FUNGUA DIFFERENTIAL ( OPEN DIFFERENTIAL )

Open Differentials

We will start with the simplest type of differential, called an open differential. First we'll need to explore some terminology: The image below labels the components of an open differential.

When a car is driving straight down the road, both drive wheels are spinning at the same speed. The input pinion is turning the ring gear and cage, and none of the pinions within the cage are rotating -- both side gears are effectively locked to the cage.

Note that the input pinion is a smaller gear than the ring gear; this is the last gear reduction in the car. You may have heard terms like rear axle ratio or final drive ratio. These refer to the gear ratio in the differential. If the final drive ratio is 4.10, then the ring gear has 4.10 times as many teeth as the input pinion gear.