Limited Slip Diff

yes it is as simple as that. lift one wheel of the ground really well supported and only an inch or so. Put the car in 1st, drive, if the wheel spins in the air its open, if the car jumps off the stand or even tries too, its LSD. Also worn out LSD's act like open diffs.

Just jack the back wheels off the ground and turn one wheel, if the other wheel turns on the same direction you have a LSD if it turns in the other direction you havent

You could help us by telling what you drive too, as some are more likely than others to have a working LSD. Patrol a lot more likely than LC with +20k kms on the clock for one. Patrol will scuff rear tyres turning on gravel for instance too with the working LSD.

Hi Imstat,
another very simple way to test if you've got a LSD & how well it's working is to find a nice piece of smooth dirt road & in H 1st gear drop a wheely for a couple of metres more or less. Then stop your truck & examine the the short trail you've left behind. If diff slippage is occurring you'll find more traction on one side than the other.
If your driving a LC don't worry about locking the centre lock diff your not testing that.
Also the age of you LSD is relevant, under 5 yrs & not driven like a maniac, you should fine, over 5 yrs with hard driving & it's time for a serious look see & an over haul.
It's also a good idea to give the diff a fresh new diff oil dose every 70,000k's.

The added advantage of this testing procedure is that you can explain to the SWMBO that doing wheelies (that is as you explain to her ladyship the spinning of both rear tyres) is a necessity so as to give you productive information as to the condition of the capabilities of the vehicles limited slip differential (be as long winded as necessary with the description).
Or if you wish to 'keep it simple' say that wheelies are preventative medicine for the vehicle!

Anyway good luck with the examination.

madCrow

To work it out the official way ,look at the aluminum tag on the firewall in front of the driver.
It will have the engine ,3B gearbox H55f and if its says KO85 where the diff/axle is written then it was delivered with LSD.
Most australian landcruisers are LSD unless they have the factory lockers.

Japanese and north amercian landcruisers are nearly all open diffed (KO82) unless they have lockers.

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Not as simple as that!
Depends on the vehicle.

Drive a brand new Prado out of the showroom, jack up a rear wheel, and it will almost always turn freely despite the LSD. The diff actually has to be "loaded" before it kicks in. Correct procedure is complicated - involves an axle stand under one side of the rear axle, applying some brake, and seeing if it will attempt to drive off the axle stand.

Cheers
phil