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It can, especially if the traction control system is helping to reactively balance power between the two rear wheels.
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wh...ut-in-an-open-diff-car-with-torque-vectoring/
The difference is reactive vs. proactive - a real LSD will naturally divide power, where a brake-based system can only react to slippage and slow down a wheel that's already spinning too fast.
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Also, some open diffs are built with light preload. I think this is mostly done to dampen the clunk from gear lash, but it will help to give a little bit of traction aid. In fact, I took apart a JK Dana 44 open diff a couple weeks ago, and it definitely had a belville spring on both side gears, even though it had no clutch pack. So, if the Ranger diff follows the same philosophy, then it would explain what you see. Toyota does this too.
Open differentials, like the Bronco has standard, are generally very basic. Though some may have a light preload, they really would never have a TBR higher than 1.2 or 1.3:1. So, they do not possess any true means of reducing wheel spin. If one tire looses traction, they other will get almost no torque. Or, more specifically, never more than what the slipping tire can handle. Which is sometimes almost none. It remains an equal torque split, even when the slip torque is very little.
Limited slip differentials try to improve this downside by adding some means of resistance, a way to help reduce the tenancy to slip. Very typically, this is by way of a clutch pack and a spring to squeeze it. Depending on how its executed, this can marginal or very effective. There are other ways to do this as well, but all involve introducing friction into the diff carrier. So, doing this will help traction, but if its too aggressive, can be a detriment to handling.
Selectable lockers, OTOH, side step the friction problem by adding a connectable rigid coupling into the mix (ratcheting lockers like Detroit are their own breed and are not selectable). Usually, this is a sliding collar on a spline, or maybe a dog / face clutch that joins one side gear in the diff or an axle shaft to the diff housing / carrier. When you do this, the only way for the gearing in the diff to move is if you overload it so bad that you sheer the locking teeth. So when its engaged, both wheels have no choice but to turn at the same speed, and when that happens, the so slower wheel will limit the axle speed. The downside is when disengaged, they're just an open diff (usually).
In the case of eLockers, the engagement of the lock member is automated. This is either a shift fork, or uses a magnetic coil to push the lock together, or a sector gear or maybe even a hydraulic pump. As far as I can tell, the Dana design uses the magnet option. The magnet draws together and its motion pushes an actuator in the diff, which in turn engages the locking bit.
Open differentials, like the Bronco has standard, are generally very basic. Though some may have a light preload, they really would never have a TBR higher than 1.2 or 1.3:1. So, they do not possess any true means of reducing wheel spin. If one tire looses traction, they other will get almost no torque. Or, more specifically, never more than what the slipping tire can handle. Which is sometimes almost none. It remains an equal torque split, even when the slip torque is very little.
Limited slip differentials try to improve this downside by adding some means of resistance, a way to help reduce the tenancy to slip. Very typically, this is by way of a clutch pack and a spring to squeeze it. Depending on how its executed, this can marginal or very effective. There are other ways to do this as well, but all involve introducing friction into the diff carrier. So, doing this will help traction, but if its too aggressive, can be a detriment to handling.
Selectable lockers, OTOH, side step the friction problem by adding a connectable rigid coupling into the mix (ratcheting lockers like Detroit are their own breed and are not selectable). Usually, this is a sliding collar on a spline, or maybe a dog / face clutch that joins one side gear in the diff or an axle shaft to the diff housing / carrier. When you do this, the only way for the gearing in the diff to move is if you overload it so bad that you sheer the locking teeth. So when its engaged, both wheels have no choice but to turn at the same speed, and when that happens, the so slower wheel will limit the axle speed. The downside is when disengaged, they're just an open diff (usually).
In the case of eLockers, the engagement of the lock member is automated. This is either a shift fork, or uses a magnetic coil to push the lock together, or a sector gear or maybe even a hydraulic pump. As far as I can tell, the Dana design uses the magnet option. The magnet draws together and its motion pushes an actuator in the diff, which in turn engages the locking bit.
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