5 ms·

I watched those two other videos, the second one twice, but I still don't really understand them. The 1937 video clicked perfectly on the first viewing.

mattmaroon 6y ago
The first video explains differential locks. Basically with an open differential all power would be routed to a wheel that’s getting no traction (for instance if it’s on ice). A differential lock closes it, so it’s as if there were no differential, so both wheels on the axle will turn at the same speed. This is bad if you’re on a normal road (obviously, since that’s why differential were invented) but great in low traction environments like mud or ice. Most off road vehicles have locking differentials.
- thr0w__4w4y 6y ago
  Yep, until I'd done off-roading, I never understood why my uncle told me (when driving his vehicle, which had the ability to lock the diff) - "Never ever use this on pavement / normal driving". I obeyed him, but I always thought he was full of it, until I had the money & time & inclination to work on cars, and I learned what was really going on. "Aaaahhhh... so that's why he told me that..." Thanks Uncle Bill!
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  Yeah I believe this is how modern cars with traction control work, they brake the slioping wheel so the one with contact can get the traction. At least this is how it was explained to me by my mechanic friend
  - technothrasher 6y ago
    Applying the brake on the slipping wheel is one half of traction control. Reducing the power going to the wheel is the other half. I accidentally demonstrated this to myself many years ago when my car suddenly was almost completely ignoring my throttle input for a reason I couldn't explain. It turned out I still had the parking brake on and when I went over a patch of ice and the car lost traction, adding more brake wouldn't do much, so it simply ignored my throttle. Because I wasn't moving more than about 5 miles per hour to begin with, it felt like the car just refused to move, like a stubborn mule.
    - GekkePrutser 6y ago
      Thanks for the explanation, I didn't know that! It is amazingly effective indeed. One time I was driving through ice and snow, and at the traffic light I turned of the ESP by mistake (was trying to plug in my phone charger in the lighter socket beside the button). When I took off I nearly crashed myself off the road, I never realised how slippery it was, and how much the car was covering for my ignorance.
leowoo91 6y ago
I've tried thinking hard on the second video. I guess most confusion comes from as it doesn't explain why traction situation (where wheel speeds up relatively) is different than the actual turn (where wheel slows down relatively). Here, as speeding up wheel gear can not spin the worm gear, power is captured "back" to the other wheel through the outer locking cage. However, first comment at youtube and an another article (https://www.kmpdrivetrain.com/differentials/torsen-vs-plated-limited-slip-differential/ https://www.kmpdrivetrain.com/differentials/torsen-vs-plated...) states that it wouldn't work with 0 traction and can get only the amount of slipping traction torque to the other wheel.
gumby 6y ago
A simple way to think of it is that “locking the differential” could be thought of as disabling it, turning it back into a conventional axle. So this is useful when you’d prefer a conventional axle: when one one side has a grip and the other side none.

mattmaroon 6y ago

The first video explains differential locks. Basically with an open differential all power would be routed to a wheel that’s getting no traction (for instance if it’s on ice). A differential lock closes it, so it’s as if there were no differential, so both wheels on the axle will turn at the same speed. This is bad if you’re on a normal road (obviously, since that’s why differential were invented) but great in low traction environments like mud or ice. Most off road vehicles have locking differentials.

thr0w__4w4y 6y ago
Yep, until I'd done off-roading, I never understood why my uncle told me (when driving his vehicle, which had the ability to lock the diff) - "Never ever use this on pavement / normal driving". I obeyed him, but I always thought he was full of it, until I had the money & time & inclination to work on cars, and I learned what was really going on. "Aaaahhhh... so that's why he told me that..." Thanks Uncle Bill!
GekkePrutser 6y ago
Yeah I believe this is how modern cars with traction control work, they brake the slioping wheel so the one with contact can get the traction. At least this is how it was explained to me by my mechanic friend
- technothrasher 6y ago
  Applying the brake on the slipping wheel is one half of traction control. Reducing the power going to the wheel is the other half. I accidentally demonstrated this to myself many years ago when my car suddenly was almost completely ignoring my throttle input for a reason I couldn't explain. It turned out I still had the parking brake on and when I went over a patch of ice and the car lost traction, adding more brake wouldn't do much, so it simply ignored my throttle. Because I wasn't moving more than about 5 miles per hour to begin with, it felt like the car just refused to move, like a stubborn mule.
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    Thanks for the explanation, I didn't know that! It is amazingly effective indeed. One time I was driving through ice and snow, and at the traffic light I turned of the ESP by mistake (was trying to plug in my phone charger in the lighter socket beside the button). When I took off I nearly crashed myself off the road, I never realised how slippery it was, and how much the car was covering for my ignorance.

leowoo91 6y ago

I've tried thinking hard on the second video. I guess most confusion comes from as it doesn't explain why traction situation (where wheel speeds up relatively) is different than the actual turn (where wheel slows down relatively). Here, as speeding up wheel gear can not spin the worm gear, power is captured "back" to the other wheel through the outer locking cage. However, first comment at youtube and an another article (https://www.kmpdrivetrain.com/differentials/torsen-vs-plated-limited-slip-differential/ https://www.kmpdrivetrain.com/differentials/torsen-vs-plated...) states that it wouldn't work with 0 traction and can get only the amount of slipping traction torque to the other wheel.

gumby 6y ago

A simple way to think of it is that “locking the differential” could be thought of as disabling it, turning it back into a conventional axle. So this is useful when you’d prefer a conventional axle: when one one side has a grip and the other side none.