I have often wondered why there is no front-wheel-drive pickup truck. It would seem to get good traction without the fuel cost of a four wheel drive truck. Any ideas? (I think Volkswagen built one for a short while, but it was small and could not do the work of a regular-sized pickup.)

Because the traction would be good as long as there is nothing in the back. As soon as you start loading things in the bed the traction and handling would suffer severely. Those little VW pickups were fun as long as they were empty. But with a load of garden soil in the back they didn’t have enough …

It’s not a true pickup, but the Honda Ridgeline is FWD/AWD with 5,000 lb towing capacity, and the drivetrain seems to be quite reliable: [image] Honda Ridgeline The Honda Ridgeline is a sport utility truck (SUT) by American Honda Motor Company, Inc. and is categorized by some as a lifesty…

Dodge and Plymouth also buile some front drive small car based pickups. I think their carrying capacity was listed at 500 lb.

I think the real answer isn’t technical. I think the real answer is that there’s no significant market for them. Even small RWD pickups have almost disappeared. The modern woman wants something huge and intimidating to go to the mall with, the modern man wants the “mine is bigger than yours” pickup…

Man, I miss my little Toyota Hi-lux. The Tacoma has grown too big to be considered comparable.

I agree. But there apparently aren’t enough of us to make manufacturing them profitable.

I Drove Rabbit P/U Company Cars When I Worked For Volkswagen. I Used Them For A Variety Of Things And Have No Complaints, Except I Miss Driving Them. I think a manufacturer could build a small FWD pick-up today. Just a guess, could be that demand isn’t there. CSA

Demand is low for any small pickup, let alone a FWD small pickup. I suppose Isuzu or Hyundai might try to sell their tiny pickups here in the next 10 years, but the cost of the safety equipment and sales will make it less attractive.

mountainbike makes a good point Even though Nissan and Toyota still make regular cab, short bed 4 banger pickups, most buyers go for quad cab “small” pickups with fat tires and a 4 liter V6 under the hood A quad cab, long bed Tacoma with the prerunner package is no “small” truck It seems the stri…

Most RV dealers do not recommend towing with a FWD vehicle so that may be a problem as well as all the others that have been mentioned. All in all…I think the RWD pickup is the way to go anyway.

Why no FWD pickup?

Maintenance/Repairs

jesmed1 October 25, 2014, 7:58pm 3

It’s not a true pickup, but the Honda Ridgeline is FWD/AWD with 5,000 lb towing capacity, and the drivetrain seems to be quite reliable:

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Why no FWD pickup?

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