Does a diff lock make a big difference in snow?
#1
Does a diff lock make a big difference in snow?
I was messing around in Lake Tahoe last weekend and drove on a road that had roughly 10"+of snow, not plowed of course. I drove about 100ft and realized traction was getting bad, so I backed up, but then got stuck. Only the front wheels spin. My truck is a 2003 D2 with a 2" lift with stock wheels using 265-75-16 Duratracs. I tried rocking the truck, used Lo gear, nothing. Stuck some branches under the tires, no help either. A family in a Tahoe truck said "that sucks, I was stuck earlier also". He ended up pulling me out after a struggle but I got out. I then pulled him out after he stuck pulling his friends Hyundai out. What an embarassing situation. If I had a locking transfer case, would I been able to get out? I have been wheeling a few times in the past doing moderate and occasionaly hard trails and have not had an incident where a locking transfer case was needed.
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#7
Yes, but the tc is applying the brakes to make the tires with traction have the least resistance since the spinning wheels are now getting some brake action, that brake action is supposed to exceed the resistance of the tire with traction.
#8
I edited my post above a little, as the wording wasn't really accurate to what I was trying to imply.
#9
Hey it made sense to me at the time. What I'm trying to say is the open diff sends power to whatever wheel is the easiest to spin. The traction control puts the brakes on that easy to spin wheel. Therefore making it harder to spin, now power is going to go to the wheel that has traction. The brakes are making the wheel with traction have less resistance so the open diff sends power to it instead of the previously easy to spin wheel.