tracloc

[marco]

Somebody please tell me I'm crazy. Today when driving my 94 mark viii, I took off harder then before. It was nothing but tire smoke, my question both tires spun just at different times. That's not a tracloc from what I know, right? Took off the rpm's were around 4,000, traction control and over drive was off.

 

[ripped camel]

Our cars have an open differential not a trac-loc.

 

[marco]

Is that what an open differential does? When I had my mustang I never had a chance to drive it like this other then going sideways, so I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[philly0420]

Open Differentials


When a car is driving straight down the road, both drive wheels are spinning at the same speed. The input pinion is turning the ring gear and cage, and none of the pinions within the cage are rotating -- both side gears are effectively locked to the cage.

Note that the input pinion is a smaller gear than the ring gear; this is the last gear reduction in the car. You may have heard terms like rear axle ratio or final drive ratio. These refer to the gear ratio in the differential. If the final drive ratio is 4.10, then the ring gear has 4.10 times as many teeth as the input pinion gear. See How Gears Work for more information on gear ratios.

When a car makes a turn, the wheels must spin at different speeds.

The pinions in the cage start to spin as the car begins to turn, allowing the wheels to move at different speeds. The inside wheel spins slower than the cage, while the outside wheel spins faster.

 

[philly0420]

Clutch-type Limited Slip Differential

The clutch-type limited slip differential adds a spring pack and a set of clutches to the open differential.
The clutch-type LSD is probably the most common version of the limited slip differential

This type of LSD has all of the same components as an open differential, but it adds a spring pack and a set of clutches. Some of these have a cone clutch that is just like the synchronizers in a manual transmission.

The spring pack pushes the side gears against the clutches, which are attached to the cage. Both side gears spin with the cage when both wheels are moving at the same speed, and the clutches aren't really needed -- the only time the clutches step in is when something happens to make one wheel spin faster than the other, as in a turn. The clutches fight this behavior, wanting both wheels to go the same speed. If one wheel wants to spin faster than the other, it must first overpower the clutch. The stiffness of the springs combined with the friction of the clutch determine how much torque it takes to overpower it.

 

[marco]

Thanks philly, that will help a lot when I get a chance to re-read it.