Do Front-Wheel Drive Cars Have Differential?
1 Answers
Front-wheel drive cars do have a differential. Both front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles are equipped with only one differential, which is installed on the drive axle. The car differential is a mechanism that allows the left and right drive wheels to rotate at different speeds. It mainly consists of left and right half-shaft gears, two planetary gears, and a gear carrier. Its function is to enable the left and right wheels to roll at different speeds when the car is turning or driving on uneven roads. The axle that synchronizes the rotation of the wheels must be divided into left and right halves and connected by a differential gear mechanism. When turning, the differential mechanism eliminates the tire slippage caused by the difference in the distance traveled by the inner and outer wheels. Since the drive wheels must rotate synchronously with the axle, both front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive axles must be equipped with a differential.