Video blast from the past. Simple and easy to understand . There's a few more videos in this series. Enjoy!

 

This was posted here... about 15 years ago.

 

Well I joined 14 years ago

Plus this is still relevant after 85 years

 

Thanks, Hoovey......interesting video. It also (indirectly) explains why one cannot use part-time 4WD systems, on dry pavement, in curves....it forces the tires to slip, and the dry pavement doesn't allow that slip.

Also, although the video does not specifically describe it, the type of differential illustrated in the video is known as an open differential. That means that if one wheel is spinning and does not have traction, the other wheel will simply sit still and go nowhere. To get around that problem, differential-locking mechanisms and what is known by various names (Limited-Slip-Differential, Positraction, Sure-Grip, etc...) were developed that transfer the power to the opposite wheel when one is stuck or spinning.

You may(?) also wonder why the 1930s-vintage cars in the video allow a flat floor inside with the driveshaft, while those of 20-25 years later don't. In the mid-late 1950s, cars and the seating inside them were radically lowered and widened, to the point where it was simply impossible to have a flat floor with the driveshaft.....something had to give.

 

I love those old videos, the way they used to teach. I found an old Soviet video from 1972 explaining an engine lubrication system. It is in Russian, but its worth watching just for the animations. In 1972, before computer graphics, this is just unreal level of details.