Or otherwise of front wheel drive vehicles, as opposed to rear wheel drive please, we are thinking of buying a 7/8 metre motorhome and find that most available are now FWD, we are concerned about traction on back roads such as Danseys pass, so would love to hear of any advice, thanks.
intrade,
Nov 28, 9:30pm
na its a mythos front wheel drive make it up the same hills as rwd. if the fwd will spin out so will a rwd, and with a front drive your not going sidways in to a ditch as its the front pullin you up the hill.
intrade,
Nov 28, 9:35pm
i drove from new plymouth to taumarunui not the forgotton world highway but kiwi road . now that was extreem tight lol with my fwd mercedes mb 140 6.5 meter long no problem just had to look where one was driving normal cars would have smasehed the engine a few times , Sign said no trailer or caravans from this point .
annies3,
Nov 28, 9:51pm
Thanks for that Intrade, anyone else have advice ?
intrade,
Nov 28, 9:55pm
make sure you get a good inspection modern stuff is a nightmare in cost to repair and no one has a clue how to do it , they just do a bit of messing here a bit of messing there all at your expense when the electronics fails . plus all the mechanical problems they dont have magicaly disapiered with the electronics plastered over the top of things , they also need repairing just like on older campers. Now older campers are often like snails there is a thread about it somwhere on here and why this is.
saxman99,
Nov 28, 10:53pm
We own a rear drive merc and have hired a front drive fiat Ducato overseas. Not really any different to drive, both just as capable as each other. The only thing is that rear drive will turn tighter as the lock angle is steeper, but this is not a deal breaker.
Really the thing to worry about is the size and fittings, making sure the camper setup suits you.
There is a fair amount of anecdotal evidence suggesting you should check out very carefully before buying any vehicle bearing the word "Transit".
annies3,
Nov 29, 6:19am
Thanks every one for the advice .It gives me some thing to go on,
neville48,
Nov 29, 7:45am
the front wheel drive allows you to have a lower floor therefore a lower centre of gravity therefore better handling on the open road and/or more headroom.
tweake,
Nov 29, 8:00am
i must admit after years of rear wheel drive, front wheel drive has less problems getting up steep twisty drives. tho did see one that was blocking the road. they had tried to turn around after going past the intersection, and forgot it was front wheel drive and drove onto the slippery grassy bank.
when cuz was in aussie they had 4wd campers.
tintop,
Nov 29, 9:03am
Danseys Pass is a very interesting bit of road - I have been over it in summer ( Naseby to Kurow) in a Transit, without a great deal of difficulty. A bit of near full left lock to near full right lock at times and second gear stuff.
I would still have gone that way in a Ducato, but I would feel a bit less confident that I did in the RWD Transit.
The 'forgotten highway' is a motorway compared to Danseys Pass :)
tintop,
Nov 29, 9:07am
We have a Sprinter as well - still amazes me being able to do 'U' turns in narrow streets :)
remmers,
Nov 29, 9:35am
We have Fiat Ducato based 7.2M FWD motorhome. Yes means floor is lower so can have the two front seats rotating to make arm chairs, allows a heap more room for its length. Traction on metal is no problems but greasy grass, soft underneath - forget it!
mack77,
Nov 29, 9:51am
The easy solution to overcome the traction problems that front wheel drive vehicles have on damp grass or earth is to fit all-terrain tyres to the front wheels. They make a dramatic improvement; I wouldn't leave home without them.
saxman99,
Nov 29, 10:51am
Agreed. From memory yours is the same as ours - 2001 ex Maui 208cdi?
annies3,
Nov 29, 6:51pm
Thanks again everyone.Great advice.I'm probably more interested in RWD because have never owned FWD, more food for thought. Using Mums account, Stan
tintop,
Nov 29, 7:54pm
Yes 2001 was a good year :)
303,000 km now. It's starting to get a bit grumpy, but still suits us well.
Latest mod is an exterior mounting for a baby Weber bbq cooker. Rolled roast of pork in Fairley last July was delicious!
saxman99,
Nov 29, 8:46pm
Ours ticked over 350k just a couple days ago. When we bought the van it was a bit grumpy but a full service did wonders for it and it's running sweetly.
BBQ sounds great!
johotech,
Nov 29, 8:59pm
Pfffft, 300,000ks? Mine has done close to 900,000ks - but of course mine's a Toyota.
tintop,
Nov 29, 9:51pm
It took a bit of figuring out and a couple of false starts, but in the end it it was simple and effective. I will put some photos up this evening.
tintop,
Nov 29, 9:54pm
Second time round of course ?
2get1,
Nov 29, 10:21pm
another consideration in the FWD RWD camper aspect. If you by chance tow or launch a boat on ramps with it RWD vehicles always work better on boat launching ramps. Another aspect all the FWD ones seem to be around the 2000cc turbo Diesel engine size and can get along at the speed limit just fine. But put a towbar on the back and maybe 1000kgs or more and its a different story.
That's why I went with an ex rental RWD mitsi canter based truck chassis jobbie with 3900cc turbo diesel. Sure the smaller engines get past me on the open road going slightly up hill. But open road cruise theres nothing in it, but add that towbar and a ton or more and suddenly the truck based camper comes into its own.
kazbanz,
Nov 30, 2:22am
Stan-For my mum n dad the main advantage of FWD is the engine being in the front. This means nothing between the drivers seat and the "caravan" area. We worked out this was worth about 3/4 of a meter on average of usable space. That's a fair bit of space
tintop,
Nov 30, 5:05am
Clear floor on our Sprinter too - the trade off being the vauge cable operated gearshift on the dash.
saxman99,
Nov 30, 5:10am
I describe the gear shift on ours as 'agricultural'.
sr2,
Aug 20, 2:38am
Have to say I totaly disagree with you on that one. In 30 years of towing and launching boats the best 2WD tow vehicle I've ever had is the current FWD Ducarto! Having all that engine/drivetrain weight over the driven wheels gives you a huge traction advantage on the boat-ramp and unlike a RWD the driven wheels stay well clear of the water. You wouldn't believe how well it tows a trailer load of dirt bikes in the gravel or the race car on the open road, don't confuse a commercial FWD vehicles with domestic FWD cars.
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