Converting AWD to FWD

[Diablo]

I have a 2010 AWD Edge, and I have not crawled under it yet to see what I might be able to do to convert it from AWD to FWD to save fuel mileage when I drive it in Spring, Summer and Fall when the weather does not really require AWD. Does anyone have any ideas???

[bulldog]

I have a 2010 AWD Edge, and I have not crawled under it yet to see what I might be able to do to convert it from AWD to FWD to save fuel mileage when I drive it in Spring, Summer and Fall when the weather does not really require AWD. Does anyone have any ideas???

 

 

 

i thought about that myself. my son has an 05 silverado SS AWD and i see a fuse that say's "AWD" i wondered what would happen if i removed it??? but haven't tried it. if it worked i would do it on the EDGE. we only need the awd in winter months, would love to save some wear and tear.

[Lex Talionis]

a similar type mod has been possible foe the Toyota FJC.. but in reverse. Turn a FWD into an AWD. The harness was right behind the dash behind an empty plug cover and the ability was built into all FJC's. So, for people that wanted the AWD setup, you paid like what, $650 to get it when all it was was the addition of a $50 switch so many people, like my brother, bought the switch and self installed and viola.

 

Point is, I have heard of making these types of mods as the ability exists, but not sure how/if it can be done on the Edge

 

IF it were as simple as a fuse, you do do the type of mod I did for the internal light switch (posted here some place) and make the fuse attached to a toggle switch on the dash so as to activate/deactivate the fuse from the dash - instant on/off. IF that fuse would even work that way.

 

interesting possibility here.

[MOFSTEEL]

On-Demand All-Wheel Drive

 

An on-demand system is always driving one axle and then drives the other axle as conditions demand. In the case of the Ford Fusion or Ford Edge, the front axle is the primary drive axle. For the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer, the rear axle is the primary drive axle.

 

Simple mechanical systems use a clutch to send torque to the secondary drive axle when the primary axle starts to slip. Today’s electronic systems — like those found on all Ford Motor Company cars as well as Ford Explorer and Expedition, the Lincoln Navigator and the V-8 Mercury Mountaineer — use a computer controller that monitors such things as steering angle, accelerator pedal position and engine speed to provide the precise amount of torque, front to rear, as needed.

 

“What’s really impressive about these systems is that they don’t just react to slip,” says Rodrigues. “They usually prevent that slip from occurring in the first place. By predicting slip and preventing it, the driver doesn’t feel the vehicle slipping and responding. The operation is seamless.”

 

He says on-demand systems create a smooth, confident driving feel in all weather conditions with much better traction. The systems also help balance and improve driving dynamics by sending torque to the secondary axle when it’s most appropriate for handling.

 

“On a normal front-drive vehicle, the front wheels have a limited amount of traction available to them,” says Rodrigues. “That traction has to be used for moving the car forward and for steering. If you use all of the torque to drive forward, you don’t have anything left to steer with, and vise versa. An AWD system off-loads some of that drive torque to the rear wheels. The harder you accelerate, the more of that torque that’s going to be redirected to the rear wheels, restoring the ability of the front wheels to steer the vehicle while providing an even higher level of acceleration.”

 

But he cautions that while these sophisticated AWD systems do help with acceleration, they won’t make the car stop any faster.

 

So since the Edge's AWD system is not ALL-TIME AWD isn't it mainly a FWD vehicle unless the system recognizes slippage?

Converting to a strictly 100% FWD system wouldn't save much if any gas mileage especially since the FWD system would have to pull the weight of the AWD vehicle.

[wwest]

Removing the correct, proper, fuse would undoubtedly disable the electromagnetically controlled rear drive engagement clutch. But you would still have the weight and friction of the PTO, driveshaft, rear clutch, diff'l, and the four rear halfshaft bearings/CVTs.

 

Personally I would remove a front halfshaft and supply a constant current to the rear drive clutch and end up with a much safer RWD. Otherwise I wouldn't bother, IMMHO the rear drive isnt engaged often enough to really adversely affect FE considering the extra weight and friction remains. And considering you would end up with a PATENTLY UNSAFE FWD leaving it operative might just save someone's life.....YOURS maybe.

Edited January 18, 2010 by wwest

[Waldo]

You can do anything you want to the electronics, but the reason the AWD gets worse fuel economy is because it is heavier and because of additional friction from the additional driveshafts. So to truely get the fuel economy of a FWD, you need to remove the rear halfshafts, rear RDU, driveshaft and change the transmission. Clearly not a cost-effective solution.

[igcitng]

When it is not snowing here it is often raining and I sure like AWD in the rain. I had a front wheel drive car and hated it. As much as I would rather have rear wheel drive with 4WD on the fly as an option, they just don't make many anymore. So the AWD is the next best thing. Great system as is.