What is a differential lock?
A standard or “open” differential is designed to allow a pair of drive wheels to operate at different (differential) speeds. This commonly occurs whenever the vehicle goes around a curve or corner. This type of differential will only transmit as much power to the wheels as the wheel with the LEAST traction can use. On slick surfaces this means that just having one of the two wheels lose traction will cause neither wheel to be effective at applying power to the ground. To circumvent this situation, locking differentials (sometimes called “lockers”) were created to be able to apply power to both wheels regardless of their traction. A locking differential creates a solid lock between each half of the axle and will not allow one wheel to spin without the other. On an off-road vehicle this even allows one wheel to completely lose contact with the ground and still apply power to the other. While a differential is locked, the vehicle’s ability to turn a corner is hampered though. With both wh
