This (nearly) 20 year-old GMC had Quadrasteer about two decades before the GMC Hummer EV!
In this episode of “Dude I love (or hate) my ride,” Erick from San Antonio Texas shows off his 2003 GMC HD SLE crew-cab, standard bed pickup – with Quadrasteer! For those of you who don’t know, GM had a four-wheel steering setup available as an option on GM’s full-size pickup trucks and 2500 Suburbans for model years 2002 through 2005. Initially, it was a pricy $7,000 option, but GM dropped it as low as $1,000 to help sales. Even that price drop could not save the Quadrasteer system as it vanished in 2006.
As you may know, GMC recently revealed a 2022 GMC Hummer EV. This is a fully electric luxury sport truck that has a claimed 0-60 mph acceleration of 3.0 seconds and an initial price of $112,595. The new upcoming Hummer EV is equipped with a four-wheel steering system – a system that is designed and developed by ZF.
Now, let’s get back to the older Quadrasteer system and Erick’s truck.
The Quadrasteer system was developed by Delphi Automotive in conjunction with General Motors.
This is a system that can be activated in-cab, with the push of a button. Decreasing the turning radius up to 21%, the system could crank the rear wheel up to 15-degrees in the opposite direction. If you were in tow/trailer mode, it would go up to 12-degrees. All this was done at low speeds. At higher speeds, the rear wheels turn slightly in the same direction as the front wheels. All Quadrasteer trucks came with a Dana 60 rear axle.
In order to make the system work properly, the rear fenders are flared. It’s not as much as a dually, but it is noticeable. That’s especially true for the (Chevy/GMC) Suburban 2500, which is very rare – if you ever see one. GM didn’t sell many. Despite some musings about the system being stuck, or unreliable, many owners report rock-solid reliability after nearly two decades of use.
Erick seems to like his GMC quite a bit. During his walk-around tour of the vehicle, he does mention its thirsty (about 10 mpg combined) 6.0-liter Vortec V8. The engine was originally rated at around 300 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque. Other than that, and despite over 149,000 miles, he’s pretty happy with this big red truck.
Check out this video and tell us what you think! Thank you Erick!
