Left foot braking & vLSD?

[DarekG]

Hey guys, I'm relatively new to 4x4ing but have a good idea of how vehicles work. I've had a few project cars before but am new to the truck life.

I've seen a few YouTube videos regarding 4x4 techniques and almost all of them have brought up left-foot braking.

 

The idea is while you're in 4x4, you gently press the brake while you give some throttle and since this puts resistance on every wheel the differentials distribute power a little more evenly to the tires regardless of their actual traction. It sounds good in theory but I guess my question for this is...

 

• How effective is this, actually? Would this technique benefit me if I were say, stuck in mud or other low traction situations?
• How hard is this on the drive train of a 4x4 vehicle? Since there are multiple differentials in play I'd imagine this has the potential to damage something.
• Why is the sky blue?

 

Thanks for taking your time to read my post.

[PathyAndTheJets]

It works. It requires a bit of practice, but basically it's trying to even out the resistance so you can spin both tires rather than just one.

 

If anything it saves wear on the diff since the spider gears aren't spinning nearly as fast.

 

Another trick if you're just a one wheel wonder is to threshold throttle. You give it gas until you lose traction on that wheel, then back off till you get it back, then repeat until moving. Works well in the snow.

 

A locking device is going to out perform those methods though.

[kdj]

I've been playing in the mud and snow for over 40 years and have never used the brakes for more traction. Sounds kind of counter productive to me. I use the brakes to stop the drive line while shifting back and forth between drive and reverse to get a rocking motion going. If you can't move back and forth then brakes won't help you out. And I've always thought the sky is blue because I have blue eyes.

[Slartibartfast]

If your rig has an LSD, it's a CLSD. VLSD (viscous) is a road car thing.

My understanding of a CLSD is that you've got clutches packed between the spider gears and the case, and when those spider gears are loaded, they push out against those clutches. So if you have bugger-all traction and one wheel is spinning, there's not much load on the diff, and therefore not much load on the clutches (just the pre-load they're built with). Load the diff with the brakes and the spiders mash the clutches together, basically binding up the differential so it sends a little more torque to the stuck wheel.

 

I wouldn't expect miracles, but I'd try it if I was stuck. You might put a little more heat into the trans and the brakes but unless you go full brakestand I doubt it'll hurt anything. I'd probably use the E-brake rather than the foot brakes, though.

 

As for the sky, something something particles in the atmosphere scattering light

[PathyAndTheJets]

Clutch type limited slip is locked in until breakaway torque is reached. Which is about 120ftlbs on wd21s?

 

So on dry pavement around corners the clutches will slip and allow the wheels to turn at different speeds.

[mo3chang]

Just take everyone's advice no wrong way to do it. Unless your car is upside down.

I tend to use hand brake to hold and catch

 

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[DarekG]

 

 

I'd probably use the E-brake rather than the foot brakes, though.

 

Great point, didn't even consider this.