Back to @JWB s post 98, Anyone know the tech details on how the stock P500 front 4wd works? Is it like "true 3 wheel drive" so to speak when one wheel looses traction? This why I haven't felt side pulling yet in mud? Guess I'll check out Shop Talk treads too. All this good info has me curious.
Not really. You never have "3 wheel drive" The front diff is a so-called 'open differential' and is virtually identical to the differential in most cars. If you go to the Torq-Masters site, I think they have a pretty good explanation of how it works vs. the auto locker. Think there are some good vids on you-tube as well . A perfect example of a locked, or 'spooled' set up, is the rear end in the P500. If you lift the P5's front wheels off the ground and spin one wheel by hand, the other will spin in the opposite direction due to the spider gear set up in the carrier. If you do the same exercise on the rear, both wheels will spin in the same direction, because there is no 'differential' in that rear housing. Just a ring gear, pinion gear, and a solid axle. SO, when in "4wd" all four wheels are driven with equal power,
as long as all four wheels have the same traction. BUT, If one front wheel looses traction,
all the power available to the front wheels is given up to the wheel with the
least traction. If for instance one front wheel is in the air, or on ice, and the other is on solid ground, you have ZERO power going to the high traction wheel, so at that point you only have
2wd, because no power is getting applied to a front wheel with traction. I've tried the brake tapping thing a hundred times- does nothing if one wheel has good grip, and the other is in the air. It might do something in mud or snow, because you may have near equal traction on both fronts. The reason you will usually see the passenger side front spin, is because you're sitting on the left one giving it more traction, and to more directly answer your question
@Mudder , the reason you don't get any "pulling" is because once a front wheel loses traction, the front wheels are doing almost nothing to keep the machine moving because all the power is being wasted on a wheel with no traction. Any so-called 4wd vehicle that does not have some form, or means of locking the drive wheels together, is in reality a 2wd vehicle
at best in low traction conditions.. For example, most "4wd" pick-ups have 'open differentials' front and rear. If you jacked one front wheel, and one rear wheel off the the ground, put it in "4wd" and then tried to drive the vehicle off the jacks, both the wheels in the air would spin, and the truck would not move. All the power is wasted on the wheels with least traction- Zero wheel drive. I'm sure this is all clear as mud now
