The purpose of the final drive gear assembly is to provide the ultimate stage of gear reduction to decrease RPM and increase rotational torque. Typical final drive ratios could be between 3:1 and 4.5:1. It really is because of this that the wheels never spin as fast as the engine (in almost all applications) even though the transmission is within an overdrive gear. The final drive assembly is linked to the differential. In FWD (front-wheel drive) applications, the ultimate drive and differential assembly can be found inside the transmission/transaxle case. In a typical RWD (rear-wheel drive) program with the engine and tranny mounted in the front, the final drive and differential assembly sit down in the trunk of the automobile and receive rotational torque from the tranny through a drive shaft. In RWD applications the ultimate drive assembly receives insight at a 90° position to the drive wheels. The final drive assembly must account for this to drive the trunk wheels. The objective of the differential is to permit one input to drive 2 wheels along with allow those driven wheels to rotate at different speeds as a car encircles a corner.
A RWD final drive sits in the rear of the vehicle, between the two back wheels. It really is located in the housing which also could also enclose two axle shafts. Rotational torque is used in the final drive through a drive shaft that runs between the transmission and the ultimate drive. The ultimate drive gears will consist of a pinion equipment and a ring equipment. The pinion equipment gets the rotational torque from the drive shaft and uses it to rotate the band gear. The pinion equipment is much smaller and includes a lower tooth count compared to the large ring equipment. Thus giving the driveline it’s last drive ratio.The driveshaft provides rotational torque at a 90º angle to the direction that the wheels must rotate. The ultimate drive makes up because of this with the way the pinion gear drives the ring equipment inside the housing. When installing or establishing a final drive, how the pinion equipment contacts the ring gear must be considered. Ideally the tooth get in touch with should happen in the specific centre of the band gears tooth, at moderate to complete load. (The gears force away from eachother as load can be applied.) Many final drives are of a hypoid design, which means that the pinion gear sits below the centreline of the ring gear. This enables manufacturers to lower the body of the car (because the drive shaft sits lower) to improve aerodynamics and lower the vehicles centre of gravity. Hypoid pinion gear the teeth are curved which causes a sliding action as the pinion gear drives the ring gear. In addition, it causes multiple pinion equipment teeth to communicate with the band gears teeth which makes the connection more powerful and quieter. The band equipment drives the differential, which drives the axles or axle Final wheel drive shafts which are connected to the trunk wheels. (Differential procedure will be described in the differential portion of this content) Many final drives home the axle shafts, others use CV shafts just like a FWD driveline. Since a RWD final drive is external from the transmitting, it requires its oil for lubrication. This is typically plain equipment essential oil but many hypoid or LSD final drives require a special kind of fluid. Make reference to the program manual for viscosity and additional special requirements.

Note: If you are going to change your back diff liquid yourself, (or you intend on starting the diff up for provider) before you allow fluid out, make certain the fill port can be opened. Nothing worse than letting fluid out and having no way to getting new fluid back in.
FWD last drives are very simple in comparison to RWD set-ups. Almost all FWD engines are transverse installed, which implies that rotational torque is created parallel to the direction that the wheels must rotate. You don’t have to modify/pivot the path of rotation in the ultimate drive. The ultimate drive pinion gear will sit on the end of the output shaft. (multiple result shafts and pinion gears are feasible) The pinion gear(s) will mesh with the ultimate drive ring equipment. In almost all instances the pinion and band gear could have helical cut tooth just like the rest of the transmitting/transaxle. The pinion equipment will be smaller sized and have a lower tooth count compared to the ring equipment. This produces the ultimate drive ratio. The ring equipment will drive the differential. (Differential procedure will be explained in the differential section of this content) Rotational torque is delivered to the front wheels through CV shafts. (CV shafts are generally referred to as axles)
An open up differential is the most common type of differential found in passenger vehicles today. It can be a simple (cheap) style that uses 4 gears (occasionally 6), that are known as spider gears, to drive the axle shafts but also permit them to rotate at different speeds if necessary. “Spider gears” is usually a slang term that is commonly used to describe all of the differential gears. There are two various kinds of spider gears, the differential pinion gears and the axle side gears. The differential case (not housing) receives rotational torque through the band gear and uses it to drive the differential pin. The differential pinion gears ride upon this pin and are driven by it. Rotational torpue is usually then transferred to the axle aspect gears and out through the CV shafts/axle shafts to the tires. If the automobile is venturing in a straight line, there is absolutely no differential actions and the differential pinion gears only will drive the axle side gears. If the automobile enters a switch, the external wheel must rotate quicker compared to the inside wheel. The differential pinion gears will begin to rotate as they drive the axle part gears, allowing the outer wheel to speed up and the within wheel to decelerate. This design works well provided that both of the powered wheels have traction. If one wheel does not have enough traction, rotational torque will observe the road of least level of resistance and the wheel with little traction will spin while the wheel with traction will not rotate at all. Since the wheel with traction isn’t rotating, the automobile cannot move.
Limited-slide differentials limit the quantity of differential actions allowed. If one wheel starts spinning excessively faster compared to the other (way more than durring regular cornering), an LSD will limit the velocity difference. This is an benefit over a regular open differential design. If one drive wheel looses traction, the LSD action will allow the wheel with traction to get rotational torque and invite the vehicle to move. There are several different designs currently in use today. Some work better than others based on the application.
Clutch style LSDs derive from a open differential design. They have a separate clutch pack on each of the axle part gears or axle shafts in the final drive housing. Clutch discs sit between the axle shafts’ splines and the differential case. Half of the discs are splined to the axle shaft and the others are splined to the differential case. Friction material is used to separate the clutch discs. Springs place strain on the axle side gears which put strain on the clutch. If an axle shaft really wants to spin quicker or slower than the differential case, it must overcome the clutch to do so. If one axle shaft tries to rotate quicker compared to the differential case then your other will try to rotate slower. Both clutches will resist this action. As the acceleration difference increases, it becomes harder to overcome the clutches. When the vehicle is making a tight turn at low speed (parking), the clutches provide little level of resistance. When one drive wheel looses traction and all of the torque goes to that wheel, the clutches resistance becomes a lot more apparent and the wheel with traction will rotate at (near) the velocity of the differential case. This kind of differential will most likely need a special type of fluid or some form of additive. If the fluid isn’t changed at the proper intervals, the clutches may become less effective. Resulting in small to no LSD actions. Fluid change intervals differ between applications. There can be nothing wrong with this design, but remember that they are just as strong as an ordinary open differential.
Solid/spool differentials are mostly used in drag racing. Solid differentials, like the name implies, are totally solid and will not really allow any difference in drive wheel rate. The drive wheels generally rotate at the same quickness, even in a convert. This is not an issue on a drag race vehicle as drag vehicles are driving in a straight line 99% of the time. This can also be an advantage for vehicles that are being set-up for drifting. A welded differential is a regular open differential that has experienced the spider gears welded to create a solid differential. Solid differentials are a good modification for vehicles designed for track use. For street make use of, a LSD option would be advisable over a solid differential. Every switch a vehicle takes will cause the axles to wind-up and tire slippage. This is most visible when generating through a sluggish turn (parking). The result is accelerated tire wear as well as premature axle failing. One big benefit of the solid differential over the other types is its power. Since torque is used right to each axle, there is no spider gears, which are the weak spot of open differentials.