Why no front wheel drive trucks?

[cockeyedMFer]

I think the biggest practical hurdle to FWD trucks is that they're not suited to heavier duty applications, and when a 1/4 ton or 1/2 ton design is scaled up to a 3/4 -1 ton chassis, there's just too much to redesign. Not enough shared parts to make it cost effective.

Also wonder if there is an inherent weakness in the traditional FWD platform that can't be adapted to heavier loads or towing.

Does RWD have an extra benefit towing? (besides weight transfer from the trailer to rear axle). Easier to "push" a load than "pull" it?

 

[dodge man]

Think about stopping on a hill with a trailer hooked up to a truck going up hill. You have a trailer with a maximum load for your truck. The light turns green and you hit the gas. Think about how much weight is on and gets transferred to the rear of the truck. Front wheel drive would just spin the tires if it was wet out.

 

[cockeyedMFer]

True, but a proper WD hitch would solve a lot of that

 

[roadhunter]

Volkswagen made one for a while. Got 45 mpg too. Don't see that anymore.

Yes. I remember those little suckers. I was shocked to see how much they are still worth.

 

[sld]

Front wheel drive is generally used in unibody construction and not body on ladder frame.

 

[timswi]

Go to a boat launch and watch people try to pull a boat out with a FWD minivan..That would take care of any interest in FWD pickups.

 

[Piston]

The RAM Promaster van - which is actually a version of the FIAT Ducato made in Mexico - is front wheel drive. They've sold hundreds of thousands of them all over Europe. It is kind of a hybrid, with a ladder frame behind a unibody cab. The load floor is low and they have a lot of room. But as mentioned trucks of a certain size nnneed ladder frames for rigidity.

If the RAM Promaster, or Ford Transit, could tow my tractor, it would absolutely be my next vehicle.

 

[firemech]

Pierce Fire Apparatus made a rear engine front wheel drive fire truck for a few years in the early 1990's as a firefighter that was unfortunate enough to have been assigned to drive one on our department I can state with for certain there was no traction on snow, torque steer was crazy and you really don't want a jake brake on anything with front wheel drive. Might have been great in the southern states but not worth a dam at -25 degree temperatures or 10 inches of snow. Having said that I will also vouch that Pierce made great rear wheel drive fire trucks before and since this unfortunate experiment.

 

[300UGUY]

Look no farther than the 1985 and up Cadillacs (specifically, the Cadillac de Ville series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ). They were FWD with a transverse mounted 4.1L V8.

Aaron Z

Yeah, those cars were built at the Lake Orion Assembly plant. The joke was that they performed a test on cars coming off the line, they opened the hood, poured 5 gallons of water in the engine compartment. If any water hit the floor, we were missing parts.....

Remember, it was a joke.

 

[aczlan]

Yeah, those cars were built at the Lake Orion Assembly plant. The joke was that they performed a test on cars coming off the line, they opened the hood, poured 5 gallons of water in the engine compartment. If any water hit the floor, we were missing parts.....
Remember, it was a joke.

My grandma has one of these (a '93 Sedan DeVille), its pretty tight under the hood. She likes it and she and Grandpa spent a lot of time driving it around.

Aaron Z

 

[Iowan]

For the same reasons they don't make front wheel drive tractors!

 

[sd455dan]

There were some front wheel drive V8 full-sized cars made. But the engine was not sideways.

Bruce

as others have posted
Cadillac made one - the deville in 1988 front drive and transverse mounted 4.1 V8 I liked that car .:thumbsup: and it got really decent mileage.

 

[MossRoad]

If the RAM Promaster, or Ford Transit, could tow my tractor, it would absolutely be my next vehicle.

That "IF" is a big if.... my 2013 Impala has more HP and torque than the Promaster.

 

[bigdeano]

GM made a front wheel drive motorhome a long time ago.

 

[motownbrowne]

GM made a front wheel drive motorhome a long time ago.

That's right, on a Toronado frame right? Had a dually rear axle and a tag axle behind that. Goofy looking thing.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I had an old Datsun truck years ago that was front wheel drive.

 

[RAS323]

Just curious why no one is making a front wheel drive truck?

They make 2wd, 4wd, and all wheel drive, but how come no front wheel drive?

I've wondered the same thing. I think it would be a good idea-but that's me. Most people don't haul (most of the time and not max payload) or tow...ever. Front wheel drives have better traction and given a little ground clearance would be good off road (certainly better than a rwd). I think a little front wheel drive truck would be great for hauling a sofa, christmas tree etc...things most trucks are used for.

 

[JBourquin]

Long time ago saw a picture of a stock trailer that had been attached to the front half of a 4 wheel drive pickup, making it a front wheel drive. Made it more maneuverable and easy to load, but seems it would be hard on front drive system.

Like these,

 

[schmism]

I'm assuming you meant to say that it's the worst possible place to drive a TRUCK from, rather than a vehicle?

As to why, well, the same reason as thousands and thousands of other vehicles are front wheel drive :confused3:

No i meant vehicles. As in cars also. As in the reason its done for thousands and thousands of others is
1) cost (its really cheep to assemble one trans axle bolted directly to the engine and mount the whole mess into the front of a car)
2) design (no center drive shaft means more flexibility and less cost associated with the rest of the body design.)

And yes, worst possible performance
1) any acceleration moves weight transfer off the driveing wheels
2) you are steering your driving wheels meaning you fight significant gyroscopic "torque steer" affects
3) weight distributions are always front heavy
4) due to the weight distributions and trying to propel and steer with the same set of tires, at the same time, means they suffer horrible understeer.

Any of the current market front wheel drive vans are nothing more than a full size sedan drive train packaged in a van body. See comments above about no rear drive shaft and rear diffrential to clear lending itself to fun behind the cab designs (really low floors etc) and also its cheep. The vans are all fleet truck designs which are inherently as-cheep-as-we-can-make-it designs.

 

[dfkrug]

I had an old Datsun truck years ago that was front wheel drive.

Really? What model Datsun would that have been?