old dogs learn new tricks
 

WOW!!!

I guess I learned something, too. Can I be dimissed from class now? All this time, I've been putting the transmission in neutral in order to spin the rear wheels when I had them both off the ground. And I never noticed that the wheels will spin in opposite directions. Guess I learned 2 things today.

Jack --- I've got a free transmission if you need one; however, it is for pickup only.

When in Park, the driveshaft is effectively prevented from turning and the pinion gear in the diff won't turn.

However, the spider gears, which allow the rear wheels to turn at different speeds, will rotate around the fixed ring gear and allow the wheels to turn in opposite directions at the same speed.

The manual transmission works the same in any gear. The engine effectively functions as "Park" in an automatic.

If you park a car using "PARK" that has a regular differential on a hill with one wheel on ice and the other on pavement, the car will slide down the hill. The wheel on pavement will turn forward normally with the movement of the car, and the wheel on ice will turn backwards, as in reverse, while slipping on the ice.

There aren't that many situations where you would slide this way, but setting the car's parking brake makes a car more securely parked than just using the transmission.

Also, when one rear wheel loses traction, it will spin and the car doesn't move. You don't have two-wheel drive, it's one-wheel drive.

Ken300D