Dear Tom and Ray:

Please settle an argument in which I am embroiled. My Dodge-chassis motorhome has dual rear wheels (side by side). I maintain that I thus have a four wheel drive vehicle, in effect, with as much traction as any garden-variety 4WD. I realize that ordinary 4WDs can out-perform my rig in an instance where their front wheels are not mired, but in other circumstances, my machine is just as good. Do I win the bet? Bob

Ray: I'm afraid not, Bob. Not unless you're applying a very liberal definition to four wheel drive.

Tom: You do have better traction than the same motorhome without dual rear wheels. Your main advantage over, say, a '74 Chevy Caprice is that with four rear wheels--and four rear tires--your driven wheels have twice as much rubber touching the road.

Ray: Plus, you have far more weight than the average car, which also improves traction.

Tom: But just like that '74 Chevy, if your rear wheels happen to be on ice or in mud you're completely out of luck.

Ray: Whereas if you had a true four wheel drive vehicle with a locking differential, you could actually send power to all four corners at the same time, which would double your chances of getting unstuck.

Tom: So you lose, Bob. I just hope the bet wasn't for anything too embarrassing, like that the loser has to go into Midas and say "I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler" wearing a pink tutu and pumps.1144

How can you tell if a used car is in good condition -- or even OK, for that matter? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "How to Buy a Great Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know." Send $3 and a stamped (55 cents), self-addressed, No. 10 envelope to Used Car, PO Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

© 1995 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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