A differential divides the 100% of driving force between two wheels. If both wheels have equal traction, each one gets 50%. The problem is, the wheel with the least traction gets the most power. So, if one tire has worse traction then the other, it gets more power, not less. Also why if you jack one up in the air, it spins double-speed while the other does nothing. If one wheel has zero traction, it gets %100 of the power. But, with a car or truck on the road, it's pretty rare when any wheel has zero traction - so even when the lower traction wheel isn't turning, it usually still has some force being applied to it.
This is also why trucks with very weak springs tend to get better traction. Weak springs usually means the truck weight is more evenly applied to all four wheels on uneven ground. Stiff springs usually means worse weight distribution. Back when Chevy had coil-spring rear trucks, they were known for being lousy load carriers but having great traction.
When a lower-traction tire spins, if you have a way of applying a brake to it - it will force the other to spin. Just like on any farm tractor with a left and right brake pedal. If the right tire spins, you hit the right brake and the left then gets more power.
Newer cars with "Traction Control" do this sort of brake controlling electronically.
In an older car or truck, if you can apply all the brakes to an extent that it makes drag equal, they will all turn. An old trick with 2WD pickups is, when one wheel starts to spin, you apply the rear parking brake until they both start to work. Of course, that means the parking brake has to be working.
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Today's Featured Article - What Oil Should I Use? - by Francis Robinson. I keep seein this question pop up over and over again in discussion groups all over the web. As with many things there are often several right answers and a few wrong ones. Some purist I'm sure will disagree to no end with what I will tell you but most of us out here in the real world don't really care do we ? Some of them only bring their noses down out of the air long enough to look down them anyway. If you are like me you are only doing this old tractor stuff because you enjoy it. You
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