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Photoman
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: New Zealand
Vehicle(s): 280GE, ML500, 280SE 3.5
| Diff Lock in 2WD?
Greetings
I'm going offroading with a bunch of vehicles that the G should leave for dead. What I was wondering is can I lock the rear diff whilst in 2WD?
I can't think of any reason why not. Now you may ask yourself why on earth does Sean want to lock his rear diff while in 2WD? Simple. I want to totally rub it in about how good a G is by doing as much of the course in 2WD that I can  |
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DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9963
| RE: Diff Lock in 2WD?
Photoman - 11/18/2006 2:37 PM
Greetings
I'm going offroading with a bunch of vehicles that the G should leave for dead. What I was wondering is can I lock the rear diff whilst in 2WD?
I can't think of any reason why not. Now you may ask yourself why on earth does Sean want to lock his rear diff while in 2WD? Simple. I want to totally rub it in about how good a G is by doing as much of the course in 2WD that I can :biggrin:
Yes. It's purely mechanical with no nannies attached. Just be sure to engage it while going very slow and when the wheels are not already spinning. |
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Photoman
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: New Zealand
Vehicle(s): 280GE, ML500, 280SE 3.5
| Re: Diff Lock in 2WD?
Thanks again DUTCH.
Will be fun doing as much as I can in 2WD |
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hipine
Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: US, CO, Bailey
Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A
| RE: Diff Lock in 2WD?
Without mentioning the whole "pride goeth before a fall" bit, I just have to say that mechanically speaking you'd be putting the truck's driveline components under a lot of extra stress and strain to get your little laugh, which would be yours alone if the folks you wheel with know much at all. The general rule for part time 4wd (and for CDLs in full time trucks so equipped) is to engage it as SOON as conditions allow, not as LATE as you possibly can. By engaging 4wd you spread the forces required to move the vehicle over the components at all four corners of the truck. Running in 2wd you require the components at the rear to take all the load for driving forward. And with diff lock engaged in 2wd, you can easily (in a cross axled situation) put ALL the force driving the truck forward through a single wheel. To anyone who knows much at all about 4 wheeling, the old "oh gee, I did the whole thing in 2wd" means only a silly mistake that brought the truck one step closer to death than it needed to be. Going into 4wd ASAP is the way the veterans will run the day. Just my opinion. -Dave G. |
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VonEpp
W124 Host
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Australia
Vehicle(s): w114, w124 & w460
Posts: 357
| Re: Diff Lock in 2WD?
Hipine has a valid point, there will be greater strain on the vehicle. However if you think you can run the trail in 2WD then you're probably not going to do much damage at all.
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Photoman
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: New Zealand
Vehicle(s): 280GE, ML500, 280SE 3.5
| Re: Diff Lock in 2WD?
It's a soft track. If the situation looked like I'd be getting cross-axled there is no way I'd be in 2WD.
I really want it to rain very hard before we go there. When it's wet it is a very tricky course - not one to be done in 2WD that's for sure. But when it's dry there is a ton of grip, hence the 2WD thing.
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