Quaife (operation of a quaife)

[jdbubb@ix.netcom.com (Dan Bubb)]

Actually, if you think about it, most of the time you're not going
straight and there is some small amount of differential action. But,
your point it still valid in that most of the time the loads are low and
the relative speeds of the gears are low.
Even under high load with large differential action (autocrossing!) the
speeds of the gears in the Quaife are still low. A rough calculation
yields a rotational speed of only ~210 RPM for the small gears and ~70
RPM for the large gears inside the diff case. This is nothing in
relative terms compared to the tranny gears that spin at engine speed.
Because the gears have a high helix angle it take a lot of force to make
them turn cause most of the force is trying to bend the gear tooth as
opposed to trying to turn the gear. So, high tooth loads, low speeds
and, of course, high loads on the face of the gears.
Wear is minimized despite the high loads since there are a lot of gears
in that little space to share the load and, of course all the parts are
hardened steel.
Dan

Rick Alexander wrote:
> 
> I might not be understanding this as well as some of you do but don't the
> loads on the worm gears only happen when the differential is torque biasing?
> If so then 95+% of the time they are just along for the ride just like
> spider gears in an open dif. Would not be a lot of wear in this case.
> 
> Rick Alexander
> http://www.brubakerbox.com
> http://clubs.hemmings.com/hams/
> http://clubs.hemmings.com/vwsrus/
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Allyn" <amalventano1@comcast.net>
> To: "'Cheapass' Ron Pieper" <rapieper@yahoo.com>; <jdbubb@ix.netcom.com>
> Cc: <bbeacock@rogers.com>; "Scirocco. org Mailing List"
> <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 7:59 PM
> Subject: Re: Quaife (operation of a quaife)
> 
> > thats my point. the gears arent designed to be a friction absorbing device
> (i.e. they have roller
> > bearings, teeth are machined for minimal friction, etc). in the quaifes
> case, the sides of some of
> > the gears are performing a similar function to a syncro (turning friction
> into heat). these gears
> > are the opposite of free spinning (free spinning would be an open diff,
> which a quaife is definitely
> > not).
> > Al
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "'Cheapass' Ron Pieper" <rapieper@yahoo.com>
> > To: "Allyn" <amalventano1@comcast.net>; <jdbubb@ix.netcom.com>
> > Cc: <bbeacock@rogers.com>; "Scirocco. org Mailing List"
> <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 7:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: Quaife (operation of a quaife)
> >
> >
> > > --- Allyn <amalventano1@comcast.net> wrote:
> > > > holy crap! i understand that perfectally but doesnt that design imply
> > > > that there are 'wearable
> > > > parts'? i thought a quaife would last forever :).
> > > > any details on how wear is controlled/eliminated?
> > > > Al
> > >
> > > Any well-designed and manufactured gear will last nearly forever, given
> > > decent lube and no abuse.  They are *highly* engineered items.  What
> > > breaks in almost any modern (or old) tranny is not the gears, it's the
> > > stuff around them (synchros, etc.)
> > >
> > > =====
> > > Cheapass Ron
> > > '87 Scirocco 16Victor
> > > Pet Peeve du jour:  It's GTI not GTi!!  Read the nameplate!  (US only)
> > >
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