Just got Sammy the Volga back after having the “Diff” welded (differential)…
This is probaly the most wnderful thing that has happened to the Volga yet. If you have ever had to go through a shallow lake with a mud bottom to just get to supplies, then you would understand…
First, What is a diff?
The differential is a system of gears that allows different drive wheels (the wheels to which power is delivered from the engine) on the same axle to rotate at different speeds, such as when the car is turning.
Follow link to article above and get what you need to comprehend…
Now I will get to why would I have the Diff welded?
Point blank answer…
If you drove on goat trails like I do for 90% of Sammy’s time on the road, you would never even question why it would be done. Loose sand, deep mud, huge puddles (twenty or thirty in a few kilometers) and lots of nasty holes and ditches (that are bigger than the car) make a standard Diff worthless. A welded diff allows both rear tires to drive the car forward and or backwards. Not just one tire that when it starts spinning, the other tire just sits there aimlessly…
But Kyle, just get a Limited Slip Differential…
Have you priced an LSD (Limited Slip Differential), much-less getting one for a Volga?…
Yup, that is what I thought…
It would have been a easy $2000 to do an LSD and the same effect has happened for around a $100…
Now when I walk by Sammy as I work around the Tiny Russian Village Home, Sammy be like, “Hey, when we going to go play around? It is raining you know?”
I understand Sammy…
It is amazing how something so simple and cheap can change the whole world of living in a Tiny Russian Village…
WtR
PS – We also got new brakes when the axle was apart and will have new bushings put in the front stabilizer bar this weekend. Sammy happy…
How about a good image of a real 310221 Volga dashboard?
A 310221, 1999 Volga dashboard. 24 years old…