Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a crawl mode with a four wheel steering system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on September 30th, 2020, published on May 28th, 2024, and assigned serial number 11993262.
The Ford Authority Take
The concept of four-wheel steering systems is nothing new, and in fact, a handful of Ford’s competitors already employ something of that sort in select vehicles – a list that includes the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Hummer EV. Meanwhile, Ford has filed patents for similar ideas, including one for a tank turn feature, an all-wheel steering system, and a scalable tractive-power system with all-wheel steering. Now, this newly published patent outlining an idea for a crawl mode for a four wheel steering system signals that the automaker hasn’t given up on that particular idea just yet.
The concept behind this patent revolves around using four wheel steering during conditions when traction may be difficult to find, such as in the snow, sand, mud, or ruts. If it comes to fruition in future Ford vehicles, this new system would be able to automatically lock the front and/or rear differentials, then activate front and rear actuators capable of turning the wheels in different directions, too.
From there, power would also be split between all four wheels as needed to regain traction and free a vehicle, after which the system would automatically turn all of the aforementioned features off and return to normal operation. Given the ever-increasing popularity of off-road vehicles in general, such an idea has a ton of merit, and may very well wind up coming to fruition in some form.
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Comment
Makes sense. I could want one definitely when out in the wilderness.