What is s front differential?
What is a Differential? As part of the front and/or rear axle assembly, the differential plays an integral role in how your car makes turns. The differential is designed to drive a pair of wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds. The differential distributes equal amounts of torque to both wheels.
Does FWD have a differential?
With front-wheel-drive (FWD), the differential is alongside the transmission inside a housing, and the unit is called a transaxle. With rear-wheel-drive (RWD), the differential is between the rear wheels, connected to the transmission by a driveshaft.
How does a differential work in a car?
As you can see, a differential is essentially a combination of cogs which work together to turn the wheels. It looks complicated, but it uses simple mechanics to allow the two wheels to rotate at different rates. The drive from the engine rotates the large yellow crown wheel (1), which is attached to the smaller blue cogs (2).
How are differentials used to prevent wheel spin?
Today there are a variety of differentials which can reduce unwanted wheel-spin on one side of an axle, which is prevented using either viscous, mechanical, hydraulic and electronic systems. A simplified example of a clutch type LSD is illustrated in Diagram 4 below.
What kind of differential do race bred cars have?
Many race bred cars have LSDs fitted as standard, especially powerful front wheel drive cars which are more prone to wheel-spin while pulling out of a corner. Diagram 3: A clutch type LSD (limited slip diff) In Diagram 3 above, the simple open differential has been fitted with a clutch (1).
What do open diffs on a car mean?
The differentials shown in the diagrams above are known as ‘open’ diffs which means they have no mechanism to prevent this drive loss. The first LSDsconnected the two half shafts together with a clutch pack allowing a limited amount of clutch slip between each side of the axle.
How does a four wheel drive differential work?
From there, one driveshaft turns the front axle, and another turns the rear axle. When four-wheel drive is engaged, the transfer case locks the front driveshaft to the rear driveshaft, so each axle receives half of the torque coming from the engine. At the same time, the front hubs lock. The front and rear axles each have an open differential.
What’s the difference between a transmission and a differential?
The difference is this: Instead of being connected via a long driveshaft to the rear axle, the transmission’s output shaft drives a large gear that meshes directly with the differential’s ring gear.
What makes up the final drive ratio of a differential?
The basic differential housing contains a large ring gear that meshes with a small pinion gear driven by the driveshaft. The ration between the ring and pinion gear is known as the final-drive ratio or rear-axle ratio.
What are the problems with an open differential?
The second problem comes from the type of differentials used: An open differential splits the torque evenly between each of the two wheels it is connected to (see How Differentials Work for more details). If one of those two wheels comes off the ground, or is on a very slippery surface, the torque applied to that wheel drops to zero.