Front Wheel Not Turning

[briggsey]

Gday wagoneeirs,

Ive just taking my stagea off the road for a few days to upgrade the front brakes and replace all my wheel studs (had 1 snapped),

its up on axle stands at the moment and i was doing some curiosity looking around and found this problem

basically my front passenger wheel does not drive, the other 3 wheels where spinning, i then locked the diff and this didnt help,

the inner CV is a little cracked and from what i could see it didnt look very "greasy", i dont think it would be something as easy as jsut grease her up mate haha,

so any thoughts?

im hoping im not up for a diff or something like that, i would hate that,

cheers lads

[Daleo]

I'll preface my comment with the disclaimer "I could be wrong, but" generally with open centre diffs (which the front one should be) it is common for only one wheel to spin,when driven unloaded, I.e.;off the ground. If there is a slight difference in resistance across the axle, for example a dragging caliper, tight wheel bearing; the torque will take the path of least resistance; the wheel with the least drag/resistance. This is exactly what a differential is supposed to do. If both wheels had EXACTLY the same amount oF grip (resistance), both wheels would spin.This is also why a open centre diff will spin one wheel; this wheel has less grip than the other.

[briggsey]

I like the sound of that theory cause it means nothing wrong hahaha, i dont know if it would explain it, because i locked the diff and it made no differnece, but fingers crossed that its that simple haha, thanks mate

[Daleo]

Further to last post, if you were to stop the rotating front wheel from turning (DO NOT do this whilst the hub is turning; broken fingers are not nice!) you would likely find the stationary front wheel would now be the path of least resistance and would now be turning. the reason both rear wheels are turning is likely because you have an lsd in the rear diff and the internal friction of this will force both rear wheels to rotate.

Someone else is likely to be able to explain this in much simpler terms, but that's it; in a nutshell...

[StealthX]

Hope its nothing to do with those R33 wheels i sold you! lol

How are ya Paul?

[briggsey]

Hope its nothing to do with those R33 wheels i sold you! lol

How are ya Paul?

hahha nah mate, ive got R34 GTR rims now ,

im alright aye, just starting to get serious about doing mods again now that my house is almost finished, been walking around on concrete floors for 6 months now haha,

hows the xtrail goin mate?

[KiwiRS4T]

I like the sound of that theory cause it means nothing wrong hahaha, i dont know if it would explain it, because i locked the diff and it made no differnece, but fingers crossed that its that simple haha, thanks mate

What do you mean you "locked the diff"? How? If you mean you turned on the synchro button that just ensures that some drive goes to the front diff. I don't know of any way to lock the front diff.

Try to find a bit of road with a loose metal shoulder. Drop the LH wheels in to the loose metal and boot it (with the synchro button on) and then turn the car around and repeat . get someone outside the car to observe whether you are getting drive from both front wheels.

[chef_stagea]

Couldn't you just turn it on and " drive" it on the stands?

[Stinky Rooster]

can you imagine how hard it would be to turn if you didnt have an open centre front diff?

Just grab the wheel that wasnt turning and spin it by hand, if the front drive shaft or other wheel doesnt rotate then you have a problem.

[StealthX]

Couldn't you just turn it on and " drive" it on the stands?

hmm good idea, but the vibrations of the engine/drivetrain would make it pretty unsafe IMO. I could be wrong though...

[GoldZilla]

Couldn't you just turn it on and " drive" it on the stands?

hmm good idea, but the vibrations of the engine/drivetrain would make it pretty unsafe IMO. I could be wrong though...

It should be fine as long as you DON'T try and drive the car as if it was on a dyno run. Keep the wheel speeds low just to check if everything is working okay, and the vibration shouldn't be an issue.

[M I K E]

yup, and if the wheels are turning with a bit of speed don't stomp on the brakes lol

[lachlanw]

yeah its just the open diff

start it up and put it in first gear

all 4 will spin . mine did .

if only the drivers front spins it will be going twice as fast as the rears

the left one drags beecause it has to pass through the sump (an extra bearing and seal)

[briggsey]

cheers guys, yeah I forgot about the whole open centre diff thing, I was doing all the work after I finished nightshift so I was pretty spacey haha

[lachlanw]

NO STAGEA OR SKYLINE HAS EVER HAD A CENTRE DIFF .

IT HAS A FRONT DIFF AND A REAR DIFF

AND A TRANSFER CASE CONTAINING A ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLED HYDRAULICLY ACTUATED WET MULTI PLATE CLUTCH

all front diffs are open

wrxs and evos and sss bluebirds have centre diffs