Off-road experience

[anko]

You are a moving target :lol:

But I am curious: how do you know when the spinning wheel has regained grip with a diff lock?

 

[maby]

You are a moving target :lol:

But I am curious: how do you know when the spinning wheel has regained grip with a diff lock?

It doesn't really matter that much with a diff lock if it is used correctly - you only lock it when you are on surfaces with poor adhesion, so you really leave it locked and rely on some slip in the wheels to avoid winding up your drive train. You can have problems if you forget to unlock it when you get back onto a good road surface - but there are bright warning lights on the dashboard to tell you it's locked and you just learn to not do it.

I think most modern serious off-roaders have limited slip diffs - even when locked, there is a bit of differential rotation available to avoid damage if you don't unlock it soon enough. On my Landrovers, I would lock all the diffs as soon as I got into any significant amount of mud or snow and leave them locked till I got out of it - seldom had a problem. If you do forget, it takes several miles before the force builds up to levels that will do damage - you can get to a point where the transmission is so wound up that you can't release the lock - in which case you have to drive a few hundred yards in reverse to let off the pressure.

 

[maby]

Most threads on any forum tend to wander off course.

That is, of course, because it is not a proper off-roader!

 

[jaapv]

You are a moving target :lol:

But I am curious: how do you know when the spinning wheel has regained grip with a diff lock?

It doesn't really matter that much with a diff lock if it is used correctly - you only lock it when you are on surfaces with poor adhesion, so you really leave it locked and rely on some slip in the wheels to avoid winding up your drive train. You can have problems if you forget to unlock it when you get back onto a good road surface - but there are bright warning lights on the dashboard to tell you it's locked and you just learn to not do it.

I think most modern serious off-roaders have limited slip diffs - even when locked, there is a bit of differential rotation available to avoid damage if you don't unlock it soon enough. On my Landrovers, I would lock all the diffs as soon as I got into any significant amount of mud or snow and leave them locked till I got out of it - seldom had a problem. If you do forget, it takes several miles before the force builds up to levels that will do damage - you can get to a point where the transmission is so wound up that you can't release the lock - in which case you have to drive a few hundred yards in reverse to let off the pressure.

Which leads to another point: in driving in mud or snow turn the stability control OFF.
It relies on the ABS system to temporarily brake a wheel when spin is detected. In those conditions it will start braking all four wheels until you grind to a halt.