Locking the differential - off-road rescue

Everyone probably had to see footage, like a car, literally to the very roof covered with mud, storming off-road. Dirt, water, rocks - everything flies out from under the car, but it stubbornly moves forward. Of course, not every car can do this. The ability to overcome off-road is laid in the design of the machine, turning it into an all-terrain vehicle. One of these features is the differential lock.

What kind of thing is this? In general, there is nothing terrible in it. When the car moves straight, all the wheels have the same speed. But it is necessary to enter a car into the turn, as the speed at them becomes different. The fact is that along the inner radius the wheel passes a path smaller than in the outer radius.

So it turns out that the wheels located on one axis must move at different speeds. And it allows you to perform such a device as a differential. Without going into its design features, it should be noted that the differential transfers the torque to the wheels from the engine and at the same time allows them to spin at different speeds. However, the existing differentials have one feature - the moment goes to where the load is less. If the wheels located on the common axis are in the same grip with the road, the moment transmitted from the engine between them is distributed evenly.

But if one wheel is on a slippery area and begins to skid, then the whole moment will be transferred to it. And the car simply will not be able to move, since the remaining wheels, which are in clutch with a normal road surface, will not produce torque. To avoid this situation, the differential lock is provided.

Its essence lies in the fact that the torque developed by the engine is distributed evenly to all wheels on the same axis. There are different options for implementing such a technical solution. There is a manual option, when the differential lock is turned on with your own hands, using a special lever. There is an option of automatic locking, it turns on when the wheel starts slipping. But the essence does not change - when you turn on the differential lock allows you to ensure the arrival of torque on all wheels and overcome the obstacle.

Especially it is in demand when driving off-road. More often such locks put on off-road cars and all-terrain vehicles. You can even say that the presence of a lock is a necessary requirement for the car to be recognized as a cross-country vehicle.

However, there is another type of blockage, which must have a real off-road vehicle. This is the so-called inter - axle differential lock . The matter is that on off-road cars the all-wheel drive is used more often , that is at it the power from the engine acts on all wheels. Usually a transfer case is used for this, thanks to which the torque is distributed between the rear axle and the front axle.

But the all-wheel drive itself is not a salvation. Here the same situation is possible, which occurs when the wheel slips. If any wheel begins to slip, the whole moment is transferred to it. When the front wheel zabuksuet, the rear wheels will no longer be able to help overcome the obstacle. Here then interaxle locking helps. When it is turned on, the torque is forced uniformly distributed between the axles, when the rear wheels slip, the front wheels help overcome the obstacle, and vice versa.

Locking the differential is a must for the off-road vehicle and allows you to overcome obstacles and uneven terrain. In the absence of any kind of blockage, off-roading becomes almost impossible.