Locking Rear Differential?
- Thread starter seagrave
- Start date
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Lots of opinions on them.
1 fact is that when the rear dif is locked, both rear wheels will move at the same speed. This is fine if you are going in a straight line. When you turn(with the dif unlocked) the inner wheel will not rotate as quickly as the outer wheel. But with the rear dif locked both wheels rotate at the same speed, which is fine on ice or any slippery surface, but on dry pavement this will put stress on the dif and the tires, potentially causing major damage.
Rear dif locks for off roading are common and have their uses. Unless you are going off road I dont see the need to use them. If you are concerned about winter driving on paved roads I'd recommend either getting an AWD denali or a 4wd tahoe.
1 fact is that when the rear dif is locked, both rear wheels will move at the same speed. This is fine if you are going in a straight line. When you turn(with the dif unlocked) the inner wheel will not rotate as quickly as the outer wheel. But with the rear dif locked both wheels rotate at the same speed, which is fine on ice or any slippery surface, but on dry pavement this will put stress on the dif and the tires, potentially causing major damage.
Rear dif locks for off roading are common and have their uses. Unless you are going off road I dont see the need to use them. If you are concerned about winter driving on paved roads I'd recommend either getting an AWD denali or a 4wd tahoe.
Thanks for the replies. I live in Southern California and I won't be doing much off-roading. But I do go up into the snow to go skiing very often during the winter. Therefore, are there any other Con's related to Performance and/or Gas Consumption with having a locking rear differential on a new Tahoe. Only reason I ask is that this '08 Tahoe I am looking at has all the options I want along with the addition of an added Locking Differential. Just want to make sure this is not going to affect my normal driving.
LAP TOP GAMER
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The locking diff on the GMT 900 series only locks if it needs to, other than that it is open.
I dont know about the rear dif lock on the 2008 tahoe. But on the 2007 it is standard in the Z71 package, it only engages if there is a loss of traction on one of the rear wheels. I wouldn't consider this a negative. Dont expect it to get you out of a spin on ice, it is not stabilitrak. It is also not a replacement for 4wd.
Automatic rear dif locks have no negatives AFAIK, manual ones can have negatives.
Automatic rear dif locks have no negatives AFAIK, manual ones can have negatives.
73shark
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G80 VIDEO
Here's a good G80 video by Eaton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8nAbg5suFw
Got off another forum.
Here's a good G80 video by Eaton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8nAbg5suFw
Got off another forum.
