It's been said that the subaru LSD diffs are OK for wheeling, but when you lift a wheel you're still just as screwed as if you had an open diff.

I've found out this isn't entirely true, and used it twice to get the car moving again. Both times I had one front wheel and one rear wheel off the ground, not traction what so ever. If you just let the clutch out, the two wheels free spin. Knowing that the LSD uses the torque load on the carrier to lock up the clutches, I've found that bringing the RPM's up to about 2.5k and dumping the clutch will cause the rear diff to lock temporarily. This is caused by the inertia of the free wheel forcing the diff to lock up. You get about 2 feet of movement each time.

 

So that's how you use a LSD when a wheel's off the ground.

 

I'm not responsible for any driveshafts, or transmission rear drive gears that you grenade doing this. Anyone with a lick of sense will know that doing a clutch dump is highly abusive to your drivetrain. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, it will work.

i thought EA82 LSD's were clutch type and gave some minimal traction in situations like this? i thought the later Legacy's had VLSD's, which are not nearly as good for off road? i've definitely had two wheels way off the ground before too...but i can't recall if i just drifted out or what.

I think of the clutch-type LSDs as like having a couple guys pushing on the back of the car when you've got 2 wheels off the ground. yea, if you're in a really hairy situation, it won't be enough, but if you're close, it can mean all the difference.

I'm not responsible for any driveshafts, or transmission rear drive gears that you grenade doing this. Anyone with a lick of sense will know that doing a clutch dump is highly abusive to your drivetrain. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, it will work.

:grin: I can see that happening and don't recommend unless one doesn't mind the above consequences. Hence I'm going to go Lincoln for my rear and still haven't figured out the front yet as unsure whether I'm going 5spdD/r or OG 4spd D/r in me Brat, my Wagon will DEFINITELY be getting a5spd with some sort of front LSD if I can find it AND a Lincoln rear:headbang: :headbang:

the little white hatch caught on a pile of gravel on a trail, one wheel off the ground. It had a VLSD.

what kind of VLSD was in a hatch - is that a retrofitted legacy EJ rear diff? wouldn't the clutch type do better?

that's what i was thinking. i meant to ask if it was a 3.9, since none of the EJ's are 3.7 and the EA 3.9's are nearly extinct.

LY be getting a5spd with some sort of front LSD if I can find it AND a Lincoln rear

 

My ultimate goal setup:

 

3.9 or lower gearing 4EAT, with switchable FWD/AWD/Locked 4WD(already inplace,,4.44 in the future )

 

Welded rear

 

Dual handle front e-brake FTW!!!

sometimes lightly applying the brake will help, because the EA82 cars (dunno about EA81) hav the brakes cross-plumbed. You don't bleed them in standard furthest-from-the-MC order. If you have wheels on 2 opposite corners off the ground, braking enough to halt them without halting the 2 grounded wheels should help lock things up.

I traveled to Oregon and paid top dollar. It turned out to be VLSD, but had the right gear ratio, 3.9. I don't think too many people had the notion to put an LSD into a hatch before I did.

 

Mine's a clutch type, so it probably behaves quite a bit differently than the VLSD. I wouldn't think the shock loading trick would work with a VLSD, as they depend on slippage to heat up and lock.