Around The Corner - How Differential Steering Works (1937)

Not just military training videos, older ones in general are often superior to what gets made today. My favorite is probably this one on vehicle differentials: ▶ this video

One of the best "how this mechanical thing works" for me is about differential/steering by Chevrolet (1937.). It's almost 100 years old by now but still one of the best "how" videos ever. ▶ this video

First thing I thought of when you said that: ▶ this video Done properly, it's an amazingly powerful way of explaining things.

A similar thing - the best explanation I've seen about how cars' differential steering works comes from 1937. ▶ this video

Here’s a terrific explanation of how differential gears work, from a film produced by GM in the 30s: ▶ this video

Not just the 50s/60s - this video explaining differentials is from 1937 and is a marvel of pedagogy: ▶ this video

That was a great video, thank you! Knowing basic gear mechanics helps a lot in understanding how cars function. This 1937 video about differentials is also enlightening: ▶ this video Why is it that old tutorial videos are so thorough and informative?

All of the old US gov't/mil funded education films are pretty good. * ▶ this video * link * link * link * link Etc.

Similar videos about cars: Chevrolet Suspension (1938): link How Differential Steering Works (1937): ▶ this video How A Transmission Works (1936): link And as a bonus, an explanation about transistors from 1953: link

I would maybe start with the individual components. How a differential works: ▶ this video There are a number of videos of transparent engines: link But if that doesn’t work, searching YouTube for “how an engine works” should give lots of content. Once you’ve figured out how the engine turns the flywheel, you can investigate how the flywheel applies different speeds to the wheels via a transmission. Manual transmissions are simpler, so I would start there: link then figure out how the clutch fits in. After that, you can move on to torque converters (coolest component imo, basically a fluid coupling) and automatic transmissions, which can be a mind-bender. Feel free to reach out to me at pc.peterso at Mail of g dot common TLD, happy to share what I learned and save you some time. Lastly, there is a wealth of tidbits on Engineering Explained and howacarworks.com, although the latter goes into far more detail than you probably need.

How guns work: link How a car differential works: ▶ this video Downright the best zero-to-programmer course in the world. Wish I knew about it when I was starting out: link

A few months ago, this video [0] from the 30ies explaining a differential was posted on HN. It also is extremely interesting to watch. Minute 5 is very illuminating. [0] ▶ this video