Off Roading tire spin

[Coalsmoke]

Well the great white stuff has arrived for the season and I had the oppotunity to pull out anOlds from the ditch (apparently he didn't notice that the ground was covered in snow and ice ) So, he hooked the tow strap on his end (I let them do the hooking if they are capable, so that if something breaks, they can't point fingers at anyone but themselves) and give a try in 2wd, I feel the LSD give a little chatter and I know it is locked up, but still no go so in goes 4 lo, I get the ominous clunk - clunk, and the front hubs are locked. Even with all four tires spinning, I barely got him out (his rear tires were well off the ground and his front-end was wedged in the ditch, andarently those older cars are heavy). Anyways, like I said, all 4 tires were apparently spinning, but my front dif is open? How does that work?

 

[drrhoades]

In an open diff the side with the less traction will spin. In your case both sides had equal traction which on snow and ice is close to nothing, so both sides spun. Hope that helps.



Doug

 

[Coalsmoke]

OK, sounds good. For some reason I had it stuck in my head that only one tire would turn at a time. Thanks for the clear-up.

 

[Duluth Diesel]

CoalSmoke, your truck doesn't have hubs that lock and unlock.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Don't I have the auto-locking hubs? I'm a bit confused. Maybe I should have said that the front axle was engaged, maybe that would make the two clunks.

 

[TowPro]

This bit about equal traction is true, but if your stuck in an open wheeler rear, put on the emergency brake enough to cause a drag, and the rear will think it has equal traction and turn both tires. I have also done this in 4wd by applying the brake pedel some as you ease on the fuel to cause all 4 to spin!



I have also driven out stuck front wheel drive cars the same way, put your foot on the brake some and give it some gas, because the transaxle is loaded pretty much the same on both sides by the brake being on, both wheels will spin.