Why not FWD pickups?

[gwalchmai]

Why does no one market a front wheel drive pickup truck? FWD not rugged enough? I seem to recall a VW pickup in the 70s based on the Rabbit, maybe?

[Eric]

If the truck is going to work for a living, you want the cargo weight to be over the drive axle. If you load up a FWD truck, the rear end goes down and the front end up, resulting in less traction when you need it more. Trucks like the Subaru Brat, VW truck, etc weren’t meant to handle any real cargo weight. 

[jmohme]

I always wonder why 4wd pickups did not offer the choice of locking in front, rear, or both.

[gwalchmai]

42 minutes ago, Eric said:

If the truck is going to work for a living, you want the cargo weight to be over the drive axle. If you load up a FWD truck, the rear end goes down and the front end up, resulting in less traction when you need it more. Trucks like the Subaru Brat, VW truck, etc weren’t meant to handle any real cargo weight. 

Good point. Semis balance the weight on the rear tractor axles, I guess.

Edited November 17, 2020 by gwalchmai

[railfancwb]

5 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

Good point. Semis balance the weight on the rear tractor axles, I guess.

At least some of those tractors can move the fifth wheel forward or backward to aid weight distribution. 

[jmohme]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

If the truck is going to work for a living, you want the cargo weight to be over the drive axle.

Around here, most 1/2 ton pickup never see much more than a bag of potting soil in the bed.

[Dave514]

Honda Ridgeline.

 

"The Ridgeline is the only truck to come standard with front-wheel drive. And while most rivals offer part-time four-wheel drive, this Honda offers all-wheel drive."

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/honda/ridgeline/performance

Edited November 18, 2020 by Dave514

[Eric]

14 minutes ago, jmohme said:

Around here, most 1/2 ton pickup never see much more than a bag of potting soil in the bed.

Yeah, but they’d still turn their noses up at a FWD pickup. People are strange, but predictable. 

[janice6]

2 hours ago, Eric said:

If the truck is going to work for a living, you want the cargo weight to be over the drive axle. If you load up a FWD truck, the rear end goes down and the front end up, resulting in less traction when you need it more. Trucks like the Subaru Brat, VW truck, etc weren’t meant to handle any real cargo weight. 

I bought my wife a Subaru Brat.  It was a cute toy and suited for play by taking the kids to school and back. 

Two things stood out with that car.  My kids would make a big deal about crawling into the back bucket seats leaving school, and their friends thought they were so cool.

My wife loved it cause it was "a pretty blue one".  It was little so she felt confident with it in shopping center parking lots.

Then at 36000 mile it spun a bearing.  The dealership tried to tell me cars fail.  I told them my American cars never spun a bearing on me and never have I had any major engine problems with them.

Cute is expensive.

Edited November 18, 2020 by janice6

[Walt Longmire]

"It's a Foe Buh Foe." says our old (dead) friend, Cal Worthington.

[Eric]

24 minutes ago, Walt Longmire said:

"It's a Foe Buh Foe." says our old (dead) friend, Cal Worthington.

And there’s a truck that works for a living. 

[holyjohnson]

the 80s Plymouth Scamp and Dodge Rampage and Colts were FWD and pretty successful.

they didn't have a lot of cargo room or load capacity and the build quality of an 80s Mopar but people bought them.

Honda Ridgeline is available in FWD.

[Borg warner]

18 hours ago, jmohme said:

I always wonder why 4wd pickups did not offer the choice of locking in front, rear, or both.

My 2011 Jeep Patriot was an SUV, not a truck, but it had full time front wheel drive with the rear wheels engaging for 4WD. Front wheel drive is good in the snow an sometimes I didn't need to put it in 4 wheel drive.  I suppose Jeep could have built a truck on the same platform but it was a fairly short wheelbase vehicle and everybody these days likes 4 door pickups.

I think as far as having the choice of front wheel or rear wheel you can do it one way or the other. but it would probably be a lot more complicated as far as the drivetrain goes to be able to do it both ways.

Edited November 18, 2020 by Borg warner

[railfancwb]

While pondering 4x4, AWD, FWD, RWD for the best choice in snow, people tend to forget that all of the choices have AWB - all wheel brakes. And getting stopped on snow and ice has more potential for excitement than getting going. 

[Borg warner]

53 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

While pondering 4x4, AWD, FWD, RWD for the best choice in snow, people tend to forget that all of the choices have AWB - all wheel brakes. And getting stopped on snow and ice has more potential for excitement than getting going. 

I'm a throwback from the last century and I really don't like most modern technology. I don't like automatic door locks or locking and unlocking the car with a "Beeper" key or dashboards with digital readouts and all the controls on the steering column and "hidden" controls that you need an instruction manual to figure out and all the idiot lights and things that go beep. I don't even like power windows. And the idea that a car needs several on board computers to make it function just seems like more stuff that can fail.

But some technology is good. And when driving in snow and ice, anti-lock brakes are very, very good. I also prefer electronic fuel injection to carburetion and electronic ignition is a huge improvement over breaker points. And remote start is a good use of a beeper key in cold country so you can leave your car locked but start it an let it warm up on a cold morning as long as you can still unlock your door manually in case the beeper key stops working.

[RenoF250]

6 hours ago, jmohme said:

I always wonder why 4wd pickups did not offer the choice of locking in front, rear, or both.

There are a few that do.  I think the fully loaded Toyota TeRD does as well as the Ford Raptor.

[Borg warner]

2 hours ago, Walt Longmire said:

"It's a Foe Buh Foe." says our old (dead) friend, Cal Worthington.

 

[Walt Longmire]

24 minutes ago, Borg warner said:

 

I will stand upon my head till my ears are turning red. Go see Cal.

[Borg warner]

18 hours ago, Walt Longmire said:

I will stand upon my head till my ears are turning red. Go see Cal.

I believe the full quote is, "If you're looking for another set of wheels, I will stand upon my head to make a deal. I will stand upon my head till my ears are turning red, Go see Cal, Go see Cal, Go se Cal"

[Al Czervik]

On 11/17/2020 at 5:42 PM, gwalchmai said:

Why does no one market a front wheel drive pickup truck? FWD not rugged enough? I seem to recall a VW pickup in the 70s based on the Rabbit, maybe?

Hehe, the VW Sporttruck was ghey.

[Walt Longmire]

2 hours ago, Borg warner said:

I believe the full quote is, "If you're looking for another set of wheels, I will stand upon my head to make a deal. I will stand upon my head till my ears are turning red, Go see Cal, Go see Cal, Go se Cal"

I know lots of locals that watched the commercials as kids and swear they thought he was saying "***** Cow, ***** Cow."

[jfost11]

A former coworker took me for a ride in his mom's Ridgeline once. It was like a roomier version of a Honda minivan, that wasn't a minivan. Quiet, well mannered on the highway. It's a nice little "truck" for the paved driveway neighborhood crowd to haul their trash or pick up some furniture. But for those with boats or car haulers, or who haul wood or building supplies, it's not cutting the mustard.

[jfost11]

On 11/17/2020 at 5:42 PM, gwalchmai said:

Why does no one market a front wheel drive pickup truck? FWD not rugged enough? I seem to recall a VW pickup in the 70s based on the Rabbit, maybe?

My cousin in NC, who is a diesel truck mechanic, had one of the Rabbit trucks with a diesel in it to drive to work for a couple of years. He had a 50 mile commute one way, and he said the ONLY thing that truck could pass was a gas station.

[Walt Longmire]

1 hour ago, jfost11 said:

My cousin in NC, who is a diesel truck mechanic, had one of the Rabbit trucks with a diesel in it to drive to work for a couple of years. He had a 50 mile commute one way, and he said the ONLY thing that truck could pass was a gas station.

People up here run them on vegetable oil.

[Hook]

like eric stated the back gets heavy and things get weird for fwd. i got a explorer and when i put weight on the tow hitch and the ass sinks the front gets twitchy but the awd in that thing knows to direct more power to the ass end and it evens out but you will definitely notice it from a take off. especially if its slick. i got a readout on my dash that shows the power and amount goin to each wheel. honda ridge lines arent they cute. those things are for men that have man buns and drink pumpkin spice lattes and wear uggs.