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locked, lockers, limited slip, traction control....
What's it all mean? Well my friends, differetials
can be quite complicated sometimes and down right
confusing. The important thing, is knowing what
you have and how you can use it to your best advantage
off road. There are four tires on your vehicle,
and knowing what each is doing can make a big
effect on the line you choose.
First, let's get something straight. Four wheel
drive doesn't always mean all four wheels are
getting power. There are three differentials in
your car. Front, rear, and center (more commonly
known as the transfer case). When you take a turn
each wheel is turning a different radius, therefore,
for predictable handling (on the road), each wheel
needs to turn independently of one another. If
we go any further things can get more complicated,
so just leave it at that.
Now, let's talk about what an open diff does.
An open diff will give power to the wheel that
loses traction first. If you have all open diffs
(ft, ctr, & rear) when you lift one wheel
off the ground and try to drive off, that one
wheel will get all of the engine torque and the
car will go nowhere. Kinda throws that 4-wheel
drive thing out the window doesn't it.
There are alternatives to open diffs. Limited
slip, viscous coupler, lockers, and solid axle.
There's more, but we'll stick to these.There are
pro's and con's to each, so it would be wise to
find out what they are.
A solid axle is just that, solid. It's not a
good thing to use on the road. You'll either break
axles or prematurely wear your tires. The car
just will not like to turn.
Limited slip uses a clutch type mechanism to
give some power to the wheel in the air. They
are rated in percentages. 25%, 50%, 75% etc. A
viscous coupler works similar to the propeller
of a boat. At slow speeds it is easy to hold back,
but when the engine hits higher rpm's it has lots
of power.
And, the most diverse is the locker. Lockers
are open diffs that turn into solid axles or vice
versa. Some are automatic, some are electronically
activated, vacuum activated, air activated, mechanically
activated, etc, etc, etc.
One type of option that is new is traction control.
Traction control is a software program used in
the ABS controls to apply the brakes to just the
one or two wheels that have lost traction to sort
of fool the open diff into applying power to the
wheel that needs the power (the one on the ground).
There are pro's and con's to each, so it would
be wise to find out.
Let's apply this to the real world.
1. Three open diffs. With one wheel off the ground
you go nowhere.
2. Open front, locked center, open rear. Lift
any one wheel in the front and any one wheel in
the rear at the same time and you go nowhere.
As long as you have two wheels from the same axle
on the ground you have drive.
3. Open front, open ctr, locked rear. Lift both
wheels in the rear, you go nowhere.
The combinations can go on and on, but you get
the idea.....
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