Fervidsea

iTrader: (1)

Can someone tell me the differnce between the different types of driveline parts used?

I am currently looking into a few new cars and I see the differnce in diffs. One way, Ball Diffs and Spool I think are all there are or am I missing some?

What are the differences in these and/or what are the Pros and Cons of the differnet types of units.

Thanks

ford_racing

iTrader: (6)

this has been previously discussed with one ways and spools mainly

http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=88197
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=78230
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74571
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68812
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67891

last one is possibly the most helpful

Doomah

is a spool essentially a "locked" diff?

minicooper

iTrader: (5)

Yes, basically a locked diff.

Team Duratrax

From ActionRC:

Ball Diffs are, however, slightly adjustable. By slightly increasing or decreasing the tension on the diff screw (see your instruction manual for details on how) you can make the diff ‘looser’ or ‘tighter’ A tighter diff is one that is hard to turn. Tighter diffs help your car to put down power coming out of corners and in a straight line, whilst looser diffs help your car to turn corners better. If you loosen the diff to far, it will allow the diff to slip. Make no mistake - this is a bad thing. Diff slip damages the components of the diff and is inconsistent. Your instruction manual will describe how to tell if your diff is slipping or not. I never recommend running any diff slip.

One Ways: Some touring cars will be fitted with a front “one-way”. This allows the front wheels to over-rotate and means that the car is essentially two-wheel drive until the rear tyres start to lose traction. The advantages of a one-way are slightly higher top speed, slightly better run-time and better turn-in. The disadvantages are that the car is unstable under brakes (as it is essentially a two-wheel drive at that point) and a bit less generally “stable”. In low grip conditions a one-way can be a liability.

Spools: A more recent innovation is the use of a “spool” or locked front diff. A spool allows for no differential action and means that both front wheels are equally driven 100% of the time. Spools provide benefits in acceleration through and out of a corner, and provide great stability under brakes. The disadvantages of a spool are in loss of initial turn-in and in the incredible stresses put on the drive train. Spool-equipped cars can easily break front drive-shafts, uni-joins and diff outdrives. If you want to run a spool you would be well advised to (a) upgrade your front driveshafts and outdrives to steel or titanium; and (b) be a consistently good driver who doesn’t hit anything.