Dumb wheel direction question

This may sound silly but on a 1994 Dodge Caravan with the 3.0 engine
and the automatic transmission are the drivers and passangers tires
suppose to turn opposite directions when the vehicle is in Park? For
example if the front of the vehicle was up on jack-stands and it was
in Park and you turned the drivers wheel forwards is it normal that
the passengers wheel would be turning backwards?

Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive,, it is normal for one of the
wheels to turn/rotate in opposite direction from the opposite wheel.It
is suppose to, that is because of the gears in the differential.
cuhulin

Sara Brown > wrote in news:cf8d5239-b062-464f-96cf-
:

> This may sound silly but on a 1994 Dodge Caravan with the 3.0 engine
> and the automatic transmission are the drivers and passangers tires
> suppose to turn opposite directions when the vehicle is in Park? For
> example if the front of the vehicle was up on jack-stands and it was
> in Park and you turned the drivers wheel forwards is it normal that
> the passengers wheel would be turning backwards?




Yep; perfectly normal.

If your vehicle has an "open" differential and both driven wheels are off
the ground, then they will turn in different directions when one is spun by
hand.

However, if your vehicle has a "limited slip" differential, both wheels
will turn the SAME direction when one is spun by hand.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4JhruinbWc>
This is long, and at first seems off-topic, but watch it ALL the way
through.

More...
<http://www.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm>


--
Tegger

On Mar 7, 5:54*pm, Sara Brown > wrote:
> This may sound silly but on a 1994 Dodge Caravan with the 3.0 engine
> and the automatic transmission are the drivers and passangers tires
> suppose to turn opposite directions when the vehicle is in Park? For
> example if the front of the vehicle was up on jack-stands and it was
> in Park and you turned the drivers wheel forwards is it normal that
> the passengers wheel would be turning backwards?

Yes perfectly normal...

I also recall somewhere some cars wheels will move in the same
direction when turned. This signifies if the vehicle has a limited
slip differential or not as well.

Sara Brown wrote:
> This may sound silly but on a 1994 Dodge Caravan with the 3.0 engine
> and the automatic transmission are the drivers and passangers tires
> suppose to turn opposite directions when the vehicle is in Park? For
> example if the front of the vehicle was up on jack-stands and it was
> in Park and you turned the drivers wheel forwards is it normal that
> the passengers wheel would be turning backwards?

Yes, that is the result of the differential gears that allow the two
wheels to turn at different rates when going around a corner. The sum of
the rotational speeds of the two wheels has to equal the input shaft
speed (times a constant which is the gear ratio of the differential
itself). When on jackstands, the input shaft speed is zero so if you
rotate one wheel forward at 2 rpm, the other wheel has to rotate at "-2"
rpm to sum to zero.

I had forgot about limited slip.In that case, both wheels should turn in
the same direction.

1957 BMW Isetta car I bought in 1963 from an Air Force Officer at Scott
Air Force Base,Illinois when I was in the Army.That little car had an
enclosed chain drive, both rear wheels were close together to each
other.That way, no differential was needed.
cuhulin

> wrote in message
...
>I had forgot about limited slip.In that case, both wheels should turn
>in
> the same direction.

It depends on the sort of limited slip. The type used by Ford and
others, depends on the differential being under load to activate the
clutch packs. When the differential is lightly loaded, the clutch
packs may not engage, and the differential may act like a normal open
differential.

Also if the limited slip function was engaged, and the car was in
park, you wouldn't be able to turn either wheels at all. In park (or
with a manual transmission in gear and the engine off ) the input
shaft of the differential would be prevented from rotating. If the
limited slip constrains the two output shafts to turn together, then
they would not be able to turn at all, if the input shaft couldn't
rotate.

Ed

On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:34:20 -0600, cuhulin wrote:

>
> 1957 BMW Isetta car I bought in 1963

YOU had a Steve Urkel car?!?!

On 3/8/2010 12:53 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
> On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:34:20 -0600, cuhulin wrote:
>
>>
>> 1957 BMW Isetta car I bought in 1963
>
> YOU had a Steve Urkel car?!?!
>
>
>

BMW car = Beemer

BMW motorcycle = Bimmer

BMW Issetta = Blooper

dsi1 wrote:
>
> BMW car = Beemer
>
> BMW motorcycle = Bimmer
>
> BMW Issetta = Blooper

No, no, no...

car = Bimmer

motorcycle = Beemer (Beamer?)