Defender 110 only 2 wheels spinning in 4wd?

[fender22]

Got fair bogged to the axles today in black soil bog. Was in low rang 4wd but noticed only the driver side front & rear wheels were spinning? Is it LSD same as a car or should all 4 wheels be going?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Not all cars have LSD and the older the car the less likely it is to have one. On Defender LSD or locking diffs are optional extras or after-market retrofits.

[slug_burner]

Open differentials. With the center diff locked a defender is 2 wheel drive as you observed.

One reason for getting diff locks or LSDs of some type.

[redrovertdi]

Thats normal, centre diff lock engaged locks your front and rear tail shafts so you have direct power to front and back diffs but open diffs as standard will only give drive to one wheel at each end, i fitted a detroit in the back and a trutrac at the front of my 95 110, now the only thing that stops me is tyre grip and ground clearance, very happy with it

[dawsey]

may be a silly question but how would traction control react in that situation. would it apply the brakes to all spinning wheels ..so you go nowhere..

[rijidij]

may be a silly question but how would traction control react in that situation. would it apply the brakes to all spinning wheels ..so you go nowhere..

Traction control would apply the brakes to the two spinning wheels which would in turn feed the drive to the other two wheels which have more grip, but give me front and rear Maxi Drives any day.

Cheers, Murray

[Xtreme]

Traction control would apply the brakes to the two spinning wheels which would in turn feed the drive to the other two wheels which have more grip, but give me front and rear Maxi Drives any day.

Cheers, Murray

Agreed - TC is good but it is a reactionary system. ie you loose traction (wheel/s spin) before the TC cuts in and tries to get you moving again. Far better not to loose traction in the first place, not only by using cross axle diff locks but by employing all the other traction aids (correct tyres, pressures, speed, use of throttle, right line etc ) to avoid spinning wheels and going nowhere.

I often shake my head when I see drivers spinning wheels madly thinking that they are somehow going to regain forward motion - all it achieves usually is to rip the track up, spew rocks or sand everywhere and buries them. :rolleyes:

[camel_landy]

A differential, while it's great at letting you drive around corners, is utterly crap when you have a slippery surface!!

Why? It's coz the diff will transmit the power through the path of least resistance.

Imagine the back end of a MK2 Escort... Stick one wheel on ice & the other wheel on tarmac, give it a load of 'beans' and what's going to happen??? Yep, the wheel on the ice is just going to spin and you'll go nowhere.

The same is true for a Defender.

The centre diff-lock just means you get a 50/50 power split between the front & rear axles. When the power reaches those axles, if one side has grip and the other side doesn't, you'll just end up spinning the wheel with the least grip/resistance.

Now factor in Traction Control...

All TC does is react to a spinning wheel and then uses the brakes to provide 'Resistance'. Once the brakes are applied, the "Path of least resistance" should now be a wheel with grip.

However, for TC to start working, it needs to notice that the wheels are moving out of sync. Thing is, if you're giving it too much power, when the TC applies the brakes and re-directs the power to the other wheels, all that's going to happen is those other wheels are going to start spinning!!

Learn how to use it and TC is a useful tool but it's not idiot proof! As with everything in life, it's about finding that balance. ;)

M