Front wheels don't spin free when jacked up

[Msfitoy]

The one wheel burnout with an open differential has more to do with which wheel has the most traction, or should I say the least. It has nothing to do with the mechanical internals. Most modern vehicles now use the ABS to brake the spinning wheel and stop the wheel spin.

I believe thats how our front diff "lock" works...good old brake and gas...

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[9zero1790]

maybe its the tail gate damper ... made us weak so the wheel feels hard to spin...

 

[notsolinear]

My recollection is that the goal/design of an open differential is to apply equal torque to each of the output shafts. It manages to apply equal torque even when the wheels are rotating at different speeds. If one wheel breaks free it will spin faster because of the equal torque on both drive shafts due to dynamic friction being less than static.

If some vehicle with an open diff consistently spins the same wheel during a burnout that probably says more about slight asymmetries in the drive train causing small imbalance of torque between the wheels. Similar to how you get torque steer on a FWD car.

 

[notsolinear]

Maybe you should understand that in an open diff only one wheel gets power when faced with a lack of grip or resistance.

This statement is technically true but possibly not in the sense that you intended. An open differential will always apply equal torque to both output shafts, regardless of circumstance. “Power” is defined as torque multiplied by angular velocity. When one wheel has no traction it will spin fast while the other wheel barely moves. By definition the spinning wheel gets most of the “power” while the one with traction gets very little. But I think when most people say a wheel is “driven” they would be referring to torque, which is equal between the output shafts.

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