Back to all

Time for Differential Service at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia?

February 19, 2017

Hello Batavia - let's talk differentials. If you have a rear-wheel drive vehicle, your differential is on the back axle. With front-wheel drive cars, the differential is up front. All-wheel drive and 4-wheel drive vehicles have three differentials - front, rear and in the middle. So you see, you've got a differential (or two or three) and it needs service now and then.

What does your vehicle differential do? Well, it compensates for the differences in speed between your outer and inner wheels in a turn. Using the dimensions of a typical car, let's compare the distance the wheels travel from the start of a turn through to the completion of the turn.

The inside wheel travels about 12.6 feet/3.8 meters. How much farther does the outside wheel travel? About 18.8 feet/5.7 meters – over 6 feet/1.9 meters more. This means the outer tire has to rotate 9 times in the same amount of time that the inner tire has to rotate only 6 times - so the outer tire has to spin faster in order to keep up. The differential makes this possible.

The gears in the differential are cooled and lubricated by differential fluid. It's this fluid that needs to be serviced. Small bits of the gears break off and are suspended in the differential fluid. The dirtier the fluid, the faster the gears wear.

So your Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia technician drains the old fluid out and replaces it with fresh fluid. Some differentials also need a special additive that is put in at this time.

So when should you have your vehicle differential serviced? Intervals vary from vehicle to vehicle – and may be as short as 15,000 miles/24,000 km – so check your vehicle owner's manual or ask us at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia. If you frequently drive with heavy loads, tow a trailer or drive in hot Illinois conditions, you may need to change differential fluid more often. Servicing your differential on schedule at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia can save a pricey replacement down the road.

Give us a call.

Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Batavia
301 S. Randall Rd
Batavia, Illinois 60510
630-879-9941

More articles from Tuffy Batavia

Avoiding Exhaustion (EGR Valve Replacement)

June 9, 2025

No, ERG isnt the sound a pirate makes. Its a part in your vehicle that recirculates exhaust gas to reduce certain gases and pollutants in the atmosphere. In fact, ERG stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation. One gas our vehicles may make when they burn fuel is nitric oxide, which can play a big ro... More

Keeping Your Cool (Coolant System)

June 2, 2025

No matter what the weather is like outside, your internal combustion engine expects to keep its cool all the time, even when it's really cold. That's because engines create the power that moves you to your destination by a series of tiny explosions of a fuel and air mixture. In turn, that genera... More

Easy on the Wheel (Power Steering)

May 25, 2025

Steering a vehicle these days doesn't take much effort, but if you got behind the wheel back before power steering was invented, you'd need to practically have the strength of Hercules to turn the wheel. The first power steering systems widely available changed everything. Chrysler introduced... More