At 10:24 PM 9/16/2005, Bill L wrote:
>Hello Nory,
>
> All Wheel Drive is ALWAYS engaged. a 4-Wheel drive usually has
> some kind of locking hubs, and/or a button, knob, or lever to
its not as completely simple as that, although the above is
true. A true 4-wheel drive has problems driving on the street since
the front wheels travel a different distance than the rear wheel
during sharp turns and also unless the gears front to rear are
perfectly matched either the front wheels will drive harder than the
rears or the rear will push the front end, we are not talking about a
lot here, maybe 1/100th (maybe even 1/1000th I don't know) of a
revolution difference but that will eventually bind up the u-joints
and if you keep a 4-wheel drive engaged on city streets, you will
find that you "chatter" the tires more than normal and will wear out
parts much quicker as you bind the u-joints between the front and the
rear (hopefully you wont damage the transfer case but we wont get
into how I know that)
A all-wheel drive system has clutches or other technology to
prevent that from happening and prevents the binding.
This assumes you are talking 4-wheel drive as in off-road vehicles
and all-wheel drive as in cars, etc. All-wheel drive off road
trucks/jeeps do exist but they are not as common as 4-wheel drive.
Mike
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Rambour
Bug Writer err...Programmer
mikey@b2systems.com
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