brake for power transfer

[vortec]

i'm sure the "brake trick" is familiar to most of you. when spinning one tire on each open differential, give it some brake to transfer power to the wheel that isn't slipping. i have only tried it on my pickup, and it worked pretty well. does this work decently on early 80's k5's? i don't really know if my pickup's abs played a part in it working, but of course, my 82 k5 does not have abs.

 

[89GMCSuburban]

Use the parking brake, not full on brakes to do that...works pretty well

 

[diesel4me]

Dune buggy trick

Old Dune Buggies with VW beetle chassis used a "twin stick" emergency brake so you could apply the brake to the spinning wheel,and fool the spider gears into driving the other wheel with more traction..a poor mans "posi"!...I often wondered why no one tried this on other vehicles...would be handy on a 2wd truck,or a fwd car too--maybe thats how the "traction control" on newer cars works??

 

[vortec]

that vw setup sounds good. i guess they were feeling too cheap to put a locker back there. i can understand that, short term, i guess. probably be easy to rig up on a k5, too. but i don't think i'm that cheap. ha.

 

[CyberSniper]

Old Dune Buggies with VW beetle chassis used a "twin stick" emergency brake so you could apply the brake to the spinning wheel,and fool the spider gears into driving the other wheel with more traction..a poor mans "posi"!...I often wondered why no one tried this on other vehicles...would be handy on a 2wd truck,or a fwd car too--maybe thats how the "traction control" on newer cars works??

Those are called cutting brakes and have been used on tractors since the dawn of time.

I used to use the brake trick all the time when I had open differentials. Most people don't believe me when I say it works.

 

[diesel4me]

My ford had them!

I had a 600 series ford tractor that had the individual brakes!--that was the best way to steer it,it had no power steering,and even if you did manage to cut the wheels far enough it still didn't turn for squat until you locked the rear wheel on the side you were turning towards....mine lacked a differential lock,so I often used the brakes to "unstuck" myself when I got it mired down in the mud--worked pretty slick,only had to yank it out with my truck once..

 

[dirtwarrior17]

As far as i know there are 2 types of "traction control" that are being used in the newer cars.... one applies the brakes to the wheel that is slipping, and the other sends power to the wheel with the most traction.

I want the new cherokees diffs.... those things are sick. locker, open, posi, all in one diff without ever pushing a button.