There is no such thing as a drive wheel. Ether one will spin, losing
traction. This leaves the other wheel with no torch.

            Eric                   86-VW4x4
            vw4x4@fyi.net          72-240z
            Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler

On Fri, 3 Dec 1999, David Greenland wrote:

> on 12/3/99 5:47 AM, Ron Bloomquist at roadcow@MCN.ORG wrote:
>
> > My, new to me, 1984 Vanagon will spin the right rear tire with very
> > little effort.
>
> As it's Friday, I'm going to make the most of this subject and try to
> educate myself.
>
> I believed that a differential will give power to the rear wheels equally,
> and that whichever wheel has the least traction will spin.
>
> I had this argument with a friend a couple of days ago and he was adamant
> that there was a drive wheel and a non drive wheel, and whatever the
> conditions only one of them will spin and it will be always the same one.
>
> Can anyone enlighten me here ? is this a leftover from some old differential
> design that isn't in production anymore.
>
> and one last thing. How does a 'traction bar' work ?
>
> TIA,
> Dave,
> Napa, CA
> '91 westy.
> -if I get stuck > 3 times in Tahoe this winter, it's up for sale!
>