Locker vs factory LSD vs stock 4x4

A week ago, my daughter put her car into the ditch. She called me to come pull her out. I thought that she was probably hung up and would need a little tug to get off whatever had her stuck.

When I got there I found her car sitting at about a 45 degree angle with one back tire off the ground. I figured that my pickup would be of little use but I hooked up the chain anyway and gave it a try. I was right. It took a 4x4 to drag the car back up on the road.

I currently have the factory LSD. Both back wheels were spinning but one was spinning about twice as fast as the other.

I've been considering a locking differential and this experience makes me wonder if I could have pulled the car out if I had one.

I've heard it said that a full locker in a 2wd will perform comparable to a stock 4x4. Is this true or is it just marketing hype?

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I doubt that a locker wouldv'e have helped much without more agressive tires. A snatch strap, maybe. But not a locker.

Okiespaniel said:

I doubt that a locker wouldv'e have helped much without more agressive tires. A snatch strap, maybe. But not a locker.

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You're probably right. My problem wasn't a shortage of horsepower, it was getting it to the ground.


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1st off, if both tires were spinning, it doesn't matter if they were spinning at different rates you were already maxed out in the pulling dept.

Also, I am assuming you were on a flat surface where the weight was evenly distributed between the two back wheels, and they were both on the same surface (not one on grass, and one on pavement).

In this type of situation all rear axles would pull the same. You get the maximum pulling force just before your tires break loose so regardless of whether one tire is spinning or both you have already passed the point of maximum pulling force.

Now in contrast if one of your rear tires had been on ice, and one on dry pavement (I know an extreme example, but it makes the point) the locked rear diff would perform best, the LSD, second, and the open worst.

This is because the locker literally locks the two rear axle shafts together, forcing them to turn at identical rates regardless of the load to friction ratio at the different tires. The LSD would do second best because it evenly applies force to both tires (like the locker) until the difference in twisting forces overcomes the clutch pack locking the two axles together. So your wheel on the ice would try to spin right away, but the clutch pack would keep it from doing that. Once you put your foot into it enough though the wheel on pavement wouldn't spin (unless you started rolling forward) and the icy tire would slip. Lastly the open diff would evenly distribute the force up to the point that one of the tires starts to slip (without any clutch packs or mechanical locks). Since one tire is on ice it would slip really easily and the open diff would put almost no power to the ground since the friction on ice is minimal.

It sounds like in your situation it would have made no difference.

Were you pulling from front hooks in reverse, or from the receiver hitch on the back?

I solved this problem with putting a winch on helps out a TON pulled numerous trucks, cars and even a dump truck that was stuck

directconnection189 said:

I solved this problem with putting a winch on helps out a TON pulled numerous trucks, cars and even a dump truck that was stuck

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True that that would do it since you get the traction from a 4 tires, but kind of pointless IMO, I mean how often would you use a winch on a RWD truck (other than this time lol)? I have a winch too, but I go off-road, and I am a 4x4.

Check out a super yanker kinectic snatch rope

Wow, those are awesome, I wonder how long before they lose their elasticity though.

Also, not quite sure about whether or not I like the fact they seem to encourage people to mash the throttle to pull you out (according to youtube of course). I still like slow, and gentle :********:

yea probably a no on the winch if you dont use it more than once a couple other people i 4 wheel with use Hi-lift jacks and they work good and only cost $50 for a 54 incher

To answer your questions, JLB. I was pulling from the receiver hitch with both tires on gravel. Not an ideal situation.

I should have had my daughter send me a picture of the car as it was sitting. Had I seen it, I would have brought my 4x4 right off the bat. Oh well, live and learn. Whenever your teen tells you something, it's probably worse than described.



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Wait till you loan her your truck to "help a friend move". Then wake up the next morning to a note on the kitchen table starting off with "No one was hurt BUT"..... Ya.
But back to your question, nothing beats 4x4. As said above you were already maxed out with both tires spinning be it a LSD or locker, you had no traction. Lockers are good for raceing and off roading daily drivers not so much.