I've been shopping around for a LS for my 8.8 and don't want to spend a fortune on a TruTrac, so I've decided on a Ford LS with carbon fiber clutches. Are there any pro's or con's comparing the carbon fiber clutches to regualer clutches?

This isn't going to be used off road at all, just street use and for when ice forms on the roads.

 

An LS helps a lot on snow. It does very little on ice because both wheels will spin.

HYPO

 

Only portions of the road were iced over. Even though one side was on dry pavement, the other was on ice and I couldn't go anywhere from a dead stop. A LS would have helped so much last week.

 

So, any opinions on carbon fiber clutch plates compared to OEM clutch's?

 

A L/S would have done the same thing... On a L/S, the tire with less traction will spin while the other just sits there. When both have about the same amount of traction, both will spin.

Fulltime lockers (lunchbox) are cheap for the 8.8...

 

Say what??? If that happens, the L/S is burned out.

 

Exactly.

Is there any pro's or con's with carbon fiber clutches?

 

Say what??? If that happens, the L/S is burned out.[/QUOTE]



Umm. No, a L/S is just that, LIMITED slip. Pull one tire onto ice, in a muddy rut, up off the ground, ect. ect. torque will only be applied to the tire with less traction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8nAb...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGlac...eature=related

If a L/S truely worked that well, there'd be no point in lockers.

 

Uh, no. That's the characteristics of an open diff. A LS will get you going where an open will just sit there when one wheel has no traction. The wheel with traction will get SOME torque - enough to get you going if you don't be stupid and bury the go pedal. All that will do is smoke the clutches.

 

You know what, never mind...

 

why the hell would you buy a 4x4 with open differential.

4.6..i to want for both my back wheels to get power, so i am no help to your question...i dont have the money to spend a grand or so on gears and labor and all that..but i dont really want to get a junk yard LS either

 

I might have found a good dealer that sells OEM LSD's for real cheap, Tousley Ford. The Mustang guys supposedly say they can get them for like $170ish. Hopefully it's not BS.

 

If one tire does not have ANY traction such as on ice, not enough power can be applied to cause the clutches to lock up.

Go to the Richmond Gear web site and look at their demo videos for the powertrax that demonstrate this.

 

X2.

L/S diffs LIMIT slip, not eliminate it. The Powertrax vids on Richmond Gear's website clearly show the short comings of L/S and how they work.

 

not sure why, but no one answered the OP's question. The carbon fiber clutch disks were used for a few years and I've replaced quite a few of them. They tend to chatter and don't seem to work as smooth as the regular clutch disks. What was tried was 75W90 and carbon fiber disks, then they went back to regular disks and 75W140. There's a different friction modifier for each of those fluids as well.
I personally prefer the Powertrax locker, once broken in it works very nicely!