Power Divider - When & how to use it

When you get stuck

 

Used mine several times today. It locks the differentials and sends more power to the wheels that have traction, thus enabling one to escape sticky situations like being stuck in snow.

Use only in low gear (1 or 2), dont drive with it on, youll make your truck sad.

 

I like to think of the truck having 3 "open" differentials. 1 differential between front drive tires, 1 differential between your rear drive tires, and 1 "differential" (the power divider) between front and rear axle (its actually in the front axle, but for imaginative purposes lets say it is in between).

With open differentials, one side is allowed to spin faster than the other. This allows you to go around corners without scrubbing off your tires (the outside tires have to travel farther so they need to spin faster).

The downside is that while you have 4 drive positions, if only 1 of them begins to spin -- all the power goes to it so you lose traction.

The power divider locks the front and rear axles so that both axles must spin at the same speed. This means that of the 4 drive positions, at least 2 will always be getting power. It is very much like a 4x4 with 4wd engaged. The rules of engagement are the same -- you can shift your 4x4 from 2H to 4H "on the fly" as long as you aren't spinning any tires -- you can do the same with your power divider.

Some trucks also have a differential lock. This locks one of the axle's differentials so that the left position and the right position spin at the same speed. With differential locks, you probably ought to be stopped before engaging and you don't want to drive very fast (I wouldn't go over 15mph with a diff lock).

 

but....how do you get anywhere if you don't drive with it on?

OH....like granny compound low when we would walk beside the truck loading the bails out in the field and the truck would just track along slower than molasses without a driver!

 

What does the traction control switch do that I have in addition to the power divider. Up is on, center is off, and down is diagnostic etc. Says it is fine to run at any speed just don't engage when spinning.

 

traction control switch usually turns off traction control. If you were going to be driving through a mud patch, for example, you might want to turn the traction control off and spin the tires all the way through because traction control would want to apply the brakes to spinning wheels which would just get you stuck faster.

 

Clarification:

You do not have to stop when switching on the Power Divider. Switch it 'on the fly', while rolling. Let completely off the throttle and switch it on.

Say youre climbing a hill and your wheels start to spin. Off the throttle, switch the power divider on, get back on the throttle. Downshift if neccesary. DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP on a slick hill. You are stuck. And so is everyone behind you that wishes that you had stayed in the parkinglot.
It's a rookie thing, but we've all seen it. Rookie driver on an incline comes to a complete halt to engage the power divider. M-A-J-O-R screwup. Dont do it. Shift on the fly.

 

HA!

I wish it would lock all four tires for real traction. Many times I could have used that when it was only spinning one on each side.

Mikeeee

 

The power divider can be engaged at any speed as long as all drive wheels are turning the same speed. It can be driven at road speed when engaged and not cause problems. When your truck will become sad is if you engage the power divider while one wheel is spinning. For newbies I always recommend to stop and engage it then disengage ASAP. Course this is just till you get the hang of it.


The traction control usually is like an air locker it locks it side to side (positrac) where the power divider locks them front to rear