# Why not a 4 wheel drive conversion . . .



## roark3 (Dec 1, 2012)

. . . but no, not for off-roading. Bear with me a minute: if you start with a 4wd car wouldn't it be fairly easy to sever the drive shaft running front-to-back and let the internal combustion engine power just the front 2 wheels instead of all 4 (you might have to lock the front-to-back differential depending on the 4wd setup).

Then you could convert the 2 rear wheels for electric drive. You end up with a car that runs completely on electric power for as long as the batteries last and then on gasoline indefinitely until you can charge the batteries again. A DIY Chevy Volt if you will.

Ideally I'd start with an old, light, simple car with manual steering and manual brakes (so you don't need to power the hydraulics when running electric only). Something like a Honda Civic 4wd from the 80s.

Someone please tell me what's wrong with this idea before I start working on it . . .


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## ruckus (Apr 15, 2009)

Not a problem. Use something that is already designed for mainly front-wheel-drive. RAV4, Toyota aall-trac, Honda 4wd wagon, etc.

Use a dual-shaft motor placed in the first section of the drive-line (most drive lines are two-piece).

I'm probably biased, but the Scott Drive 100 would work well in this configuration.

Cheers.


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## [email protected] (Jun 14, 2011)

I like the idea and have considered it my next project.

Front wheel gas, rear wheels electric.

The tricky part is having the right gear ratio for the electric drive rear-end 

I use first and second driving my EV Nissan pick-up. 

They do make step-up or step-down transmissions add-on for trucks. 

Achieve results as if you had a two speed rear-end.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

A guy here in Portland did that with a Truck. He bought a truck that had a 2wd and 4wd drive option. bought the 2wd option and later the rear off of a 4wd, then swapped it out and hooked an AC35 to it. Actually works pretty well. He gets great mileage and batteries fit in his truck box.


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## Keegan1927! (Oct 24, 2017)

Was this project ever pursued and/or finished? I am new here, so i apologize for bringing up an old thread. 

I do have some questions on controlling the electric motor. Will there be a separate pedal for acceleration? Or is there a way to disengage the electric drive train once you're done using it.


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