Can You Tell Me What A Limited Slip Differential Is?

Occasionally one of our customers in the O'Fallon ~ Belleville area will ask a technician at Mission Accomplished Tire & Auto what a limited slip differential is. We tell them that when their vehicle is turning around a curve, the outside wheel turns a larger radius than that of the wheel inside. This results in the outside wheel turning faster which is allowed by the differential. In a limited slip differential system, clutches or a locking mechanism is used to facilitate power and drive both wheels. This system was designed to enable both wheels to turn at varying speeds in turns, but have them both pulling when driving straight. The advantage of this is that both wheels are pulling even when one wheel may lose traction.