4x4 - what does that mean?
Don Pearce
I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
make it a 4x4?
In short, the question is - what do the two "4s" in 4x4 stand for?
Just wondering...
d
bombsite
It makes more sense if you remember it's part of a classification system
that doesn't just apply to cars.
e.g. bigfoot is 4x4x4: 4 wheels, all driven and all steering.
artic tractor units these days are often 6x2 or 6x4.
some of the big military units are 8x8x4
etc.
The steering part is usually dropped, as most vehicles only use one pair
of wheels to steer with anyway.
Edd
--
Don't you have a job to do?
http://www.lrovernut.btinternet.co.uk
http://www.londoncrawling.com (drink and dash not drink and drive)
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
"Don Pearce" <don...@pearce.uk.com> writes:
> OK.
>
> I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
> make it a 4x4?
>
> In short, the question is - what do the two "4s" in 4x4 stand for?
4 wheels, 4 driven. So yes.
Other examples include the classic WWII US 6x6 truck. No, I'm not kidding,
6 wheels, 6 driven.
A typical artic tractor unit would be 6x4, since only the 4 back wheels are
driven. &c &c.
NB, in this context, a "wheel" means one end of an axle, not actual wheels,
so an artic which might be described as an "18 wheeler" 'cos the cab has
two front wheels and two axles each with a pair of wheels *each end*,
y'know, doubled up, and the trailer ditto, is only 10x4 in this context.
Even though AIUI, a transit van, say, with 4 wheels on the rear axle is
described a "double axle" even though it has only one axle with 4 wheels on
it. Confused yet?
I have also seen 6x4 range rover special versions, where the extra rear
axle is to support weight, but itsn't driven. Airport fire tenders, for
example.
I have a car which I refer to as a 3x1:
http://www.sunagor.com/scorpion/
- Huge
Tony
"Don Pearce" <don...@pearce.uk.com> wrote in message
news:94rr8k$os9$1...@uranium.btinternet.com...
The first 4 is four wheels on the vehicle the second 4 means the vehicle is
driven by all four wheels.
i.e. 4x2 means a four wheeled vehicle but only driven by two of the wheels.
hth
Tony
Geoff
->OK.
->
->I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
->make it a 4x4?
There are loads of 4x4's that are sold as off road machines, they are not
however ,built for anything more serious then a trip to the nearest purveyors
of hair care products. IMHO any four wheel drive vehicle is a 4x4.
->In short, the question is - what do the two "4s" in 4x4 stand for?
The number of wheels and how many of them are driven
---
Geoff
Anorak off road club web site.
http://www.anoraks.org/
Roger Collier
>I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
>make it a 4x4?
Yes, as long as it has Torsen differentials. Not if it has those nasty viscous
couplings with no real mechanical drive like VWs and Land Rover Freeloaders.
Some people restrict the term to off-road vehicles.
>In short, the question is - what do the two "4s" in 4x4 stand for?
4 wheels, 4 driven wheels. I prefer my 2x1.
Roger.
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
bombsite <bomb...@btinternet.com> writes:
> Don Pearce wrote:
> > I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
> > make it a 4x4?
> >
> > In short, the question is - what do the two "4s" in 4x4 stand for?
> >
> > Just wondering...
> Four wheels of which four are driven.
> It makes more sense if you remember it's part of a classification system
> that doesn't just apply to cars.
> e.g. bigfoot is 4x4x4: 4 wheels, all driven and all steering.
> artic tractor units these days are often 6x2 or 6x4.
> some of the big military units are 8x8x4
> etc.
> The steering part is usually dropped, as most vehicles only use one pair
> of wheels to steer with anyway.
Oooo, I didn't know that bit, neat! More subject matter for BS down the
pub, hurrah! ;-)
So I have a 4x4x2 and a 3x1x2 - and of course my human powered 2x1x1.
- Huge
Don Pearce
there was me thinking it had to have "4x4" painted in big splashy letters up
the side. What do I know?!!!
d
<Geoff> wrote in message
news:980515056.9477.1...@news.demon.co.uk...
john hazeltine
are
> driven. &c &c.
Not wanting to nitpick,, BUT .....
Very few Artic Tractors are 6x4, Most 6 wheel units tend to be 6x2,
although Scania for one did used to favour a trailing lift axle which does
"look" like a drive axle. Quite a lot now use 6x2 "twinsteer" front four
steer, rear two power. Another quite common configuration (esp. Volvo)
include centre non steering lift axles. AFAIK the only commonly used
manufacturer offering only 6x4 was Foden ~ Typical British, behind the times
!!
Got meself confused now :-)
John
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
"john hazeltine" <j...@budgetsignshop.co.uk> writes:
OK, I've only really looked closely at old ones at county shows and the
like. Which were almost certainly Foden or his long lost brother ERF. ;-)
john hazeltine
Am I getting like the masses, scanning every morcel of information looking
for some poor soul that dared to make a "partially true" statement ???
Nah! Not me, I feel guilty now because we both know that nearly ALL the
old 50's & 60's stuff would have been 6x4. But then 6x* were pretty rare
before the 80's when we upped them to 38 tonnes.
Hope I didn't offend you, that wasn't the intention :-)
John
"Hugo 'NOx' Tyson" <hm...@redxhatx.com> wrote in message
news:wwtsnm6...@masala.cambridge.redhat.com...
Seadog
viscous
> couplings with no real mechanical drive like VWs and Land Rover
Freeloaders.
>
I'm horrified! My Range Rover with its centre viscous coupling is no longer
a 4x4.
;-)
Gary
Alex
You may redeem yourself by proving that it has tyres on it which do actually
give grip on something as exotic as wet grass.
However, road tyres definitly disqualify you.
Alex
Gareth Hardy
>
> I have a 4wd car - it isn't a tall off-roader, but an Audi S4. Does that
> make it a 4x4?
Further to all the other answers you've been given, despite the vast
percentage of off-road biased posts to this newsgroup, the occasional road
(only) going 4x4 does make an appearance on the group. I recall a long time
ago some youngster being ridiculed for assuming this was an off-road group
only ("'It must be, it has 4x4 in the name") but I think that prejudice has
vanished now, unlike the landie vs. jeep vs. suzuki vs. everything else one.
bombsite
alright sarky <g>
The trouble with teaching someone to suck eggs, is sometime you get egg
on your face.
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
"john hazeltine" <j...@budgetsignshop.co.uk> writes:
> GOD !!!!!!
> Am I getting like the masses, scanning every morcel of information looking
> for some poor soul that dared to make a "partially true" statement ???
>
> Nah! Not me, I feel guilty now because we both know that nearly ALL the
> old 50's & 60's stuff would have been 6x4. But then 6x* were pretty rare
> before the 80's when we upped them to 38 tonnes.
>
> Hope I didn't offend you, that wasn't the intention :-)
Not at all; I'm a sane person, not one of these loonies you find on the
internet. Oops. ;-)
Ian Rawlings
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson <hm...@redxhatx.com> writes:
> So I have a 4x4x2 and a 3x1x2 - and of course my human powered 2x1x1.
A 3x1x2 eh, is that an old one or one of those plastic pose wagons you
can buy in kit form these days? The old ones I like...
--
There are no facts, only opinions
Auscad Drafting Pty. Ltd.
"Gareth Hardy" <gar...@sentientsolutions.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:94uuul$5dc$1...@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...
Just because some have a 4x4 that enables one to be bogged up half way up
the
doors in the middle of no where doesn't mean they are the only ones who
can enjoy driving with the safer 4x4 system.
plodder.
Seadog
Vast majority of 'off-roaders' are selectable, ie mostly used in 2wd on the
road, 4wd off-tarmac.
Would thus seem some road cars conform more to the 4x4 definition than the
off-roaders do, even though the general populace an 'off road' is
interchangeable with '4x4'
Gary
"Don Pearce" <don...@pearce.uk.com> wrote in message
news:94rr8k$os9$1...@uranium.btinternet.com...
SimonJ
>manufacturer offering only 6x4 was Foden ~ Typical British, behind the
Actually, I think you will find that ALL manufacturers offer 6x4 units,
but they are only used for specialist applications, eg for going on landfill
sites. Foden offer 4x2s 6x2s 6x4s etc, just like any manufacturer, the fact
that quite alot of the Fodens you see are 6x4s is beacause they make one of
the best trucks for off road use. You think its fun playing off road in a
landie? try it in an artic!!!!
SimonJ
> that there are two wheels per axle even if there are more)
>
Youve mixed your counting systems up there. The 18 wheels count all wheels
on the truck, ie if ther are 4 on one axle they are counted as 4, not as 2
as you state, (2 steered, 4 driven, 4 driven, 4 trailer, 4 trailer - 18)
bombsite
We're getting two counting systems mixed up here, the yanks count every
wheel in sight cos it sounds more impressive, we just count the hubs
(and usually ignore the trailer, unless its got driving axles as well)
Ian Rawlings
"Seadog" <Danger...@btinternet.com> writes:
> Just a thought, the Audi system provides permanant 4wd.
Hmm, some of them. Audi succumbed to the madness of the marketing men
and took their valuable Quattro brand (permanent 4x4, torsen diffs)
and diluted it by also applying it to an offshoot of the VW "Syncro"
range IIRC, the end result being that some Audi cars with the Quattro
label are not permanent 4x4 but are on-demand 4x4. IIRC it even
varies in a model range, i.e. a car may or may not have permanent 4x4
depending on the option package.
I can't name any specific models, I lost interest in Audis after I
realised that getting faster, more comfortable cars is not the way for
me to go, I need a car with fewer creature comforts and less between
me and the road, otherwise I drive like a bloody idiot. Lots of
people are like this although many seem not to know it ;-)
> Would thus seem some road cars conform more to the 4x4 definition
> than the off-roaders do, even though the general populace an 'off
> road' is interchangeable with '4x4'
Remeber that 4x4 is a marketing term and so is subject to large
applications of fiction. Most technical terms go this way it seems..
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
Ford have now explicitly decided that "Zetec" means a nicer car with a good
set of options, regardless of the engine, even though the word originally
referred only to their new engine design. So you can buy a model called
"Zetec" without a Zetec engine in it. Lame or what.
john hazeltine
You are correct, but that's not what I said ........
My words were something like "Foden offered ONLY 6x4" that is, Foden did
not offer 6x2 !
<<Offroad in an artic>> Sounds like fun, where's that happening ?
John
"SimonJ" <m...@mine.com> wrote in message
news:95a6ou$l38$1...@uranium.btinternet.com...
SimonJ
"Simon Avery" <SPAM.B.GO...@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:9810...@f90.n255.z2.fidonet.org...
> "SimonJ" <m...@mine.com> wrote:
>
> Hello SimonJ
>
> >> A 18-wheeled artic with four driving wheels is thus a 18x4
> >> (it's taken that there are two wheels per axle even if
> >> there are more)
> S> count all wheels on the truck,
>
> I have? Three axles on the tractor unit leaving six for the trailer.
> Can't honestly say I've seen a 6-axled trailer so you could be right.
>
> BTW - I followed a 6x2x4 today. :)
>
> (Mini artic, two axles on tractor, one on trailer. Warning sticker on
> rear; "Warning, rear-wheel steering in operation." Could be a fake -
> I didn't see the rear axle moving and can't imagine how the linkup
> would work, unless it meant RWS on the tractor unit, but surely that
> would rather miss the point of an artic. lorry)
>
It means rear wheel steering on the trailer, the rear axle can be self
steering, or on the case of the mini artics ussually streered by a hydraulic
linkage to the trailer coupling. Was it a milk tanker, that system is quite
common to allow access to tight farms.
plodder
Had a laugh when Bridgestone released the 'donut' tyres recently.
Remember my grandfather talking of the goodyear 'donuts' released
in the mid 30's. best crossplies you could buy at the time he reckons.
Asked the local bridgestone bloke if they were the same technology
for a stir. At least I got a smile and a polite no! :-).
plodder.
"Hugo 'NOx' Tyson" <hm...@redxhatx.com> wrote in message
news:wwty9vq...@masala.cambridge.redhat.com...
Roger Collier
>Seadog wrote:
>
>> > Yes, as long as it has Torsen differentials. Not if it has those nasty
>> viscous
>> > couplings with no real mechanical drive like VWs and Land Rover
>> Freeloaders.
>> >
>>
>> I'm horrified! My Range Rover with its centre viscous coupling is no longer
>> a 4x4.
>> ;-)
The last time I looked, a Range Rover had three diffs.
The viscous coupling acts as a limited slip on the centre diff (good)
rather than replacing the diff (bad).
I may be wrong, I usually am.
Roger.
Hugo 'NOx' Tyson
"Steve Hunt" <s...@clara.co.uk> writes:
> > So I have a 4x4x2 and a 3x1x2 - and of course my human powered 2x1x1.
>
> wheel with your right foot ;-)
You can do, yeah; especially in damp weather. Problem is it ain't so
progressive...
- Huge
Seadog
Its morse chain affair, dunno how it works but it sounds impressive.
This is to make life even easier for the lazy, like me. Not only do I not
have to decide which gear to use (auto), I now don't have to decide whether
to engage diff-lock or not.
Thus leaving me with a free hand for a mobile phone or to turn the pages of
the newspaper while out and about. :-)
Gary