Diff jam

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:14 pm

Heck no. Our diffs are itty-bitty. Tiny. Micro.
I want to see a truck axle put in. Or an AE86 axle.

I've pulled a stuck Jeep out..... But he only needed a bit of a tug and bump. Once he was un-rutted he took care of the rest. He was still shocked. I just laughed.

Its not all in lifts and big tires. What kind of lift? What type of tires? The wrong tires will screw you up, hard-core. The wrong type of lift can as well.
Heck yes skill comes in. I know my rig better than a lot of people... I drive the thing every single day, typically 80 miles or more daily. Thats why I was able recently to navigate a mudhole that a big ole Ford truck was having some issues with. Part of my policy is.... DO NOT STOP! heh... Also, tire slip is fun to watch mud fly, but all it will do is fill your tread with gunk that you are giving it too little time to shed. A big mudball will not bite well into a big mud field. Heck, I floated across a maybe 3 foot deep gunk-puddle. I guess 3 feet because the Ford's 36's were close to submerged. I hit it at maybe 18mph and floated for a bit. Started to bog at the end, but I kept her going and she pulled me through.

I don't really have the best tires either.... Hankook snow tires.

I think if I put that aerodynamic pan underneith I'll keep it beefy enough to withstand a bit of mudding.... It'll make it easier to navigate the deep sludge when its not in there pushing up against every flat surface it can.

I want a nice Limited-locker in the rear. Lock it up when needed, have limited the rest of the time. Nothing too tight though, or else the butt will dance everywhere on the ice.

It'd be nice to keep the axle under maybe 6 PSI of air pressure all the time too. That way no water or mud gets in and fries the lube. UNIMOG prioves that theory...

Who was it that said they drove a UNIMOG? I want to drive a UNI... Those things are incredible...

Mickey_D · Post by **Mickey_D** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:08 am

Typrus wrote:Who was it that said they drove a UNIMOG? I want to drive a UNI... Those things are incredible...

They are pretty incredible in the sticky stuff. Or on the almost vertical stuff. Or on the extremely uneven stuff.

Where they inevitably suck is on the flat stuff (pavement).

marklar · Post by **marklar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:32 pm

My car is an 84 fwd/4wd, with im guessing no lockable diff? how come when it is in 4wd the rear wheels skid and jump a bit on windy tarmac roads particularly at low speeds?

coltarms · Post by **coltarms** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:41 pm

Because they can't slip. Even though there is an open diff, the front and rear wheels need to turn at different rates of speed, and there is no differential between the front wheels and rear wheels. This is the difference between full-time and part-time 4wd, or AWD and 4wd. If you keep on driving in 4wd on tar, you can expect to break something. This pretty much holds for any traditional 4wd system that has no differential between the front and rear wheels.

Read your drivers manual. It specifically states that what you are doing is a no-no. If you don't believe me, ask Typrus....or Arch, or Takza, or Lollypop, etc

marklar · Post by **marklar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:19 pm

yeah i have never done it intentionally and i do believe you, noticed it when i took the car away one year to the marborough sounds (in new zealand) where the roads are windy with inconsistant surfaces and was constantly having to change out of 4wd. just wondered what the reason was (hoped it wasnt ******), i must say though it is pretty precise when it comes to getting loose on gravel and grass. Just to clarify tercels are AWD/FWD? Thanks in advance

Epitaph · Post by **Epitaph** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 1:35 am

Hate to to bump this post but foxtail, you're problem sounds like my problem that i posted in the tercel 4wd repair questions section about 9 topics ago. you're diff's are winding up, when you go around a corner the inner most wheel is going to take a shorter path the the outer wheel thus your diff's wind up on the inner most wheel. i had a 4wd specialist look at my 84 tercel wagon and he told me that they are winding up faster than they should, but they are fine. i drove mine on the tarmac while it was raining (which my car manual specifically says i can do) and had the same problem as you. but it's because i had too much traction to be in 4wd, only use 4wd when you are expecting to lose traction or are losing traction...never on tarmac unless the road is dead slippery. yes, use reverse to unlock your diffs.

marklar, you'll find you have the same problem, winding up diff's your car has too much traction, so your diffs wind up then lock up and your back wheels actually slide and you may hear a grinding noise...which is your diffs about to shit themselves, don't use 4wd unless you need to.

marklar · Post by **marklar** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:22 pm

Ok so the diff is winding up faster than it should?

How is this good other than if your stuck? Doest it just force the inside wheel to spin if it can?