Is "wheelbase" relative or fixed?
Trying to understand the meaning of the term "short wheelbase vehicle". Looked all over the 'net and can't seem to find an answer. I know that wheelbase itself is the distance from front-to-back w...
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I’ve never seen a definition, I wonder if it’s a generic and somewhat elusive term like ½ ton and ¾ ton. Or what is “camping”? I tend to think of it in a relative sense; if the wb is short enough that it lacks rollover stability I think it’s short. Or if it short enough that a TT could cause it to swap ends in an emergency stop, it’s short.
I have a ’73 Bronco that is relatively short in wb, but also it’s too short to be pulling my 16’ TT, the tail would wag the dog. I had an ’86 Bronco that I didn’t consider short, but I occasionally got a little minor sway. When I went to an F150 sb 4x4 with a longer wb the sway disappeared and I consider it a long wb.
A friend pulled a 12’ TT with an older Toyota (the jeep style and the name escapes me for the moment) and he jackknifed it NO Flagstaff and scared the devil out of himself. Definitely a short wb and also too short to be pulling a TT. Another fellow was pulling my TT – the only other one I’ve ever seen – with a Bronco II and he jackknifed it on I-17. Argumentative whether it would be called a short wb, but too short to be pulling the TT he was.
So I think some vehicles are clearly swb and some are clearly lwb. But in my mind I also consider what the vehicle is towing to determine whether I call it short or long. Interesting question, now that you stirred the pot, Francesca, I hope you’re going to educate us if you ever determine a credible definition.
I have a ’73 Bronco that is relatively short in wb, but also it’s too short to be pulling my 16’ TT, the tail would wag the dog. I had an ’86 Bronco that I didn’t consider short, but I occasionally got a little minor sway. When I went to an F150 sb 4x4 with a longer wb the sway disappeared and I consider it a long wb.
A friend pulled a 12’ TT with an older Toyota (the jeep style and the name escapes me for the moment) and he jackknifed it NO Flagstaff and scared the devil out of himself. Definitely a short wb and also too short to be pulling a TT. Another fellow was pulling my TT – the only other one I’ve ever seen – with a Bronco II and he jackknifed it on I-17. Argumentative whether it would be called a short wb, but too short to be pulling the TT he was.
So I think some vehicles are clearly swb and some are clearly lwb. But in my mind I also consider what the vehicle is towing to determine whether I call it short or long. Interesting question, now that you stirred the pot, Francesca, I hope you’re going to educate us if you ever determine a credible definition.
