Ok, my son and I are arguing about the difference between 4WD and AWD. I just bought a 2022 Maverick with the off road and tow package. When I put it in "mud and ruts" mode, it feels like 4WD to me, but my son says it's really an AWD that used breaks to mimic 4WD. I try to not look to stupid in front of him and confirm all family suspicions regarding my intelligence.
Can anyone here explain to me what the Maverick uses, and what's different about the Maverick's AWD compared to my old school 4WD?
Thanks,
CCL.

PS Hope my son ain't reading this thread too!!!

 

Looks like the Maverick is AWD.

AWD uses a viscous center differential to allow some slip between the front and rear drivetrains, this is a necessity for on-road travel.
4WD locks the front and rear drivetrains together allowing no slip, this can provide more traction offroad but cannot be used on-road as binding and potential drivetrain damage would occur when the vehicle navigates through turns.

Older 4wd vehicles typically had open front and rear differentials so even with it locked in 4wd there really were only 2 wheels doing all the work... one front and one rear. The traction control and ABS systems on modern vehicles can now mimic the action of a positraction or locked differential so it is possible the Maverick has most of the advantages of both systems. The one thing missing would be the low range option that was available in most 4wd transfer cases, but that is more of an extreme use thing that the vast majority of drivers would never use anyway.

 

I'll miss the low range option every time I run it up the ramps for an oil change, or work my way up an old skid road.

 

I would disagree, there are several FULL TIME 4X4 vehicles for sale now, sold around the world (and in fact, have been many over the years, the U.S. Army may have had a couple at one time. These were not, AWD, they were FULL TIME 4X4. Look at 2019 Toyota R-runner, full time 4x4-not all wheel drive, there are many, many others.

 

Yes but to be full time 4 wheel drive you need a center differential or other means to separate the front and rear axles. Closer to an AWD setup than an old style locked up 4x4.

 

I believe there is confusion, big confusion regarding full time 4x4. It is NOT similar to AWD, not at all, a full time 4x4 is a true 4x4, it has a center differential, that stays "locked up" 100% of the time, it does not have the ability to "un-lock" and run in 2wh, it just runs all 4 all the time, as if an old fashion, manual selector was put into 4 wheel drive and then welded into that position. yes, there does seem to be some confusion here, the U.S. Military had 1000s if not 10,000s of full tim 4x4s, they were NOT weak awd systems. Hope this helps.

 

The center differential is open and the front and rear are not locked together as in traditional 4wd. It may and in most cases probably does have a way to lock up for maximum traction. We had 6x6 GMC trucks with a "full time" system but the rear wheels had to spin faster than the front to engage power to the front.

 

From Wiki:

The Humvee seats four people with an available fully enclosed metal cabin with a vertical windshield. The body is constructed from lightweight and rust-resistant aluminum, instead of conventional steel. It has all-wheel drive with an independent suspension and helical gear-reduction hubs similar to portal axles which attach towards the top rather than the center of each wheel to allow the drivetrain shafts to be raised for a full 16 in (410 mm) of ground clearance. The body is mounted on a narrow steel frame with boxed rails and five cross members for rigidity. The rails act as sliders to protect the drivetrain which is nestled between and above the rails.[54] Raising the drivetrain into the cabin area and lowering the seats into the frame creates a substantial chest-high transmission hump which separates passengers on each side and lowers the overall center of gravity compared to most trucks where the body and passengers are above the frame.[55]

The vehicle also has double-wishbone suspension with portal gear hubs on all 4 wheels; and all-around inboard disc brakes. The brake discs are not mounted at the wheels, as on conventional cars, but are inboard of the half-shafts, attached right outside of the differentials. The front and rear differentials are Torsen type, and the center differential is a regular, lockable type. Torque-biasing differentials allows forward movement as long as at least one wheel has traction. It runs on specialized 37 × 12.5 radial tires with low-profile runflat devices. Newer HMMWV versions can be equipped with an optional central tire inflation system (CTIS) kit in the field. While it is optimized for off-road mobility, it can drive at highway speeds of 55 mph (89 km/h) at maximum weight with a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).[56][57]

 

You all are getting the just of it. Just not complete description of traditional full time four wheel drive.

Example years ago, had a 1977 Ford F-250 full time 4x4.
Front hubs were permanently locked or engaged.
The Transfer Case in center of truck attached to the rear of the transmission had an open differential inside, that allowed front and rear axles to spin at different rates to avoid binding and a set of gears to provide Low Range operation. Using either lock position on transfer case shift lever locked the differential in transfer case for straight through operation.
The front and rear differentials could be either open or limited slip. Mine were open.
Inside the truck was a shift lever attached to the transfer case. It had the following choices of operation.
4High, 4High Lock, Neutral, 4Low, 4Low Lock.

4High is default operation for general driving with the truck in 4x4 all the time.
Due to open differentials in both front and back you actually only had 1 wheel drive. Any of the four could spin and leave you stuck!
Placing transfer case shift lever in 4 High Lock bypassed the differential in the transfer case locking both front and rear differentials together. Therefore, now giving me 2-wheel drive with one front and one rear able to pull.

4 Low and 4 Low Lock worked same just will the lower gearing provided by the transfer case.

 

If one is familiar with military vehicles, not just one, but many, they might be familiar with the old M880! AKA 11/4 TON, FULL TIME FOUR WHEEL DRIVE, not some whimpee awd system. This of course is just one example, MANY, full time 4x4s have been built for the civilian market (many still are, around the world) and huge numbers have been used by the U.S. military, and other countries militaries, these are not one offs, not a custome rig, but were and are built by the 10,000s, again, THEY ARE NOT AWD, they are FULL TIME 4X4.

 

A distinction without a difference.

 

How is that, are you saying an awd is the same as full time 4x4?

 

As a practical matter, as far as the driving experience, there isn't much if any difference. Hardware wise, both have an "open" center differential, which you acknowledge in post 6. It can't be locked up all the time or you'd have the same troubles with part time as you do with full time. As far as the other hardware, only if you buy it to take apart and put back together will that really matter.

The Maverick appears to be AWD. It will probably drive just about like a full time 4x4.

 

I thought the Maverick was PRIMARILY FWD, when slip was detected on the front wheel, it then transferred power to the rear wheels. I guess it drives like a FWD most of the time, unlike a full time 4x4, where there is no detecting slip and sending power to the other end of the vehicle. If you are used to driving a FWD vehicle, you'll be familiar with how a FWD vehicles feels, and steers etc.

 

Correct. Maverick is a Front drive by default. AWD cars like the Maverick do not have a Transfer Case like a full time 4x4. The full time 4x4 like I described earlier 1977 F-250 sent power to all four wheels all the time. Due to fact that my truck had open differentials both front and rear, if any one of the four tires lost traction it would spin and if you were in mud snow slime etc. you would sit until you locked the transfer case into either high or low range. Thus, giving equal power to both front and rear differentials giving me one front and one rear tire to pull. IF I would have had limited slip in both front and rear with Transfer case locked, I would have had actual four-wheel drive!