possum

I was picking up lube to change all fluids so the dealer printed the build sheet for my truck to see what Rear end I had.
He was surprised and I am too because apparantly I am left wheel drive only, no limited slip. This seems goofy to me.
Can this be transformed into limited slip?
Its 4wd so is my front diff the same? I dont get it.
Thanks

fschiola

I don't understand, was it supposed to be limited slip? That was an option, neither of my trucks have limited slip rears.

possum

I bought the truck used and never asked what style the Rear end was but I figured they were all limited slip. Maybe it's normal, Are yours Posi? cuz mines not that either. just a lefty

fschiola

Neither one has limited slip. I'm not really sure how common they are, I'm thinking not very.

N_Tillett

Gee - that is odd - most dealers just automatically order them out with positrac - it sounds like your dealer forgot to check that little box on yours. It adds a little more profit to them on the sale. I just got mine two weeks ago - and was disappointed to see that it is positrac. Biggest problems I see with positrac are the grease needs changing more often to keep it crom chattering in the turns, and in winter, on ice or snow, if one rear wheel spins, they both do, so the rear end slides sideways, especially if you are in a curve or on a road with a lot of crown to it. Without posi, it is less likely to do this. Without posi I haven't been stuck, but I have found that with positrac, it is a lot easier to spin doughnuts in the Kroger parking lot in the middle of winter!! Factory positrac is a pretty lame excuse for a locker to run offroad in mud or rocks - the factory positrac is nothing more than a set of spring loaded clutch disks that press on the outer spider gears in the differential to provide a slight (I believe torque spec is something like 25 to 35 Lb-Ft.) resistance to the wheels turning independently. Front diff's are never positrac on street vehicles, only some rock crawlers and mudders that are generally never driven on the street, because of steering feedback it would cause. I just looked at the Dodge.com site - the anti-spin axle is "available" on all models of Ram, and standard on none, except the Power Wagon, which has the electrically locked differentials on it. Just $ .02 worth.

possum

They must be fairly common rear end designs since all replies have been from single wheel drive people. I had a '69 gasser with posi and had to be careful in ice and on wet turns for spinout , do you think this setup with a lefty drive is more practical? I deal with mud more than ice and look forward to both! you can have summer! Thanks for the help

yfz450guy

mine is a locking diff and you would be better overall with a locking diff for the mud/ice chain that bad boy up and let her rip. my last truck was a 1 wheeler peeler and it was so gay. i drive in the sand and need it for that cuz i am dragging my trailer out in the sand alot.jm02

Berak

No Dodge product has ever used a "Positrack" as that's a Chevrolet brand of limited slip.

The "TracRite" limited slip diffs used by American Axle in our heavy duty trucks uses no springs or clutches.

And apparently they were developed and implented at increased cost and complexity for less traction.

J&L

both my Dodge truck dealers are smaller town types here in ranch/farm country. Neither will order trucks without the anti-spin option. They won't sell here. Tulsa,big city dealers, sell them without the option as city folks don't know how to drive a locking type axle. ..........JIM

bkrukow

Around here (farm country) You cant even get one with an open diff. Between all the snow in the winter and all the farmers expecting it to be on every 4x4, all the dealers just automaticly include it when ordering trucks. I have owned a few trucks in the past with open diffs and I will never do that again. In the snow and off road the limited slip is pricless.

Boatnik

In my humble opinion, limited slip front and rears are nice but you don't need them. A practiced foot or hand on the brake combined with a light throttle will get you out of most trouble. I have had both and there is good and bad about each. The W350 that I own has open axles. I haven,t run through sand yet but the slippery boat ramps and mud so far haven't been any concern. The only problems I have is to heavy of a right foot. ( love to show off). Limited slips and locking rear ends can throw you side ways if you try to put to much power on a wet road. Especially when towing. But they work great at the beach. There are some options out there if you want to spend the money. Air locks offer the best of both worlds at the highest cost.

fschiola

A lot to reply to.

N_Tillett, I've lived in this area and limited slip axles are really not that common. As earlier posted only the rears from the factory are equipped that way. If you get in a bind that's what the front axle is for.
BTW, welcome to the site, i'm sure you will find a lot of helpful info here.


Berak, up until your year of truck Dodge used Dana axles. Different name for the same thing.


I have to agree with Boatnik. If you are used to what your truck will do, and can control what it is doing you can usally get out of any situation. The biggest problem is getting into a situation that the equipment that you have isn't what is needed. In other words maybe another piece of equipment is needed other that your truck to do the job that you have. I know that some times you have to do what you need to, but half of the battle is in recognising what is needed and you can't make do with what you've got.

As always "your mileage may vary".

Berak

Ummm, yeah. You might want to check the name of the forum your posting in? And Dana never called their limited slips "PosiTrac", I think that was Eaton. PosiTracs did use clutches and disks, TracRites do NOT and although are limited slip, I wouldn't call them the same thing.

1sttruck

"both my Dodge truck dealers are smaller town types here in ranch/farm country. Neither will order trucks without the anti-spin option. They won't sell here. Tulsa,big city dealers, sell them without the option as city folks don't know how to drive a locking type axle."

I got mine in a smaller town in OR and it has an open diff, which I prefer. A limited slip or any other 'automatic' traction device like an unselectable locker works fine in snow, mud or sand, but they can be dangerous on ice or even in the rain on a the road as the rear end can break loose. At low speed it's usually no big deal, but driving at regular speeds and hitting something like a bridge that's iced over (which from what I recall when I lived there was one the most common accidents in OK in the winter) or an ice covered ramp, when one wheel starts to slip the limited slip biases torque in an attempt to provide traction to the other wheel, causing it to break loose as it was on the edge of breaking loose too. Now the rear end kicks around and no telling where you're going. In winter accidents in Alaska the most common situation for pickups is bass ackwards on the side of the road, no doubt due to the 'essential' limited slip rear ends.

I'm looking at getting a selectable locker, although a limited slip that I had to engage with the brake would be ok too. But please, no more 'automatic' junk.

1sttruck

Forgot to add that another case where limited slips work fine is when towing, as the trailer tends to keep the rear end from kicking out.