Zexel Guru's inside please

[Jack]

Got around to pulling the Auburn out of a replacement differential today and put the Zexel in. It was easy, but I have some questions. Anyone here ever play with the Zexel? After installation, the axles freewheel. If you spin the gears, the axles turn, but you can stop them while the ring and pinion still turn? Shouldn't they mesh with the differential and not turn? Or will they work once a load is put on them? The rear is not in the car yet. Obviously this is my first rear end venture. Any thoughts?

[ May 11, 2003: Message edited by: Jack ]</p>

[Dominic]

Yep thats normal for the torsen... thats also the slight downfall of the torsen is that if there is no force against the wheels when turning them (think ICE) then they will not bias any better than an open diffy.

It will work great on the road though, no worries lad.

[mjparme]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> thats also the slight downfall of the torsen is that if there is no force against the wheels when turning them (think ICE) then they will not bias any better than an open diffy <hr></blockquote>

So with the Zexel if one wheel is spinning on ice the other wheel won't get some power? I thought this is what made a limited slip differential limited slip?

[Bliggida]

Limites slip works off of a bias. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:1 ratio.

So if the left tire is spinning and it's getting 50 horsepower, then the right wheel will recieve 200 horsepower.

On ice no traction is available. So what's 4 times zero... still zero.

[Jack]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dominic:
Yep thats normal for the torsen... thats also the slight downfall of the torsen is that if there is no force against the wheels when turning them (think ICE) then they will not bias any better than an open diffy.

It will work great on the road though, no worries lad.<hr></blockquote>


Thanks Dominic...you just confirmed what my GM friends told me..also made my day, I haven't been called a Lad in over 30 years.
[img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[Camaro Bob]

Yup, I have a Zexel heavy duty.....Friggin EXPENSIVE carrier, and when it's on ice, it doesn't go anywhere. Parking spaces stay full all winter long. :(

[mjparme]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> On ice no traction is available. So what's 4 times zero... still zero.<hr></blockquote>

Everything I have ever read about LSD suggests that a LSD should be better on snow/ice than an open differential. Your comment suggests that an LSD is no better than an open diff on ice. So what is the benefits of a LSD?

Not being an expert in any way shape or form on differentials I am going to go and read up on LSD and differntials in general and then get back to this thread. My curiosity has been sparked.

[mjparme]

Excerpt taken from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential6.htm

"Getting back to the situation in which one drive wheel is on the ice and the other one has good traction: With this limited slip differential, even though the wheel on the ice is not able to transmit much torque to the ground, the other wheel will still get the torque it needs to move. The torque supplied to the wheel not on the ice is equal to the amount of torque it takes to overpower the clutches. The result is that you can move forward, although still not with the full power of your car."

This page does mention this is how clutch type LSD work. Is the Zexel Torsen not a clutch type LSD?

[98Camaro3.8]

The Torsen differential does not use clutches. Look a couple pages forward in that HowStuffWorks site. It talks about Torsens there.

Matt

[John_D.]

The torsen needs at least a little bit of resistance. If the ice is so slippery that you truly have zero friction, a slight application of the brake is supposed to be enough to get you going...

[Dominic]

Most limited slip differentials are speed limited slips, and when the speed of one wheel exceeds the speed of another, the clutches are automatically engaged mechanically or electronically which controls the biasing of how "locked" the whole system is.

The torsen works off force, tor-sen = torque sensing. It was developed to last forever and it works extremely well if you know how to use it.

If you lightly apply the brake to give the torsen some force to work with when you try to drive on ice or somewhere it doesnt seem to be working, it will act like it should :D This comes right out of the Hummer manual btw.