Hit the E- brake and smoke 'em. LOL

rjp

This is for Subaru. As I understand it, the center differential is a standard open differential with two plates immersed in goo attached to the output. If the two outputs have (nearly) the same speed the two plates and the goo all rotate together and all is happy. The goo resists a differential speed in the output plates which will transfer more torque to the output going slower. If you do this continually the goo gets hot and degrades.

goo... :D That's the technical term for non-Newtonian fluid.

That's the same tech used in my VW syncro. People (on the VW forums) really seem to misunderstand how that system works. (all sorts of misguided 'tests' for determining whether the center diff is working correctly.) Anyway, it comes down to relative speeds of the front and rear diff's. That is, if you make minimum radius turn slowly, then the tires don't scrub. (as the coupling stays on the low viscosity side of the curve.) But if you make the same turn quickly tire scrub is noticeable. --the center diff starts to lock. ...and then the center diff blows up because it can't accommodate any speed differences. ;)

Seriously, as I said earlier, if the center diff can't handle some tire scrubbing, --esp something as small as a 32nd or so of effective rolling radius difference-- it's a crap design. And just how fast does a Subie need to travel to get a substantial relative F/R diff delta? (certainly the syncro Vanagons never get there)

I got it!
Put more air in the worn tire!
Why didn't we think of this before?
First I though about putting duct tape around the tire but was worried people would think that was stupid.
SmileWavy