# Ram Promaster Cargo Van Boasts Thats Its Front Wheel Drive Never Get Stuck In Snow



## tonyc56 (Nov 9, 2008)

If thats the case why don't other van manufaturers such as ford transist offer front wheel drive.


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## Lunicy (Dec 24, 2004)

Well, FWD does get stuck in the snow. 
IMHO FWD in a van is sketchy. A vehicle is kinda like a seesaw. When you put all the weight of your cargo (tools) in the back.. you gain downward force (traction) on the rear tires. and because of the weight distribution, you loose a little on the fronts. The fronts being drive and steer would need all the traction it can get.

However, proper driving technique and good tires are way more important to snow stability.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Total BS. You can even get 4wd stuck in the snow.

IMO, cargo vans with RWD are best, since the highest wheel loading is on the back. If you're really worried, go with an AWD or 4WD.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

tonyc56 said:


> If thats the case why don't other van manufaturers such as ford transist offer front wheel drive.


where did they boast that? I know they said it did better in snow than the Transit but other than that you are just wrong

You seem to be very busy starting threads with outlandish headlines then disappearing offering nothing in between


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Lunicy said:


> Well, FWD does get stuck in the snow.
> IMHO FWD in a van is sketchy. A vehicle is kinda like a seesaw. When you put all the weight of your cargo (tools) in the back.. you gain downward force (traction) on the rear tires. and because of the weight distribution, you loose a little on the fronts. The fronts being drive and steer would need all the traction it can get.
> 
> However, proper driving technique and good tires are way more important to snow stability.


That's a good theory, but driving both a mini van loaded to the tits for a service company, as well as a dodge rampage completely overloaded; surprisingly they both worked quite well in the snow.

I don't doubt the ProMaster is slightly better in the snow being FWD...but it's still a far cry from AWD or 4WD.


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## tonyc56 (Nov 9, 2008)

> where did they boast that? I know they said it did better in snow than the Transit but other than that you are just wrong
> 
> You seem to be very busy starting threads with outlandish headlines then disappearing offering nothing in between


Dealer told me...Are you happy now!!!


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

When loading a van you would be putting weight on both the front and rear axles of the vehicle. Unless it was an extended length van and was loaded behind the rear axle it wouldn't be lightening the front axle. Does anyone offer awd in the vans or is it still a quigley conversion?


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Morning Wood said:


> When loading a van you would be putting weight on both the front and rear axles of the vehicle. Unless it was an extended length van and was loaded behind the rear axle it wouldn't be lightening the front axle. Does anyone offer awd in the vans or is it still a quigley conversion?


There have been some in the past but right now you are looking at the 4WD sprinter or a Quigley. I priced out the sprinter and with a few odds and sods added on it's 60k. If it didn't have such a rough history of being a real POS I'd consider buying one.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

tonyc56 said:


> Dealer told me...Are you happy now!!!


Maybe it came from here:

https://www.allpar.com/news/2015/01/ram-shows-off-snow-prowess-27362

Vid is no longer avail. 

Houghtom MI is def big snow country.

EDIT: found the vid.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

tonyc56 said:


> Dealer told me...Are you happy now!!!


Dealer said "never gets stuck in the snow" ?


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## tonyc56 (Nov 9, 2008)

> Dealer said "never gets stuck in the snow


Obviously he was trying to getting me to buy..


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

Inner10 said:


> That's a good theory, but driving both a mini van loaded to the tits for a service company, as well as a dodge rampage completely overloaded; surprisingly they both worked quite well in the snow.
> 
> I don't doubt the ProMaster is slightly better in the snow being FWD...but it's still a far cry from AWD or 4WD.


Also having experience in the cold sub-arctic, I'd agree with all of this. Slightly better, but a far cry from 4WD.

Something not yet mentioned is safety. FWD will more likely understeer than oversteer if the wheels slip in a turn. Much more predictable and easy to correct.

Final point: Excellent winter tires driving FWD or RWD will get up hills better than mediocre all seasons on 4WD.


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

It was interesting, when I moved from VT to RI, that lots of folks around here drive big vans but I almost never saw them in VT. My first trip up to VT in the winter with my cargo body fully loaded made it obvious why that's the case. Turn your wheels all you want but that baby was only going straight. I had 6 very good Michelin AT tires on at the time.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

tonyc56 said:


> Obviously he was trying to getting me to buy..


was his name Barri ?


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

If the front wheels take most of the load, FWD, if the rear wheels take most of the load, RWD. Run relatively skinny tires.


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## tonyc56 (Nov 9, 2008)

> was his name Barri


*

*actually it was a dealership located in your backyard...Guido's New Jersey shores auto sales. A free canoli with every sale.


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## Railman (Jan 19, 2008)

The biggest advantage to front wheel drive when is driving empty, or light load, & the fact that with front wheel drive, the power is ALWAYS pushing in the direction you are steering. 
With rear wheel drive, the power is often pushing away from where you are trying to go. On big trucks, steering isn't an issue, because of the massive weight on front wheels, even when running empty. You can't compare a light weight truck's steering to a heavy weight truck.

There is a reason most cars have front wheel drive, & it is mostly due to better control for the average driver.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

I will be curious how ours does in snow. We have the weight pretty evenly distributed so I think it will be good. Our E-350 was awful in snow. An inch would be enough to slide around if you weren't careful. 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

overanalyze said:


> I will be curious how ours does in snow. We have the weight pretty evenly distributed so I think it will be good. Our E-350 was awful in snow. An inch would be enough to slide around if you weren't careful.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk


I'm surprised by that. F350s do just fine, even with a plow on front.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

overanalyze said:


> I will be curious how ours does in snow. We have the weight pretty evenly distributed so I think it will be good. Our E-350 was awful in snow. An inch would be enough to slide around if you weren't careful.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk


Same with my sprinter, last year I got stuck in 1" of snow, my customer wanted to know if she could push me out of the driveway with her BMW sedan because she had to go ride her horse.


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## JFM constr (Jul 26, 2014)

i ran a soft rubber deep tred with a posi trac on my van in snow country . it did ok .alot of weight in back and i got up to some jobsights that were stupid slippery coming down .still cannot stop but a posi in the back has saved me a lot of grief . here in calif i have it for towing my trailer . saved my butt several times .saves on tires going up these goofy steep winding driveways . talk to someone who has a posi or use his vehicle .give you a good idea if it will help you out .sujest you research brands ,seems there are a few out there that fail fast .


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## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

This year I bought a Transit 250, I expect it will handle snow about as good and my old 250 Econoline. My bigger concern was being able to pull a bucket lift around a job site. I felt that reversing up a grass incline with a lift was not something I wanted to experiment with front wheel drive.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

I just saw one of those Ram vans yesterday.
I was behind it and it looked awfully goofy.
Big wide body with wheels that seemed too close together and tires too skinny.
I even commented to my wife that it looked like a '80's K car with the big steel beam hanging above the blacktop.


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## SearchforSignal (Aug 30, 2016)

Railman said:


> The biggest advantage to front wheel drive when is driving empty, or light load, & the fact that with front wheel drive, the power is ALWAYS pushing in the direction you are steering.
> With rear wheel drive, the power is often pushing away from where you are trying to go. On big trucks, steering isn't an issue, because of the massive weight on front wheels, even when running empty. You can't compare a light weight truck's steering to a heavy weight truck.
> 
> There is a reason most cars have front wheel drive, & it is mostly due to better control for the average driver.




The reason most vehicles are fwd is because of one thing. It's cheaper to manufacture. Plain and simple. I will never buy a fwd vehicle. 4wd or rwd.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

SearchforSignal said:


> The reason most vehicles are fwd is because of one thing. It's cheaper to manufacture. Plain and simple.


Railman is also correct that the FWD is "safer" for the average driver. It doesn't cost more to have a rear engine RWD, but those have power oversteer (Corvair), as opposed to power understeer (all the front engine FWD cars).

I'll drive anything. One thing you can do with a FWD that doesn't work out so well with a RWD is throw it sideways in snow, and punch the gas to make a very sharp turn.

Most versatile is the AWD that let you vary torque split between front and rear.


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## Trim40 (Jan 27, 2009)

I got stuck in a cul-de-sac in my Promaster, there was 12" of snow.
The factory tires suck. I replaced them with BFG A/Ts and it's better, but it's not 4wd.


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## JFM constr (Jul 26, 2014)

something sounds off with the idea the front wheel drive is that helpful plus thinking you could pull it out of a slide .i am thinking based on my construction truck which is well loaded .I would think that weight in the back would not work like a small car with front wheel drive . though not knocking the promaster ,kinda like how low they can make it . but just not seeing how the front wheel drive could get a trailer up a gravel driveway for instance .


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