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Posted

I've been seeing this commercial for GMC EV's that feature crab walk. Anyone know what the benefit of this is? I think it's an accident waiting to happen.Β 

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Posted

Probably a "parking aid". Most likely just another feature they can charge you for, and people can figure out how to misuse.Β  Like Mercedes "bounce" mode.Β 

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Posted

Those AWS setups seem to rear their head every so often... and they always seem to disappear rather quickly.Β 

First one that I can recall seeing was a c.1988 Prelude with AWS. I'm sure there were a number of factory-built predecessors.

Posted
59 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Those AWS setups seem to rear their head every so often... and they always seem to disappear rather quickly.Β 

First one that I can recall seeing was a c.1988 Prelude with AWS. I'm sure there were a number of factory-built predecessors.

Those were not allowed in 4 cylinder Enduro races at my hometown track, I know the exact cars your talking about.Β 

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Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

It's for turning tightly at low speeds...parking, off-roading on narrow trails, etc.

Like any of these EV pickups are ever going to see any off road duty! πŸ˜„

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Steve

Edited by StevenGuthmiller
  • Haha 4
Posted
34 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Like any of these EV pickups are ever going to see any off road duty! πŸ˜„

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Steve

Sure they will, you'll just need to get an electric generator from Costco.Β  Put it in the bed and fire it up when the juice gets low.Β  Bring gas though.

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Posted
47 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Like any of these EV pickups are ever going to see any off road duty! πŸ˜„

True, same as with probably 90% of gas SUVs. Β 

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Posted
1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Like any of these EV pickups are ever going to see any off road duty! πŸ˜„

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Steve

More like "off-the-side-of-the-road-on-the-highway-shoulder" duty !Β 

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Posted

The only use I can see is changing lanes when the jerk in front of you puts his left turn signal on just as the light turns green.🀬

Posted

The GM EV trucks are quite large, roughly the same size as the 3/4 ton trucks. In fact, like the HD trucks, they use 8 bolt wheels.

Anyway, the four wheel steering reduces the turning circle of the trucks, making them far more agile in a parking lot or when doing a u-turn. And is it's all computer controlled anyway, GM added the Crabwalk feature. Supposed to make it easier to maneuver offroad or in tight spots. Kind of cool, kind of unnecessary, kind of something the anti-EV folk will jump all over and make fun of. But when it appears on upcoming ICE trucks, people will think it's a great idea.

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Posted
19 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

GMC has been trying to get the rear steering thing going for a long time. My neighbor has an early 2000s pickup from the last time they tried it.

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12 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

The GM EV trucks are quite large, roughly the same size as the 3/4 ton trucks. In fact, like the HD trucks, they use 8 bolt wheels.

Anyway, the four wheel steering reduces the turning circle of the trucks, making them far more agile in a parking lot or when doing a u-turn. And is it's all computer controlled anyway, GM added the Crabwalk feature. Supposed to make it easier to maneuver offroad or in tight spots. Kind of cool, kind of unnecessary, kind of something the anti-EV folk will jump all over and make fun of. But when it appears on upcoming ICE trucks, people will think it's a great idea.

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IIRC, the 4WS as of 20 years ago, was originally intended to help the turning radius of the trucks in most situations when the wheels would steer opposite directions as well as improved stability while changing lanes on the highway with the crab walk feature, especially while towing. With that, the truck would have both ends move in the same direction vs traveling through an arc to change lanes, which made doing so with a trailer that much more stable. They even had a program on so that if you had a trailer parked right along side a building and needed to pull it away from there, you could foot brake the truck, turn in the direction you wanted the truck to go, and all 4 tires would point that way and crab walk the truck away from there building and reduce the chance of hitting it with the truck or trailer.

Posted

I can see some uses such as parking or close quarter maneuvering, but it's probably more of a gimmick than anything else. The Rivian and I think the Ford EV truck can do a 'Tank turn' like an old Army tank. The wheels go different directions and let the vehicle turn around in place. That could be cool!

Posted

There is one legit benefit to 4 wheel steering that has not been discussed. If you pull a trailer a tag along style hitch, 4 wheel steering almost eliminates "cracking the whip" during a highway speed quick lane change.

Posted
1 hour ago, Carmak said:

There is one legit benefit to 4 wheel steering that has not been discussed. If you pull a trailer a tag along style hitch, 4 wheel steering almost eliminates "cracking the whip" during a highway speed quick lane change.

While I don't doubt that, I believe that the 4-wheel steering is disabled at highway speeds.

Posted (edited)

Another thing that I don't understand.... Why would anyone want to drive over a boulder????.....πŸ€”πŸ€¨πŸ™„

Edited by deuces wild
Posted
19 hours ago, Carmak said:

There is one legit benefit to 4 wheel steering that has not been discussed. If you pull a trailer a tag along style hitch, 4 wheel steering almost eliminates "cracking the whip" during a highway speed quick lane change.

If I recall, that was one of GM's big selling points when they introduced Quadrasteer in the early 2000s.Β πŸ‘

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21 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

I can see some uses such as parking or close quarter maneuvering, but it's probably more of a gimmick than anything else. The Rivian and I think the Ford EV truck can do a 'Tank turn' like an old Army tank. The wheels go different directions and let the vehicle turn around in place. That could be cool!

The Lightning definitely does not have the tank turn feature. It's just an F150 with an EV motor instead of ICE. Which is why it makes the most sense to me of all the EV trucks out there. It's not some space age futuristic experiment. They used proven tech and design, and added a different drivetrain.

If you go to YouTube, you can find a ton of videos of the new Mercedes EV G-Wagon doing the tank turn. It's kind of wild. Almost looks like CGI.

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Posted
2 hours ago, deuces wild said:

Another thing that I don't understand.... Why would anyone want to drive over a boulder????.....πŸ€”πŸ€¨πŸ™„

Because it’s FUN!πŸ™‚

IMG_6302.jpeg

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Posted
On 12/30/2024 at 10:22 PM, peteski said:

While I don't doubt that, I believe that the 4-wheel steering is disabled at highway speeds.

If it’s like the old Quadrasteer, you only have crab walk at highway speeds.

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