Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Lowe
Remember with smaller wheels there's much less stress on the diff...  |
Er... not quite! Stress on the diff is a function of the torque the diff has to transmit, and the weight of the car, not the size of the wheels. In off-road, there is so little grip compared to TC that the diffs take less of bashing.
As Warped says, the main stress that an Off Road diff takes is the constant shock loads of the car skipping across the terrain, and the wheels spinning up and then gripping again. What amazes me is the abuse an off-road diff will take before it cries "enough!" In a TC, it is the large amounts of torque in quite a weighty car that shorten their life, and in off-road that isn't the case. Wheel diameter is just a reflection of gearing, not load.
Either way, a geared diff is going to be much stronger from a life point of view, but will need more work to tune. However, once oyu have the space for a geared diff, you have the space for a Torsen diff - and they are awesome!