Can anyone give me a rundown on the following
Low and High ratio when used,
Diff Lock as above,
Devlin

Devlin said:

Can anyone give me a rundown on the following
Low and High ratio when used,
Diff Lock as above,
Devlin

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Hi

It's actually really simple.

In a Landy like the Disco it's AWD, but it has a diff in the transfer box. This means it allows the front wheels to spin at a different speed to the rear wheels. This is ideal for road use and high speed use where often they'll need to spin at different speeds. This is the normal diff lock out position that you should use everyday.

The downside is when off road or on slippery surfaces the diff will follow the path of least resistance. This means that you AWD vehicle actually becomes a 1wd vehicles very easily.

Ignore the fact this is a 6x6, but it shows that even with that number of wheels, if the centre diff is "open" then AWD it might be, but it won't spin all the wheels: [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wiEXmTQ1oI&feature=related"]Six wheel Land Rover diff lock demonstration by Trevor Alder - YouTube[/nomedia]


By engaging diff lock (in either high or low range). It essentially locks the front and rear wheels together so they'll spin at the same speed. This makes it EQUAL to most other 4x4's such as Jeeps, Shoguns, Land Cruisers, etc. Centre Diff Lock does not make a Landy supeiror off road, it simply allows it to retain AWD on road.

You should only use centre difflock when off road on a slippery surface or where you might be lifting wheels off the ground (same thing really, air is really slippery! ). When engaged you should get an orange light on the dash and you should/might notice the steering feels heavier and the vehicle slightly less willing to turn. This is because you are forcing the front and rear wheels to turn at exactly the same time, even though the radius they will be turning is different.

Here's why its important to use it only on slippery surfaces. As the wheels are turning at the same speed, it means when you turn you'll get tyre scrub, in brief the rears will sort of scrub slide a bit. It you did this on a grippy surface like tarmac there would be too much grip to scrub and you get what is called transmission wind up. What this really means is, you are very likely to break a diff, halfshaft or something else transmission and drive line related.

Some examples of when to use diff lock:

-snow covered roads
-solid ice covered roads
-mud
-wet grass
-anything that will flex the suspension a lot or lift wheels off the ground
-steep off road ascents/descents


Some examples of when to NOT use diff lock:

-tarmac
-normal roads most of the time
-slush or only partially snow covered. If there's grip, try without diff lock first
-dry grass (again try without and see, if you keep getting stuck engage difflock)





High and Low Range.


In a Land Rover is has 2 gearboxes, the normal one that you get in every car with 5 forward gears and reverse. And the transfer box which has high and low.

High range is the normal road use gears, this allows use of all the normal gearbox gears like you would with a normal car.

Low range also allows you to use all 5 forwards gears and reverse, but they will appear a lot lower. This is for low speed work, usually off road.

It does several things:

-It allows a very slow crawl speed, stick it in first low and at tickover it'll be slower than walking pace. In off road situations this can often be very handy.

-Just as importantly, any gearbox is a torque multiplier. It sacrifices high speed rpms at the wheels to produce more torque at the wheels. Off road when you need to get up a steep slope this means you have more "grunt" at the wheels and are less likely to bog and stall. It also allows you to rev the engine to higher rpms (where it makes more power) without the need to go fast.

Typically low range will allow a max speed of near 40mph in 5th. But it's more recommended to stick to speeds of 15-20mph or below. Off road most the time you'll be at 1-10mph anyhow.

-Control. In slippery conditions, especially when going down a steep slippery descent low range will offer far more control and engine braking than high range will.


On the road you'll never need low range. Accept perhaps on a very slippery snowy section of road or hill, you might find it useful in such situations.

It is handy for low speed work, if you are backing up a trailer for instance, low range diff lock out, can give you more control than using high range.

Off road, unless the off roading is no more than a fairly flat field or smoothish lane, chances are you'll want low range. Or if you think you are moving too quickly in high range, drop it to low.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very informative, High and Low I had more or less an understanding of, the diff lock use less so, but very clear now thanks again.
Dev

Check "Driving techniques" in the owner's handbook. U'll get a bit wiser....but the parctice will make u master

Will do Thanks
Dev

I must be in the wrong forum, no one said do a search

davek0974 said:

I must be in the wrong forum, no one said do a search

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Good, because that's the lamest ****tist answer ever on a DISCUSSION forum.

300bhp/ton said:

Good, because that's the lamest ****tist answer ever on a DISCUSSION forum.

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It wasn't that bad for a friday.

Well, I am going to ask the stupidest question.... I have only recently bought my disco TD5 2000. Where is the diff lock on this? I cannot find it? There is only a high low ratio and no diff lock. Before I do switzerland in the snow, ideally I would like to use it! Or am I being totally dumb?

M.R

Traction control maybe?

you have traction control instead which uses abs system to apply brake to a spinning wheel ensuring other wheels turn,dif lock can be fitted and would effect traction control just depends on how much you have of mechanism in t/box

MudRat said:

Well, I am going to ask the stupidest question.... I have only recently bought my disco TD5 2000. Where is the diff lock on this? I cannot find it? There is only a high low ratio and no diff lock. Before I do switzerland in the snow, ideally I would like to use it! Or am I being totally dumb?

M.R

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D2;s have TCS, so LR decided to do away with the centre diff lock. Depending on year you can buy a kit to reinstate it though. Td5 Defender's have both.

That said, if you are not seriously off roading, then you might not notice it hugely, but personally I'd like it active.

diff lock can also be used to force the drive to the good axle when youve broke the drive train in the other one.....

ive used it to get home when a front axle cv joint broke


low range is also good for the kids first attempts at car control..... not on public roads of course