Many of the off road side by side vehicles do not use a transfer case. The use a primary transmission driving two dual-speed differentials (that may also have the ability to disengage or fully lock up).
The ones coming of China use a mini car engine with a locked manual transaxle (no differential). The engine and transmission sit longitudinally and each transaxle output drives a shaft to the axle differentials.
This is not much different than what you are asking for except the ratios are for high and low range instead of tow and economy.
06Fargo wrote:
At the risk of taking a rashin' - this is a great idea - gear reduction as close as possible to the wheel ends gives the greatest benefit in pulling power vs more transmission speeds < overdrive.
My dune buggy is based off a 1200cc VW Bus engine and chassis it uses gear reduction units at the hubs to allow a small engine move a large vehicle. The dune buggy is much lighter than the Bus, but the gearing allows it to have 33" rear tires with out bogging out in sand.
