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What do Differential setting should i use?

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scottpez

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
i have read the manual and it isn't very clear to me yet. the options are High, Auto Diff, Low. i drive with it in high. should i use auto? would that help my gas milage?

what exactly does this do for the vehicle?

what do you all use?

oh i have a v8 04 if that matters.
 
#2 ·
High is auto. Then there is LOW range, which also is auto unless you turn the knob to lock either the center diff, rear diff or both.
 
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#3 ·
Four settings (if you have the optional Rear Diff Lock):
1. High - Auto Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
2. Low - Auto Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
3. Low - Locked Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
(4. Low - Locked Center Diff, Locked Rear Diff)

You can't lock the Center Diff in High
You can't lock the Rear Diff without Locking the Center Diff.

And just in case you didn't know, don't EVER lock any diff on a hard surface.
 
#5 ·
enchanted egg said:
Haven't done it yet. But why not on a hard surface? I gather it should only be done on dirt.
Click to expand...
You need to be on a surface that will allow a little bit of slip when diffs are locked. It would really chew up tires to use diff locks on road surfaces.
 
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#6 ·
Or break or twist axels.
 
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#7 ·
That makes sense. Glad I park the car on the dirt all the time. Gonna go set the diffs and put it in low and see what it will do. But what happens when I go on the street. Should the drive be a short one? Not that I'm going to drive around with diffs locked mind you, just up and down the block maybe.
 
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#8 ·
You can drive around in low with unlocked diffs all you want, and other than revving the hell out of the motor and transmission, you're not going to harm anything. When you lock the diff (or diffs), however, there is a binding in the drivetrain due to the wheels needing to spin at different speeds and them not being able to do so.

If you want to experiment with diff locks, I'd find a loose gravel parking lot, and roll down the windows and listen to the differences when making a low-speed, tight, circular turn. You'll hear nothing out of the ordinary with them unlocked, but you will hear sliding/spinning/crabbing tires on the gravel with one or both diffs locked. The vehicle may also shift or step out to one side or the other during that turn, depending on which wheels hold better traction. If the tires can't slide on the surface you're on (ie pavement), all that twist that would otherwise be wheelspin/wheelslip gets held in the driveshafts, tires, and hubs, causing wear and tear, and possibly excessive tire wear or failure of driveshafts and CV joints.

Basically, as was said, on a hard surface never engage the diff locks. On a loose surface, it is OK to engage them, but I'd recommend only using them to avoid being stuck, or to get unstuck.

Matt
 
#9 ·
AndrieK said:
Four settings (if you have the optional Rear Diff Lock):
1. High - Auto Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
2. Low - Auto Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
3. Low - Locked Center Diff, Open Rear Diff
(4. Low - Locked Center Diff, Locked Rear Diff)

You can't lock the Center Diff in High
You can't lock the Rear Diff without Locking the Center Diff.

And just in case you didn't know, don't EVER lock any diff on a hard surface.
Click to expand...
How do you "lock" and "unlock" and how do you achieve settings 3 and 4?
 
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#10 ·
The transfer case control knob has detents at the 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and 4 o'clock positions as standard. If you have the optional rear diff lock, you have an additional detent at 6 o'clock. As listed in the message by AndrieK:

High is at the 10 o'clock position
Low is at the 2 o'clock position
Low with center locked is at the 4 o'clock position
Low with center and real locked (if applicable) is the 6 o'clock position.

To change the settings, simply push down on the knob so it pops up, and turn it. You need to be in neutral to shift from high to low or vice versa. Once in low, you can keep turning the knob as necessary to lock or unlock the diff(s) as conditions require.

Matt
 
#11 ·
This is great. Time to play more with the Treg, try this out, and see if the 6 o'clock is there. Thanks Matt!
 
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#12 ·
Ever ride one of those 3-wheel ATV's before they banned them?

Remember how if you were riding on hard pavement you couldn't turn? You had to lean and pull the outside wheel up off the ground so you could turn? Same deal. They had a solid axle (like when your differential is locked): When turning, the outside wheel has to turn faster than the inside wheel, since it has a longer path to travel. When the axle is locked (or solid), it can't. So in the case of the ATV you had to momentarily jerk the wheel up so it could, ah, catch up (?), or whatever.

In the case of a 4x4, it'll do as described in previous posts.
 
#14 ·
Beach driving

Yo fellas,

Since I haven't had a chance to take my Treg on the beach yet (but that is coming soon), do you guys have any recommendations on what setting I should use? Do I need to turn off the ESP? What happens to the TPMS when I air down my tires and will this damage the TPMS? I beach drive in New Jersey (where airing down is not always necessary) to Cape Hatteras (where airing down IS a necessity). Coming from a '02 Chevy TrailBlazer, so this awesome Treg is all new to me! Any advice is greatly appreciated. BTW, I'll be posting my 3,000 mile report very soon (with pictures if I can figure that out).

Dave
 
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#15 ·
I've never aired down tires and had any problems in the Touareg. As for ESP --- on the sand --- most definitely turn it off.
 
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#17 ·
Just Curious

For those of you with rear diff lock, how many times have you actually had to use it?

Since we're finally getting close [fingers crossed] to the V6 TDI order, I'm looking for "must haves", "would like to haves", and "could do withouts".

Thx.
 
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#18 ·
The Rear Diff Lock definately makes a difference if you're doing serious off-roading. On steep inclines with little traction, like loose gravel or mud, you tend to lose momentum a bit because the Traction Control needs to do all the work.

Don't get me wrong, the TC is excellent, probably one of the best systems on the market, but all TC systems have one fundamental flaw: A wheel needs to spin for the TC to detect wheel spin. Once it sees the wheel spinning it will try to stop it from spinning, but by then you've already lost a bit of momentum, because you've slowed down. The quicker the reaction time of the TC, the better the system works.

With the rear diff lock, you will only have wheel spin on the rear axle when BOTH wheels lose traction. So you can potentially keep you momentum for longer. A diff lock's "reaction time" is effectively zero.

When I did the 650km trip through the Namib Desert, I mainly used Hi Range, ESP off, which means the Traction Control did the work. Whenever I got stuck, or close to it, I stopped, put in Low with all the diff locks on, and reversed out in my tracks.

Generally speaking I'd say you could probably get through 90% of your off-roasd driving without even using your Center Diff Lock, and most Treg driviers don't venture into the last 10% of terrain because there's a possibility that you could damage the vehicle's bodywork and undercarriage.

Let me put it this way: I would never bother with a rear difflock on a V10, because you can't fit smaller wheels on a V10, which means you can't fit off-road tyres on a V10, which means you'll never go with a V10 where you'll need a rear diff lock.
 
#19 ·
AndrieK said:
The Rear Diff Lock definately makes a difference if you're doing serious off-roading. On steep inclines with little traction, like loose gravel or mud, you tend to lose momentum a bit because the Traction Control needs to do all the work.

Don't get me wrong, the TC is excellent, probably one of the best systems on the market, but all TC systems have one fundamental flaw: A wheel needs to spin for the TC to detect wheel spin. Once it sees the wheel spinning it will try to stop it from spinning, but by then you've already lost a bit of momentum, because you've slowed down. The quicker the reaction time of the TC, the better the system works.

With the rear diff lock, you will only have wheel spin on the rear axle when BOTH wheels lose traction. So you can potentially keep you momentum for longer. A diff lock's "reaction time" is effectively zero.

When I did the 650km trip through the Namib Desert, I mainly used Hi Range, ESP off, which means the Traction Control did the work. Whenever I got stuck, or close to it, I stopped, put in Low with all the diff locks on, and reversed out in my tracks.

Generally speaking I'd say you could probably get through 90% of your off-roasd driving without even using your Center Diff Lock, and most Treg driviers don't venture into the last 10% of terrain because there's a possibility that you could damage the vehicle's bodywork and undercarriage.

Let me put it this way: I would never bother with a rear difflock on a V10, because you can't fit smaller wheels on a V10, which means you can't fit off-road tyres on a V10, which means you'll never go with a V10 where you'll need a rear diff lock.
Click to expand...
Excellent description by AndrieK, for summer offroading, but I'd like to ask, concerning the locking rear diff option, if it would help out at all in harsh winter climates, from getting stuck in seriously high snowdrifts, etc?



 
#20 ·
I've used mine a few times. Mostly with very deep mud. It is suprising how slippery an inch of mud is, when it's over frozen ground. Our dirt roads are graded during the winter to conrol the ruts, when smooth and frozen they are great. Let the sun get on them for an hour or two, and you want all the tire you can find. My first Treg didn't have the lock for the rear, I ordered it for the V10. After five years and two Tregs, my opinion is it's not essential, but nice to have.
 
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