TRUCKS | BEHIND THE METAL TRUCK DIFFERENTIALS What's the diff? CAN MAKE A BIG IMPACT any people buy trucks based on the engine, the styling or the cab lay- out. But there's one part hidden underneath a truck that can make a Mworld of difference in how it performs. It's called the differential. Pickups are known for speed is determined by the although this could hurt your It's simply a tradeoff, and turns than your inside wheels, being fully customized to fit a gear ratio in your differential, truck's towing performance. you get to decide on the right and differentials make that particular job, from their and it can make a big differ- Likewise, if you do a lot of mixture of efficiency and tow- possible. cabin size to their bed length ence in how a truck performs towing, you'll want to install a ing power for your needs. For people who do serious and a wide variety of gasoline in ordinary driving and when differential that makes it easi- off-road driving, though, it and diesel engines. One of the towing a trailer. er to start pulling a trailer at can be a good idea to get a most important options when low speeds. This means the LOCKING OR NOT? differential that locks both the setting up your perfect truck, transmission will be making Another job of the differen- left and right wheels together. though, is picking the right FUEL EFFICIENCY, more revolutions for each tial is to let the left and right This can help create traction gear ratio for the differential. turn of your wheels, though wheels turn at different on slippery roads, which is TOWING speeds. Every time you go When buying a new truck, — and that means worse gas important for extreme off- mileage. around a corner, your outside roaders. WHAT DOES you can pick different gear wheels have to make more ratios from the factory that Some new trucks have dif- IT DO? will help with your mileage. ferentials that will lock elec- The differential — often For trucks that won't be doing tronically with the push of a shortened to "diff" in truck much towing, it makes sense button. Others require you to parlance — is located directly to pick a gear ratio in your climb under the truck and between the wheels on your differential that results manually lock the differen- truck, and it uses different in better gas tial. Either way, it's a sizes of gears to adjust how mileage, good option to have fast the wheels turn in rela- on rugged trails. tion to the transmission speed. The difference between the transmission speed and the wheel