Riddle me this- front wheel drive

dcsb ftw!!!!!!!

 

The 5 ft bed is not the problem. It's the fact that they took a Honda Odysey minivan and tried to truck out of it.

 

Fat tires in the snow are worthless!

 

FWD does not have a 1:1 gear? It's called 4th.

 

Please clarify how we are talking apples/oranges here. I am guessing you were trying to explain a manual transmission, with my discussion being primarily automatics. But I just want to be sure. Of course even in a manual transmission the 1:1 ratio on the Tacoma is 3rd gear, and when you shift into 3rd, you still have the load being applied to the synchro ring.

Yes, FWD do have a 1:1 gear. It all depends on the manufacturer as to which gear. The Tacoma automatic 1:1 is 3rd, as well as the manual 1:1 being 3rd gear. I believe some of the 6 speed automatics out there are 1:1 in 4th.

 

Agreed on the sled. And for the record, technically it's rear "wheel" drive.

 

bottom line here. . . .

take your taco up the snowy mountain in 2wd.

now, put it in 4wd and disconnect the rear driveshaft, your taco is fwd.

which gets further up the mountain? not a rhetorical question, i don't know. not asking who gets more sideways up the mountain, or how many sandbags the hardware store has, just which way you would expect to get further up the mountain. you can use all of your hi-range gears, and its not a race.

i vote fwd.

 

1:1 is 4th on the 5 speeds, and 5th on the 6 speeds. On the 5 speed, the #2 shift fork will slide rearward to engage third gear, or forward to engage the input shaft (4th). On the six speed, the #3 fork slides rearward to engage the output shaft, or forward to engage 6th gear.

Yes, there's load to the synchro ring in 1:1, but that's about it. It's not transferring engine torque through any gear faces, and because it's not leveraging the gears, the bearings don't have side-loaded forces anymore. They just have to keep the shafts in line.

Automatic FWD have 1:1 because it's an easy gear to get - just lock the planetary set. Stick shifts on the other hand rarely do because there's no difference design-wise between a 1:1 or 1:1.1 or 0.9:1. There's the mainshaft on top, with the countershaft under that, and the differential driven by the countershaft. No shafts to lock together and they have to machine a gearset for every gear anyways. Example, that's why if you look through the history of it, there has never been a 1:1 ratio in a stick shift FWD Honda. They like to use around a 1.25:1 ratio on 3rd and around a 0.9:1 ratio for 4th, give or take a little.

 

Bolded and Quoted for Absolute Truth.

Winter 6 to 8 months a year. Did my hr +/- commute for first 8 yrs up here in 4cyl FWD sedans (Tercel/Corolla/Accord -- kids kept taking cars from me ). Ran dedicated winter tires and never got stuck or had an accident. 50% or better of the vehicles I saw, and still see, in the ditch/wrecked were big lifted 4x4 trucks or SUVs. Regardless of your equipment, you have to drive for the conditions.

 

Wow even BMW's going FWD http://wardsauto.com/management-amp-strategy/bmw-aims-1-million-fwd-cars

 

basically this

Anyone that actually likes to have fun driving knows RWD is about "350 zillion" times better than FWD. Understeer is never ever fun, always annoying.

Now if you main goal is to get around in the winter with no fun involved fwd is the way to go, otherwise a 4wd truck that's putting some power to the correct axle is much more fun.

 

People seem to be unaware of the fact that 4WD and AWD vehicles have no more braking ability than a 2WD vehicle. This, along with emboldening overconfidence in the vehicle's abilities, goes a long way toward explaining the number of 4WD/AWD vehicles skidding off the road.

In the days before electronic traction control systems, I lost control of a CJ5 (open diffs, front hubs locked, in 4H) on a highway exit ramp in Massachusetts, going about 15 MPH in a snowstorm. It swapped ends and went straight backward into the grass, about 150 feet from a parked state police car. With the great traction, I had no trouble getting back onto the pavement and proceeding on, shaking from the adrenaline surge, at about 10 MPH onto the Mass Pike. The trooper, probably laughing his ass off, never even opened his window of his warm car.

At the end of my street is a section of road where the speed limit changes from 35 to 50 MPH, followed immediately by a downhill curve with 40 MPH caution signs and a 3 foot deep drainage ditch on the outside of the curve. I swear it is the best trap for catching AWD Subarus yet invented. The tow truck drivers must love it.

Mike

 

I will agree with that. To much on the CV shaft along.

 

Amen.

 

The original question is simple: 2WD Pickups are driven by the rear axle because they are PICKUPS and designed to carry cargo greater than the weight of the engine over the front axle.

It is the weight over the powered axle that provided the traction needed to move off pavement (snow, etc.).

Most of us with Tacomas drive them as passenger cars and not as trucks, ie. the bed is empty or not loaded to capacity, in our daily driving.

So, in that case, rear wheel drive in snow is a disadvantage. This is why all pickups driven off road should be 4WD for best traction OR load your empty bed... even fill it with snow to add weight over the driving axle! Lowering tire air pressure also improves traction... but never on pavement or never at highway speeds for risk of exploding your tires!

 

I had a FWD Fullsize Bronco for about a week while I waited for the rear driveshaft to be fixed

 

Fiero FTW! kidding, but I drove it once in light snow and mid-engine RWD was beast

 

For some reason I was thinking the 5 speed had a 1:1 in 3rd gear. Ah well. I do know how a manual and automatic transmission work. Depending on the automatic though, only one planetary gear set locks to get 1:1. I have yet to see an automatic transmission since the 4 speed auto that had less than 2 gear sets.

I disagree about your quote that manual transmissions rarely have a 1:1 ratio. I honestly can't recall a manual transmission, even a FWD that didn't have a 1:1 at some point. Of course I haven't worked on a Honda FWD manual trans other than to replace the clutches. And most of my work on the inside has been on GM products. You can easily get a 1:1 ratio by having two gears of the same size, one on each shaft. Shift into the appropriate gear and the mainshaft will turn the countershaft at the same speed. Thus 1:1. Very easy.

 

I've always preferred rear wheel drive in any weather. I used to drive a Lexus LS400, and at the time I worked for a railroad in Vermont. I travelled all over the state and up through the mountains during blizzards. I'd take that over front wheel drive any day. Just a personal preference.

 

Tacoma 5th gear is direct, 1:1 6th is over driven.