Maybe we are missing the point the other is making? My comment was specifically in response to your comment "I am trying to wrap my head around how in this case torque to each wheel would differ or vary. I think if it's locked torque would be equal." I was making the point that with a locked differential one axle would be taking a lot of torque (and in the extreme would break) while the other axle would not be experiencing torque. This is a legitimate issue with off roaders that have a lot of gear reduction and lockers so they have beefed up axles.

 

@FX4Dennis I think both axles still receive equal torque though (through a locked diff), and the breakage occurs only when one of them experiences sufficient enough resistance to that.

Maybe I’m overthinking it due to how the tread evolved though. I suppose the ground doesn’t see an equal torque or force but my thought was more to what the vehicle experiences.

 

If the ground doesn't see the torque, neither does the axle. With a locker, all the torque can go to one axle. The other one turns at the same rate but is just along for the ride.

Edit: You can't over torque a bolt and break it if the threads in the hole are stripped. The wheel with no traction is like the bolt in a hole with stripped threads.

 

@FX4Dennis i think I am differentiating the types of torque after looking it up. Found a source from an engineer (self identified but still) saying two types of torque exist, driving torque and resistance torque. One causes rotating motion while the other opposes it. I was just thinking of the former.

I think of a locked diff like a typical go kart axle. Those are a single bar spanning the width only connected with a chain sprocket. Being a single piece the torque is the same across it.

 

In the case of the go-cart, the torque isn't always the same across the go kart rear axle bar, and probably almost never is. The wheel with the most grip will provide the most resistance torque, and the piece of the bar between that wheel and the sprocket will experience more driving torque. The amount of driving torque is relative to the amount of resistance torque.

 

Here is a good article.
Differentials and Traction | HowStuffWorks

 

Yeah I think it’s just semantics depending on the frame of reference (whether drive torque or resistance where the torque force may be transferred to). I was trying to envision the system just by itself and the force generated by it without the need to add the variable of resistance at different points along the way. I see a locked differential like a traditional transfer case, which simple makes two systems act as one. An open center differential would allow equal torque despite a difference in output speed, but a locked transfer case does the same with the difference that it simply prevents a difference of speed (as if it were just an extension of the initial output).

 

Yep, a conventional locked transfer case is more like an e-locker differential. The output torque can be different, but the speed is the same.

 

@FX4Dennis my apologies, trying to work and come back to this I definitely wasnt understanding (or taking enough time to). I think i get it now after reading this article. You're right, torque does rely on its transmissibility. I think the sentence that helped it click for me was regarding measurement of torque saying "One method works by measuring strain within the metal of a drive shaft which is transmitting torque..." so yeah you were right in that even a solid bar like a kart would experience higher torque on the side that has the higher resistance force. Friday brain is Friday brain, lol sorry again for the back and forth there.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/...orce%20applied.

 

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Weird, I was always told that an open diff is full-time 1WD. Going back to my days on the Ranger forums. I witnessed the driver of a open diff 2wd Ranger stuck on a icy driveway in the mountains, trying to get unstuck, and that thing was only getting torque to one rear wheel the entire time. The other rear wheel never flinched (I had a clear view of both rear wheels while this was happening). Needless to say, a tow truck had to be called in.