On Sat, 8 Mar 2003, Bob Burns wrote:
> At 07:57 PM 3/5/2003, Kevin Stevens wrote:
>
> This is why four-wheeled vehicles usually have an open differential in the
> drive axle so that the two wheels on that axle can turn at different speeds
> as the vehicle corners. I say "usually" because if the goal is to maximize
> straight-line thrust without regard to tire or mechanical wear, the two
> drive wheels can be mechanically locked. In a four-wheel drive vehicle,
> thrust can be maximized by locking the drive wheels together on each axle
> _and_ locking the two axles together.
>
> On the street, open differentials are used on each drive axle to reduce
> tire and mechanical wear. Some vehicles have various types of
> "limited-slip" or "locking" differentials designed to lock the drive wheels
> together during acceleration in order to keep the lightly-loaded wheel
> (usually the inside wheel if the vehicle is turning) from spinning.
>
> In the early days of four-wheel drive vehicles, the connection between the
> front and rear axles was solid. Driving one of these vehicles on dry
> pavement with good traction would cause increased tire and mechanical wear
> and possible breakage of parts. Later four-wheel drive vehicles often use
> some type of differential between the front and rear axles thus making the
> vehicles driveable on dry pavement with four-wheel drive engaged.
>
> The big lie about four-wheel drive is that often times, neither drive axle
> has any limited-slip or locking feature. Even though both axles may be
> locked together by the design of the transfer case, if both axles have open
> differentials, you may find yourself in situations where one rear wheel and
ok, i finally figured out the Durango's transfer case... MY durango at
least has the part-time and full-time 4WD transfer case, and also has a
limited-slip rear differential, both of which were options. If I put it
in 4WD-FULL, it unlocks the center diff and it drives normally, i can make
U-turns and all that. 4WD-PART is for loose surfaces and it locks the
center diff. Did some tests, read the manual, now i understand it :)
--------------------------
Scott M. Stone <sstone@foo3.com>
Cisco Certified Network Associate, Sun Solaris Certified Systems Administrator
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