FRITZ

Do the 05 automatic GTs have a Limited-slip rear end?

SixtySix

Yes

outdoorstom

Tony - a man of few words.

Fritz - yes, it does.

SixtySix

It's a new thing I'm trying out

6505pony

It makes it easier for the "one fingered" typing type.

schmads

I don't know a thing about the car that I drive, and I'm interested in learning... so who wants to tell me (hopefully in more than one word) what a limited slip differetial does, and if I have it in my manual 05 GT?

Thanks!

05HawkeyeGT

In simplest of terms...it locks the 2 rear wheels together, so they will both spin at the same speed.

Ever watch someone in a V6 try to do a burnout? It's the famous one-wheel-peel...their right tire will be the only one spinning.

In all newer GT's, they have a limited slip differential, meaning if you do a burnout for instance...both tires would be spinning, and at the same speed. It's better for traction.

schmads

Thank you! This forum rocks... nice people and lots of info.

yikesaz

Ain't gonna happen.

clockworks

I don't know anything about drivetrains, why does just the right side spin?

FinlayZJ

The car that made these two equal length tire marks had positraction, can't make those marks without positraction, which is not available on the 1964 Buick Skylark

Q: And why not? What is positraction?

A: It's a limited slip deferential which distributes power equally to both the right and left tires. The '64 Skylark had a regular deferential, which anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing.

Juror: That's right.

6505pony

Somebody has been watching too many Joe Pesci Movies.

clockworks

You misunderstood me. I know what a limited slip differential does, but I'm asking why does the RIGHT wheel spin? Why doesn't the LEFT wheel spin instead?

FinlayZJ

It was joke. A quote from My cousin Vinny.

Some say it's because the driver is sitting on the left side, so that tire has more weight on it. Therefore less friction on the right side so it lets so. Others have claimed it's the way all the gears are cut in the differential, so there's less friction to spin the right side. Some say it's the way the engine spins. I've always thought the driver's weight made the most sense, maybe someone else can help.

jlb

I just wanna know where I can pick up one of those cool suits!

KWMJ-KTP

Somebody can correct me if I am wrong here, I am just compiling a few things I have heard overtime.

Why the right tire spins -- I've been told it is because of "gravity".

More specifically, (again, as it's been told to me), if you are standing infront of the car looking to the back, from that point of view, the crank, driveshaft, drivetrain, etc., would be spinning clockwise. As these clockwise forces are transferred from the driveshaft to the rear differential, it creates a clockwise twist, which causes a downward force on the driver side tire, and an upward force on the passenger side. The lift created on the passenger side means that side has the least traction since it has the least force against the ground, making it the easier of the two to spin.

To understand this a little better, take a piece of wood, and shoot a screw into it with a drill. If you hold the piece of wood from the right side, it tries to spin downward, and if you hold if from the left, you will feel it trying to pull away upward. Same principle here.

clockworks

Interesting...cool.

yikesaz

OR.....

The driveshaft is connected to the rear axle thru a pinion gear which drives a ring gear directly connected to one wheel (called the drive wheel), and loosely connected to the other wheel thru a set of 4 spider gears. The spider gears transmit power while allowing the wheels to move at different speeds, as they must when the car turns a corner. During low traction conditions, or a burnout, the spider gears become overwhelmed, and only one wheel spins.

In it's simplest form, a positraction differential uses spring-loaded clutches between the spider gears to transmit power from the drive wheel to the other wheel, while still allowing them to turn at different speeds for corners.

Hal900x

...and now let's hear the difference between the stock differential and a Detroit Locker.

The Boss Hog

If you actually look at how they are assembled, you will see that an open differential does not have a wheel connected directly to the ring gear. Both axles are connected equally to the ring gear via the four spider gears. You can prove it to yourself by putting the car in gear so the driveshaft won't turn (and therefore the ring gear won't turn) and jacking the car up so both rear tires are off the ground. You can then rotate either wheel by hand and the opposite wheel will turn in the opposite direction. Neither wheel is locked to the ring gear.

The Boss Hog

PS Don't try this with posi!