have them). Lemme see if i can explain it.... When a wheel slips, the LSD allows more torque to be transferred to the non-slipping wheel. Basically....your wheels wont just lock up like an open differential, and you wont slip around the road as much.

i hope that helped a little bit...its a little complicated to explain.

 

Ok well this makes me wonder... In snow I find that one wheel always spins the other does not. I've learned to use my hand brake to fix that problem. But the name implies that it should do it automatically. Does this mean I don't have a limited slip? The web implies all GTs should have it. My concern is what if my previous owner replaced it with something different.

 

easiest way to tell is find a dry level surface and do a burnout. if you left two marks, you've got trac-lok and it is working. I don't know about snow and traction on wet roads, cause they don't have that where I live, but you might be due for a rebuild if the previous owner beat the hell out of the car.

 

btw, you should post in the 4.6 section, it gets way more traffic.

 

Another easy way to check (and cheaper) is to jack up one rear tire and try to spin it. Ford has a spec about how much torque is needed to turn the wheel (somewhere around 15 lb-ft when a wrench is on a lug nut). But, if you feel heavy resistance, you have an LSD. If it spins freely, yours is burned up. You could also jack the entire rear end up and spin a tire. If the tire on the opposite end of the axle turns the same way, you have an LSD, if not, it's just an open diff.

Not too many people would purposely remove an LSD, but they do get trashed when abused.

Basically, Ford's LSD is a clutch pack that ties the left and right wheels together. The clutches allow the wheels to turn at different speeds to go around a corner, but have enough friction to tie them together when going straight. They are known to burn up as they aren't as durable as other methods of limiting the slip between the tires.

 

lim slip is stock with mustangs???

where have i been?

 

Not driving hard enough, obviously... The LSD is stock on the GT's.

 

jack up the rear, block the front tires, put the car in neutral, and turn a wheel, if the other wheel turns in the same direction, its working, if it turns in the opposite direction, you need a new t-lok

 

Ok well I don't have a jack... I guess I can ask the guys at the lube place to check it.

I did try the burn out thing and I leave two marks but the right wheel burns first then like 5 feet later the left one burns and it chatters like it was hopping up and down. I guess it sort of works... Still not sure.