my friend got an awd matrix and is thinking of converting to 4wd somehow
its 2005, awd, automatic…
drivetrain and awd system: fully mechanical, mainly ff, the rear diff is combined with a viscous coupler that engages once the front wheels go wheelspinning
my friend was thinking if its possible to weld the coupler, or maybe get a full time coupler to make it full time 4wd.
let me know what you guys think…
Welding the coupler is like the worst idea ever unless you are on gravel all the time. You know that the front and rear wheels (not individually, but as a whole) spin at different speeds when entering and exiting a turn. You would not be able to turn at all going past like 10kmph.
How does the coupler engage? is it mechanical? if so, then you cant do anything about it without getting a new coupler. If its electrical, find out how it gets the signal to engage.
I was under the impression that AWD, dealt with the individual wheels, not between front and back pairs, but im not 100% sure. “full time” couplers are just mechanical vicous couplers, perhapse the matrix one has larger gaps between discs.
yeah i know there spinning different rates, well at least inside/outside tires during a turn do, it engages when the front wheels spin faster that the back ? thats what im at right now, but it will turn, just a little more sideways than usual lol… on the back of the car it says 4WD XR so im guessing its more than awd…
Yeah the inside/outside will spin at different rates, thats what the front and rear diffs are for. But the when the car enters and exits a turn the front wheels together will spin more than the rear, so if you weld the center diff, then they cant do that. It doesnt matter that the front and rear will divide the rotation between the inside and outside because overall one will have more than the other, and 1 wheel will have to spin to release the extra power.
A viscous coupler works like an VLSD (viscous limited slip differential). There are plates close together with a fluid inside it, as one plate moves faster than other, it moves the fluid (because there are distortions and holes in the plates) and the fluid moves the plate connected to the other side. So the front wheels spin one plate and in turn it slowly spins the other side ie the back wheels.
The impreza (originally a 4wd car), the toyota GT4, etc. all use viscous couplers. and they are all 4wd cars, not awd (though the impreza is now).
This is why i think AWD deals with individual wheels, or your viscous coupler has something else to make it engage.
Get an older impreza centerdiff, an aftermarket clutch diff, or figure out whats makes it engage.
Put the car up on stands and try driving it and see if the back wheels spin.
we’ll make em spin no matter what =D