4 Wheel Drive settings almost killed me

[Kikinz24]

As some respondants have already posted, your Explorer is always in the AWD mode. It is basically a FWD vehicle that automatically senses when AWD is required and will change to that form when required. The TMS just enhances and/or changes various drive components to meet the conditions that the TMS setting has been programmed for. Having TMS reset itself upon shutdown of the vehicle will help protect the system should it no longer be required upon startup. I have no problem with this at all. It basically comes down to the driver having to be familiar with how his/her vehicle operates. Having gone through one full Winter with mine I only used the 'Snow' mode once and that was just to test it out. The Explorer worked just fine for me in 'Normal' mode all Winter. I must also point out that I use dedicated Winter tires.

Peter

Tearing these apart it is actually a front wheel drive with the ptu just added . Normal drive wheel is left front when it senses spinning just like any other fwd vehicle it sends power to the passenger front wheel in the explorers case the passenger half shaft goes thru the ptu into the trans so essentially when it pushes power to the passenger front wheel it’s actually sending power to the rear 2 wheels and passenger front, the gauges you see in the car do not actually show the power to each wheel I believe this is to make people feel as though it is doing more than it actually is, if it was an electronic ptu that had clutches in it to engage and disengage the rear wheels like a Subaru it would be different. It is technically fwd with awd assist, not saying this is a bad design or anything gm uses the EXACT same trans and ptu setup different bolt patterns and front covers, but it’s not what everyone believes an awd or 4wd should be (how it has been the past 50 Year’s)

 

[blwnsmoke]

 

[thefranchise713]

The Ford system is a little better in my experience than people give it credit for. The Ford system is a predictive system beyond the expected reactive traits--on takeoffs, you can actually measure the input to the PTU on take-off, even without slip, that tapers off as you get into higher speeds.

And yes, I measured this beyond just the dash gauge--I've measured it with scan tools as well.

 

[Odrapnew]

Tearing these apart it is actually a front wheel drive with the ptu just added . Normal drive wheel is left front when it senses spinning just like any other fwd vehicle it sends power to the passenger front wheel in the explorers case the passenger half shaft goes thru the ptu into the trans so essentially when it pushes power to the passenger front wheel it’s actually sending power to the rear 2 wheels and passenger front, the gauges you see in the car do not actually show the power to each wheel I believe this is to make people feel as though it is doing more than it actually is, if it was an electronic ptu that had clutches in it to engage and disengage the rear wheels like a Subaru it would be different. It is technically fwd with awd assist, not saying this is a bad design or anything gm uses the EXACT same trans and ptu setup different bolt patterns and front covers, but it’s not what everyone believes an awd or 4wd should be (how it has been the past 50 Year’s)

Power is delivered to both front wheels equally in normal driving like any normal FWD vehicle. If it was only driving the other wheels when the driver front wheel was spinning, the driver front tire would wear out very quickly..

Yes, it's FWD with AWD assist as needed.

 

[peterk9]

Power is delivered to both front wheels equally in normal driving like any normal FWD vehicle. If it was only driving the other wheels when the driver front wheel was spinning, the driver front tire would wear out very quickly..

That is what the display shows as well. Equal power to both wheels. On my display, whether in Normal or Snow mode, the initial power according to the display is briefly to both rears and quickly transfers to the front. I would guess that if power was only delivered to one wheel that you would feel that in the steering wheel.

Peter

 

[MartinF]

I do have to mention that the EX is much more fun in the snow when it's in "sand" mode! Take it out on some empty snow-covered roads and give it some gas! It moves!

There is really not too much need to ever switch out of "normal". The Explorer is actually fairly aggressive in the traction control and adding power to other wheels if it starts to sense any slippage. Living in Canada, especially this winter, I have tested this out fairly thoroughly. I don't have winter tires and the Explorer is still great in the snow. I have used other modes just to test them out, but "normal" does everything you would want it to do in 90% of the bad conditions. If any of the wheels slip you will see the others kick in, as long as your speed is still fairly low. Once it is past a certain speed, most of the power just goes to the front wheels unless you aggressively give it some gas.

Very smart vehicles these days. I hope eventually it can drive me to work and I don't have to do anything!

Martin