How Diff Lock Works and When To Use It (UK Terminology, Land Rover)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- This video instructs the viewer on how the standard CENTRE "diff lock" works in a permanent 4 wheel drive (4x4) vehicle, a Land Rover in this case, and gives an idea for how and when to use it.
A Land Rover Discovery was the vehicle featured in the demonstrations, but this video applies to any 4x4 vehicle with a center diff lock.
In summary, diff lock (whether it be the centre diff lock fitted as standard or front/rear aftermarket diff lock) is useful in slippery situations such as snow, ice and mud.
Good video mate. Also, I applaud your patience in explaining the centre diff lock in the comments
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i personally knew all this. it is great that you posted this. trying to explain about centre, front and rear locking diffs has just been made easy. cheers.
Always great to see something like this in action to fully understand it
spin tires: explained :P
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Lol that’s why I’m at this video
Really cool video. It's super cool how you've showed us a demonstration and explained how they work. Usually you get some idiot destroying a really expensive offroader trying to look cool in snow. But you have done a excellent job. This is how a 4x4 should be driven
nice tip, wish i had seen it earlier, before heading for the three months long off road trip to western China last summer.
You couldn't have done a better video mate, well done.
Very helpful. I'm doing a 4x4 course at work. This helped me prepare.
This is fine explanation for LR owners who might not understand how to use that lock. Remember that youtube is worldwide and I think it would prevent confusion if the title of your video said Land Rover diff lock (perhaps “centre” or “transfer” diff lock). Since the early 90s MANY vehicles have been equipped with factory axle diff locks (Land Cruiser, Jeep, etc) while the center lock is not as common. Typically in the US a vehicle with a center diff is consider "all wheel drive".
Ah! an object in motion and all that good stuff :-)
A nice explanation. Thank you.
Congratulations, very weel explained
Excellent tutorial and explanation, many thanks
Bravo man!! this is well explained!! It would also be helpful if you explain high range and low range gears!!
Thanks for your comments! I think terminology in the UK is different to the US though... here in the UK it is correct. You stated "a transfer case will put the same amount of power to 2 shafts at the same speed". In the UK, we call it a "transfer box", but on a standard Land Rover the "diff lock" is inside the "transfer box". When it's locked, it does "put the same amount of power to 2 shafts at the same speed" because these are the "prop shafts" which then drive the front & rear axles...
Excellent, thank you. I just bought a D1, my first 4wd.
Very well and understandable ! Good and on spot video samples. Well done.
@radiostarcountry very true... and as a note to other people watching this video, most 4 wheel drive vehicles aren't fitted with front & rear diff locks. You either have to buy a specific vehicle which has them or fit them yourself. They can be useful though! Whereas the "regular" diff-lock locks the transfer box, rear & front diff locks also lock the rear and/or front differentials as well, of course. This forces engine power to either 3 or 4 wheels, not just the 2 we see here.
Very informative and great demo :)
@4T2Dub0 glad you liked it and found it useful!
good clip. a lot of HGV drivers could learn from this. most HGVs have diff lock but dont know how to use it. The only truck i have driven that didnt was a Renault.
fantastic :-) glad you found it useful!
if you are the one teaching the course, feel free to use the video (as long as you credit "fishsponge" or "richard hobbs", of course! :-)
Want to buy a Landy sometime soon. thanks for posting!!
the terminology is correct for most landrovers as the transfer case has a normal looking diff inside the transfer box. so normal driving centre diff is open then you move the handle that says "diff lock" on it to lock the centre differential not the transfer case.
Awesome explanation!
For those who don't get it...the center diff distributes power between the rear and front wheel sets. Front and rear diff locks, can individually lock the left and right wheels to spin together. That is not demonstrated in the video as those are after-market modifications, and he was showing how the center diff worked, as it is a standard feature on his vehicle. Front and rear diff locks "really" can help out when off-roaring. A lot. But they are different from the center diff which chooses whe
@TheSatnylle for the benefit of others potentially reading this, no - it is not equipped with rear diff locks or front diff locks as standard. these are aftermarket modifications.
glad you found the answer though, and glad you liked the video! :-)
Great video, here in Canada my 2010 4WD Chev pickup with locking back axle [it's locked except when turning] drives through 3 ft to 4 ft of snow in 2WD with no problems on level ground with all season tires/tyres.
My son's 4WD 2001 Chev p u [no axle lock] same tires, struggles in 3ft of snow in 2WD.
Good video mate, and it's kinda sad how many "offroaders" in the comments below don't have a clue how 4wd works. I remember when I sold my old Suzuki which had manual free wheeling hubs at front, a day later the guy wants his money back because only one tire was spinning when he got stuck. The guy misunderstood the locking hubs as a front diff locker.
That's ridiculous
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Perfect video! i will fit my D2 with a cdl soon...that should help the traction control a little bit
@fishsponge I'm from a Landcruiser background! On land rover and new cruisers power goes to all 4 wheels permanently, therefore on hard surfaces you need the centre differential to allow for slippage between front and rear axles to prevent wind up in the transmission. When off road you lock the centre differential so that equal power goes to the front and back axles. There is no worry about windup because wheels will slip on the loose surfaces releasing any buildup in transmission.
Thanks for explaining. Never understood what diff lock meant.
you are right... it does help to a certain extent, but lockable front and rear diffs (or traction control) are both much better!
nice video very informative, good job
Sorry. Didnt read the earlyer comments. Q already answered. Thanks again.
GREAT video!! I have asked alot of people what lockers were for and none of them explained it to where it made sense. Thank you for sharing! =)
one of the best videos on youtube
thank u :)
keep up da good work
Thanks for the comment. However, my explanation is correct & your description of how everything works is also correct! Diff lock on the transfer box does indeed lock the front drive shaft and rear drive shaft together. Diff lock in the axles also keeps the left & right wheels locked together. You and I are both spot-on.
The LR in this video does not have locking diffs in the axles, hence why back and front are locked, but left and right can still spin independently... what is wrong in the video?
Thank you for the video. It was very informative.
This is a really well thought out and explained vid,,nice one.By the way I have a well modded Mk2 pajero and it does all I want it to do.Chees on a great video.
thx for tht, tht has explained very easily wht i have wanted to understand for a long time..oh and well dont on getting to the top of the hill :)
Great video!
My Disco is from 1997, it has 7 seats (as standard) and has the 300Tdi Land Rover engine in it (as standard).
The first Discoverys had the 200Tdi engine, the later ones (until 1997/1998) had the 300Tdi engine. Both of these engines are considered to be the most reliable engines Land Rover ever made. From 1997/1998 onwards they fitted the Td5 engine and even later models had different engines again. I cannot comment on any engine other than 200/300Tdi and both are considered very reliable.
@sah0921 the front bumper is known as a "close-fit winch bumper"... it basically replaces the standard bumper and has a tray in the center to fit a winch into. it's known as "close-fit" because it doesn't stuck out the front of the car too much. You have to cut away part of the front grille to make it fit though.
@JoergGaensler oh bugger... well, you're spot on with your description of how not to use it! hope it wasn't too expensive to sort!!
@tom61375 fantastic :-) glad you found it useful! Bear in mind that after-market lockers are typically for front and rear axles as far as I know, and this video addresses the centre differential. The principles are exactly the same though.
Good work!
Big help! Thank you so much
Very good video..thanks.
@lspuris for the benefit of people watching, the right wheel (UK driver's side) is spinning almost constantly at 1:57 and the left wheel (UK passenger side) doesn't spin at all until close to the end of that attempt. This is because the standard diff lock does not lock the front differential. Therefore, although power is forced to both the front and the back, there is nothing stopping all the power going to either the left or the right once it reaches the axles. Hope this makes sense! :-)
well, yes, they can be with aftermarket addons, but this video is designed to cover the standard land rover (with no aftermarket addons) for those that don't understand that second "gear lever"... you are spot on though, and some day I might do another video to explain these too, but i'm sure someone's done that already... :-)
svaka cast majstore!
After watching and reading again I see your video explains an awd transfer case going into 4wd.. I had misunderstood when I thought you were explaining locking axle differentials.
Thanks for making this video! Cheers from Sweden! =)
@Fyrtowr no problem - glad ya liked it!
@14all41 glad ya liked it and found it useful!
@Haydenroper my last reply wasn't as simple as it could have been... basically, Land Rovers are permanent 4 wheel drive. Power is always transmitted to all 4 wheels.
By locking the centre diff, you are forcing power to the front *and* rear regardless of which wheels are slipping.
Front and rear lockers are after-market and do exactly what you describe.
well done on making it over that obsticle
Great vid mate, I reckon a voice over commentary would finish it off nicely....
Hi Fish, I have seen where the outer sheath of the cable has moved under the clamping plate and the engage lever has been pushed past the engage position. You need to manually dis-engage the CDL from under the vehicle and re-clamp the cable into position.
Nice video.
@vaneztax no problem - glad you found it useful!
@fireballfury1 fair enough... the site i linked to basically indicates that some Discoverys have a lever that simply goes low range, neutral & high range. In that case you have a viscous coupling unit instead of a center diff lock.
What this does is exactly as you say - if one axle spins at a faster rate than the other axle, the viscous coupling unit locks up gradually to force drive to both axles. This is basically an automatic center diff lock.
Thanks for the comment... i already know what a Viscous Limited Slip Differential is... just never made the link with the letters "VLSD"! :-)
Freelanders have them (I think) and they're apparently not too bad for off roading... as long as you're willing to have a bit of wheelspin before it kinda "kicks in". Never tried it myself though, and don't know a great deal about it's effectiveness...
Very informative! Thanks!
nice video !
@Jimbo9979 no problem - glad ya liked it!
@filmftw3 this vehicle has a transfer box/case and is permanent 4 wheel drive. There's no "limited slip diff", but the central diff (which is inside the transfer box/case) is lockable. The transfer box/case is shown in the diagram at 0:21. Hope this makes sense! :-)
I do know what a diff lock is... a differential allows power to be spread to two places at different speeds if necessary. A diff lock then locks up the diff so you basically have a solid axle.
In a standard Land Rover a "diff lock" locks the centre differential. A Land Rover always has power going to all 4 wheels, but the centre diff effectively locks the prop shaft solid so you get equal speed to the front and rear axles.
The front and rear diffs are still unlocked, but this locks the centre.
thanks for sharing, great info :)
Well explained thank you
well explained thanks
@bilalkaraneeb no problem - i'm glad you found the video useful, and hope others give you more tips also!
@Haydenroper it is a real locker... Land Rovers are permanent 4 wheel drive. They simply cannot be switched to 2 wheel drive. Locking the "centre diff" locks the diff inside the transfer box/case so it's 50/50 front and rear. If you disengage the centre diff lock, you still have 50/50 from and rear, but you now have three unlocked differentials (front, rear and centre) instead of just two (front and rear).
After-market diff lockers will lock front and rear, but centre is standard.
@joenissan also, as for "diff lock" pertaining to either the front or rear differentials with a lock feature, this is one use of the term "diff lock", but in a standard Land Rover the term "diff lock" is actually written on the other lever in front of the gear stick. When I had my first Land Rover i also wondered what the strange "diff lock" lever did too, and eventually asked somebody! :-)
Landrovers only set back off road is no locking or limited slip differentials as an option, I have a detroit locking differential in the back axle and a detroit truetrac in the front axle of my ninety, they make an unbelievable difference and totally change it, I've had them both in for over ten years and not a moments bother, much cheaper stronger and easy to fit, don't like air lockers too much faf and expensive, detroit lockers and truetrac limited slip far far better. Nice demonstration of a stock disco still a very effective weapon off road 👍
@fishsponge The US was marketed "all-wheel drive" as a term for a full-time systems meaning that generally no driver input is required and can be used all year long on any surface. We have many trucks and SUVs intended to be used only in low traction/off-road situations (the lack of a center diff causes problems on pavement) and we call those 4WD or 4X4s. The Land Cruiser 80 series has a center diff lock- manually operated in early years and later automatically but only when low range is engaged
A definition of a diff lock is indeed something that locks a differential. In a standard Land Rover there are three differentials - front, rear and centre. Also, you cannot put a Land Rover into 2 wheel drive. So... in a standard Land Rover there is a lever labelled "Diff Lock". This locks up the centre differential (inside the transfer box). As stated before, front and rear diff locks are aftermarket add-ons for a Land Rover. Hope this makes sense!
thanks 4 good explanation... :)
@cigromful glad you enjoyed it :-)
the reason it's called what it's called is so people who don't know what the "second gear stick" does will actually find this video and then understand it. In the Land Rover it's labelled as the "diff lock" lever, so people are gonna search for "how diff lock works"! :-)
Also, i've never heard of "eaton true tracs"... will have to google it! and pumpkins?!?
@addsorama i'm not sure if this is a terminology thing again or not... 4 wheel drive to me means that 4 wheels receive power from the engine (i.e. are being driven). By this definition, a Land Rover is permanent 4 wheel drive.
Admittedly with all diffs unlocked, you can end up with one wheel spinning, and with the center diff lock locked you can end up with both left wheels, both right wheels, or one at the front and one at the rear spinning.
@ bootidaddy the centre diff lock which is standard on most 4x4 vehicles the centre diff just puts it into 4WD as such. When you do that your differential is still open. Search the ARB4WD channel they have diff locks explained.
thanks :-) glad you liked it.
So basically, with just centre diff lock, you have 50% power at front, 50% at rear. That doesn't stop both right wheels stopping while both left wheels continue to spin though, because although you can guarantee 50% power to the front, you cannot guarantee it will go to *both* front wheels. The front diff will allow the power at the front to go to one wheel or both depending on traction. A front diff forces that frontal power to both front wheels.
I hope this makes sense...
@YamahaWR200 not sure i understand... on a land rover, 4 of the wheels are driven/powered at all times. When 4 wheels are being driven/powered, it's 4 wheel drive.
For example, the power goes into the transfer box and then to the front AND rear. You cannot stop this.
A front or rear diff lock stops power going to the left OR right by making it go to both. The diff lock in the transfer box stops power going to the front OR rear by making it go to both, but all wheels are driven at all times.
@stigthespanner no problem - glad you liked it! :-)
If you have just hi, neutral, & low on your transfer box, this Is the discovery 2, which just has electronic traction control. Very effective. If you get any slip just give it more rpm to turn the wheels a little faster, and it'l kick in.
@TheBassTek no problem - glad ya found it useful! :-)
@chewdiddy there is a fantastic video called "diff lock's last stand" or something similar... search for it and watch it - the guy fully documents this exact problem basically, you'll get a great understanding from that video!!
Also, have you tried jacking up both front wheels and spinning them together? With both rear wheels on the ground and both front wheels jacked up, if you can make both front wheels spin in the same direction simultaneously it means the centre diff is DISENGAGED.
You don't know how long I have been searching for a sime explanation/tutorial like that. Thank you! I thought that front and rear diff lock was standard though? Another thing that has confused me is that I have heard of front, rear and centre diff lock on one vehicle, is this right? If so what would all this be used for? Thanks again, great video!
A differential also has more options than what you claim in the video. A differential can be fully open, limited slip, or fully locked. What the video showed was an attempt to climb the hill in 2 wheel drive for the first clip, 4 wheel drive in the second clip, but there appears to be no evidence of having either a limited slip of fully locked differential on either axel. Have you thought about upgrading from street tires?
no problem! glad you liked it! :-)
@fireballfury1 OK, so in front of the normal gear lever is another small lever. Any of the left positions means it's in diff lock. Any of the right positions means it is NOT in diff lock.
Regardless of whether the lever is pushed to the left or right, if it is pushed up (towards the front of the vehicle), it'll be in low range, if it's pulled back (towards the rear of the vehicle) it'll be in high range, and in the middle is neutral.
So, bottom-right is high range, no diff lock. For daily use.
I suspect you are 100% correct, but for a Land Rover (just to help everyone including Medic1911) you cannot go into 2WD at all. The options in a Land Rover are 4WD high range unlocked, 4WD high range centre locked, 4WD low range unlocked or 4WD low range centre locked.
If you want any extra features (like locking front and rear diffs) then you need aftermarket add-ons :-)
@amceagle1 that is pretty nice. you certainly cannot get any better than that, and it's pretty cool that it comes as standard! front and rear lockers are after-market addons on a Land Rover (or you could buy a fairly modern one with traction control and not care).
Good to hear you'd give it up and a Series 1 though... :-)
Much easier to understand than the manual! lol
@TheZenPerspective Thank you for your comments! Glad you found it useful!
@thornwarbler you're welcome! glad ya liked it! :-)
@joenissan i see your point... however, this video is titled as it is because (a) the transfer box/case does contain a diff which can be locked as standard and (b) the "second gearstick" labelled "diff lock" is what people don't understand, so they will search for this title, basically!
The first line of the description also mentions that the video is about the "centre diff lock".
I could title it differently, but people that don't understand that second lever would never find it...
There is a way to make all 4 wheels spin simultaneously - you need to lock the centre diff, the front axle diff and the rear axle diff. A standard Land Rover of this age does not have diff lock on the front and rear axles though, so you'd need aftermarket add-ons in this case. Regarding the term "four wheel drive", in the UK it means "4 wheels are driven" (i.e. all 4 wheels have power from the engine). It doesn't necessarily mean they are diff-locked though. Hope this makes sense!
@urbex2007 thanks for the comment - glad you found it useful! :-)