Anyone remember those old school manual crank windows? Well they still exist on some economy cars.
I took one apart to see just how it works.
Manual crank windows are a cheaper and simpler alternative to powered windows.
They work best on small cars, where the driver can actually reach around to all four doors and crank up each window in case his passengers forget to wind it up.
So instead of taking the regulator out of the door, I take the door skin off the door to demonstrate how it works in motion:
Essentially its a 4 bar mechanism, that works with a giant pivot sun gear turned by the crank and two sliders at the top and bottom ends.
Here's the regulator removed from the vehicle. Notice the torsional spring to give you mechanical advantage when winding up that heavy window.
Finally, have a look at the gear reduction where the crank joins to the sun gear. This gives you a torque multiplication making it much easier:
Now the question is...should I bother rolling these windows down or just use the A/C?
I took one apart to see just how it works.
Manual crank windows are a cheaper and simpler alternative to powered windows.
They work best on small cars, where the driver can actually reach around to all four doors and crank up each window in case his passengers forget to wind it up.
So instead of taking the regulator out of the door, I take the door skin off the door to demonstrate how it works in motion:
Essentially its a 4 bar mechanism, that works with a giant pivot sun gear turned by the crank and two sliders at the top and bottom ends.
Here's the regulator removed from the vehicle. Notice the torsional spring to give you mechanical advantage when winding up that heavy window.
Finally, have a look at the gear reduction where the crank joins to the sun gear. This gives you a torque multiplication making it much easier:
Now the question is...should I bother rolling these windows down or just use the A/C?