ls question

[stockfornow]

I have a 89 xlt 4x4 with a 7.5 ls rear which is my first truck with ls. my question is, does a ls occasinly act like a open diff or is my clutch pack shot. By acting like an open diff i mean one wheel pel in snow not always just occasinly.

 

[Sunk]

The clutch packs can give out under enough load, such as high traction situations, and let one wheel spin. If it's doing it in the snow though, sounds like it might be worn out.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a limited slip is just that. a LIMITED slip. you can still spin one tire with a limited slip if you have enough traction to overload the clutch pack preload...but like sunk said, if its doing it in snow the clutches are probably worn.

jack one tirre up with the trans in nuetral and see if you can spin the tire by hand.

 

[stockfornow]

thanks for the help. who hard is it to redbuild the clutch pack and what tools would i need

 

[Gotta_gofast]

Were both rear tires in the snow? I could see a limited slip fail if one had pavement and the other was on snow/ice. But on an '89, chances are you will benefit from a rebuild with new clutches and such.

 

[MAKG]

If the gears are less than 3.73, it's an easy rebuild. Though breaking the cross-pin bolt is unfortunately fairly likely. Help! sells cheap replacements, but the fun part is getting the broken part out. There is a kit online for this for around $20, and it works great.

If the gears are 3.73 or higher, the side gears won't clear the ring gear, so you have to remove the carrier and press off the ring gear.

FYI, to test, put the truck in gear or in park, jack up both sides, and stick a torque wrench set to 25 ft-lbs on a lugnut. If you can click the torque wrench without turning the wheel, it's good.