Date:         Sun, 15 May 2005 20:09:53 -0700
Reply-To:     vanagon teepee <vanagonteepee@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         vanagon teepee <vanagonteepee@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Need Viscous Coupling Refresher Course - '91 Syncro
In-Reply-To:  <37fb6bd5d4d3e1cffe48beb00ee71015@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On 5/15/05, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:
> The nature of the Syncro mechanism is such that you can get stuck with
> spinning wheels, if ONE of the rear wheels is spinning and ONE of the
> front wheels is spinning (rear diff lock not engaged.) If the rear diff
> lock >IS< engaged, then you can get stuck with ONE of the front wheels
> spinning and BOTH of the rear wheels spinning.

Thank you, Kim.  This is the kind of stuff my brain was shorting out
on and helps me understand the limits of the syncro system from a
practical, driver's perspective.

So in my rainy day steep hill test it sounds like everything could
have been working but that I would have had a delayed/no 4WD effect if
one of the front and one of the rear wheels were both slipping on the
wet pavement, which actually makes some sense given the angle of my
van and corresponding weight distribution on each tire on the slope of
the hill.