They did not want to add and pay for something that can fail and potentially leave them stranded. There is a post here from a GM tech, who confirmed the issues.
I'm surprised four-wheel steering hasn't made a comeback in modern pickup trucks, considering people seem more than willing to take out a loan of six figures to buy a Denali, High Country, Limited Longhorn, or King Ranch nowadays.
Former GM Tech here. I worked at Chevy all through the 2000s. Our dealership rarely sold any Quadrasteers. And the few they did sell kept coming back in the beginning with rear tire wear problems. Also SO EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR. But the customers that had them, thoroughly loved them. Especially for towing. I've been a drivability tech for over 20 yrs and many of the times when I see these Quadrasteer vehicles over the years, they've had the rear steer locked out and sys disabled for years, due to interoperability. Even the GM dealerships are unable to get parts to repair these. The last Quadrasteer diff that came in needing rebuid at my shop was in 2021. We had to send it out to a specialty shop. Ended up costing cust around $5k just for rear axle overhaul. 😮 But his rear steer was functional again and he loved it.
I'm kind of surprised they haven't tried to bring it back now with everyone, seemingly thinking they need an SUV because nobody can drive anymore, and they depend on them to somehow remedy that...
@braydons5623 It was a good concept. And I think it excelled in turning abilities for the longer wheelbase vehicles. But it's just a lot more maintenance. And costly upkeep. Think of all the parts you have on a front end that wears out. And now add all those parts onto the rear of a HD vehicle, that tows a lot. It's just asking for a lot of expensive parts to wear out. The steering knuckles are attached by ball joints. The axle shafts have to have universal joints in them. There's going to be inner and outer tie rods attached to an electric steering rack. Systems going to need an entirely separate control module and wiring harness. 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💸
@@4by_yotaguy373 not quite that bad!! Look at the Toyota LandCruiser V8 4x4 the diff has huge balls at each end allowing the rear wheels to flex in any direction without any CV shafts!! It would however need a rack and pinion steering and rod ends and 1 set out of 2 ball joints but that's not nearly as expensive as needing CV shaft replaced and the rack and pinion don't fail very often!! I know this because Honda prelude 4WS has been a thing since the early 80's and it has almost no real issues with the major hardware it's mostly just rod ends and ball joints that need replacing. My last prelude had 1 set of ball joints and rod ends in its entire life and that was a 88 model and ran till it rusted out last year.. in total I spent about $500 on the rws in its life!! I spent more on shocks and breaks than I did on the steering system. Also Honda 4WS systems was a 3rd of the price greedy GM was asking for.
@@motley114 The Quadrasteer axle was not weak by any means, it could have held up to the diesel available at the time just fine. It was a 35 spline Dana 60, used CV's instead of weaker U-joints, had cast iron knuckles on the Suburban 2500 8-lug version. Standard Dana 60's have been under countless 3/4 & 1 ton truck front and rears, including diesels.
They did make them with the diesel it was just so expensive for the time it was super rare to see my uncle ron had one and to this day its the only one I’ve ever seen
I never comment on yt videos but I have to chime in here. I've always been a Suburban 2500 fan and I had one from 2015-2021, but I wanted a quadrasteer since I saw the commercials in 2003 and this year I finally got one. Apologies for a wall of text but I think this info may help someone. I've owned it now for 8 months and put a lot of miles on it, after doing tons of research before and after buying it. I'll start by saying that wear items like tie rods are available from many places. Ball joints are made in small batches and they are expensive but you can get them, and I've seen some trucks that had gone 360k+ miles on the originals (and yes the entire 4WS still worked!) The sensor and many other unavailable parts are being made by a small company called gooodsystems, note the extra "O". He engineered a new sensor which should last longer than the original, even if it gets wet because it's sealed. He sells everything you'd need to keep one of these working. A few points to counter the people saying it's not reliable - it absolutely is, so long as you maintain it, do NOT SUBMERGE THE AXLE, and leave it turned on. Leaving it in 2wd mode or letting the truck sit for a long time can let the centering spring seize. Launching a boat can submerge the axle and ruin the position sensor or corrode other electronics and this seems to be the biggest source of people who say it's unreliable. Very few owners actually have failures if they did not do this to theirs. You need to inspect the tie rod boots and make sure they stay sealed for the same reason. The gear oil in the differential needs to be changed more often than many are comfortable with, around 15k miles- but it's easy, and not doing it can cause the limited slip (not a G80) to have problems and it will chirp the tires when you turn sharply, or stop locking up when it should. It takes a special gear oil that was also used in some corvettes but amsoil has an oil with additive that people like to use now. I've seen no evidence that the system is harder on tires than a normal vehicle. Mine had evenly worn tires with a lot of miles on them when I bought it. I'm a couple thousand miles into a new set without issue so far. For the driving experience, the tight turning has to be felt to be truly appreciated. I have barely driven my 2018 Sierra Denali since I got this Suburban because I enjoy the 4WS so much. I haven't towed yet, so I can't verify anything about that experience. But I can fit in places no other full size trucks can, easily. Parking garages, tight drive thrus, pulling U turns in narrow spaces. It feels more stable at high speeds, 75-80+, than my old one without QS was (same year, 2005) The handling is a little wonky and takes getting used to in the transition zone between 40 and 50 mph where it's either slightly steering or not steering at all. Taking wide sweeping highway curves at high speed makes it sort of slide around the corners. Your front end will start to point towards the right side of the lane as you turn tighter with all 4 wheels trying to crab walk. I think the Suburbans/Yukons especially look good with the extra marker lights. I fully believe the only thing that kept these from being bought was expense and ineffective marketing. If they had cost a reasonable amount, and every dealership had one available to test drive and got every new truck buyer to try it out, I think they'd have become ubiquitous. Mine was special ordered in 05, and I'm the 2nd owner. I will be its last owner. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
This was great to read, thanks! As I believe the best comments here are from the actual owners of these trucks, or people with first-hand experience. Awesome to hear that someone is making sensors and parts for these! 👍 I also agree with what you said, many of these systems that have problems were not maintained properly. And I said elsewhere, I've met over a dozen customers throughout the years that owned these 4WS trucks/burbans and each one said the same thing. They believe it's one of the best inventions ever, and they're never going to sell it. 😮
And another thing that you said... If the GM dealerships would have had one of these QS vehicles available to test drive, every potential truck buyer would have experienced it and loved it. 100% The dummies at my dealership never had any.
The last years of my 02 Sierra Denali w/ quadrasteer. It was used as my work truck and trailer hauler. I've never had an issue with the QS unless it was below zero out, and all that it took was to let it warm up and hit the button. Rear tires wore better than my fronts. It was submerged tons of times launching boats and it has survived northern IL winters with heavy salt. I did hear that since mine was the first year it was over engineered, but I'm not positive on that, but the rear differential definitely looks bigger on my than the later years.
I bought a new 2003 black Silverado extended cab Quadsteer and still drive it to this day. I love it and have run it in 4 wheel steer its entire life only opting out in a few off roar situations. Aside from being able to make a u-turn on a rural street, it’s phenomenal on winding mountain freeway driving which is what we have where I live in Siskiyou Co. I also get far less tire wear due to not scrubbing the rear tires during tight turns at freeway speeds. The other fun bonus is, that being black and having the marker lights on the cab roof, quite often when merging onto the freeway behind an eighteen wheeler that is traveling well over the speed limit, they mistake me for the CHP and are immediately get on their jake break😂 Lastly, I’ve had zero issues with the Quadsteer or anything else. To me it’s a collectors item now and I will keep it forever…I’m old so my forever may be different than yours⏳
shoulda had that rust fixed, assuming it was mostly body rust and anything on the frame was fixable. Sure you may have spent $10k but that's still way cheaper than a new truck.
I owned a 04 sierra Denali with this system it was absolutely amazing for towing and parking , you could select on the dash how you wanted the rear to turn. You could back a 30ft trailer up no problem
My dad worked for GM during that period. It was a feature ahead of its time. I remember driving a demo and it was pretty awesome. What killed it was the price for the option. I believe it was 3000 -3500$ USD which was a lot on top of the MSRP at that time. Now it’s a regular feature in most EV SUVs from GM, Tesla, etc. Even most Porsche and Range Rovers can be optioned that way. GM often overlooked as an innovator.
I've owned an 2002 Sierra Denali Quadrasteer since 2018. Hands down one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. The quadrasteer system works flawlessly I never turn it off. 6.0 liter V8 pulls anything like it isn't even there, one of the few downsides is poor fuel economy you're lucky to get 15mpg. It's sitting at 190000 miles roughly, still chugging along happily
My 6.0’s have all gotten between 9 and 12 mpg no matter what. Lifted or stock, towing, city or highway. Good strong torque engines. The 5.3 is awesome in half tons.
I bought one of these to pull a camper trailer. It is amazing! I’ve pulled the camper with newer trucks and really prefer the stability of my Quadrasteer. The truck is a beast and really quick when not towing. Fuel mileage isn’t great, but towing a trailer it really gives respectable mileage. The truck even has adjustable dampers which also help towing stability. Never getting rid of this truck!
the lincon at 7:17 looks so refreshing to me because it doesn't have the ridiculously tall and large hood we see on all modern trucks (even the tacoma looks like a chevy now)
Crab steering isn’t helpful for parallel parking it takes far too much distance to crab walk . Coordinated steering works great to get the truck over quickly.
These would have been great vehicles for police and fire departments, especially in areas with tight or congested streets, I doubt many many were bought with this expensive option. The Tahoe, Expedition, and Excursion were very popular in emergency services back then.
Unfortunately fire departments would much rather just mandate that all roads be made wider instead of adopting more maneuverable vehicles, saving a couple dollars for the department but costing the taxpayer an obscene amount.
I still remember these commercials. When I started looking to buy a truck 2 years ago, i was really bummed this hadn't caught on. Parking even a 2022 short-bed 1/2T truck in my local parking lots is a CHALLENGE (helped by 360-camera coverage), lol!
I’ve owned an 04 Denali since 2010. Quadrasteer still works flawlessly. I still love to for towing. Seems successful to me! 162,000 miles and counting!
I drove a Sierra 1500HD equipped with Quadrasteer back when they were new, and I have no idea why it didn't catch on. I was actually tasked with doing a demo of the system at a local racetrack for the GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealer, so I was the pace "car", and hauled the trophy girl around, making conspicuous U-turns and 360 degree turns whenever possible. One other area where these trucks shone was in high speed lane changes and emergency maneuvers: Jerking the wheel produced an instant response and change of course, rather than the feel of the front end of the truck taking action while the rear axle heels over and reluctantly follows half a second later as we've come to expect from conventional steering setups. This was in an era where white collar dads and helicopter moms were buying crew cab diesels and V10 Excursions as commuter vehicles, so you'd think they'd have had no problem ponying up the money in this "go big or go bigger" era. The GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealer I mentioned did actually sell a number of them, so for awhile they weren't an uncommon sight on the roads in NW Montana, though never as common as you'd have expected.
I had one and absolutely loved it. I had two issues during my ownership; the first was a sensor that was repaired under warranty and the second was when I backed into a rock and bent a tie rod end. Other than that it was great. However, I traded it at about 90k but because I was nervous that it would be hard or impossible to repair in the future. Mine was an '03 and I bought it when GM started offering discounts so I think it was only about a $2,000 option.
I own one with 275,000 miles. The good thing about parts being hard to find is that you almost never need them. My 4ws still works and is original from 2003.
Man, we were talking those trucks at work like a week ago. We have Allison transmissions in the work trucks. I know this because of badging on the hood. Swear to God. Weird badge. But yeah, that badge sparked the 4 wheel steering trucks and what happened to that. Neat coincidence
FYI, the Allison in GM's 2020+ isn't a real Allison. Allison looked at GMs design and supposedly tested it, and GM pays them for the name. Most people don't know this, obviously GM doesn't advertise it. Slapping the Allison brand on it is kinda bullshit.
@@GreenHawkDrive I hope you learn to fix your mic issues first before you get there. The extreme panning was annoying. Voiceover dialog should always be in the center, not over to the left.
All combine harvesters have rear wheel steering, not four wheel steering. In farm equipment, four wheel steering is common in sprayers and telescopic boom handlers. For combines. It would be very costly to handle the front end weight on steering wheels, and not practical if dual front wheels are used as shown. Seperate left and right brake pedals currently serve the function of providing tight steering when needed.
I ran the prototype outer tie rods for this when I worked for aam at Tonawanda forge. Was nothing more than a longer stem. Used the same dies as the front outer tierods. Just a different length stem locator.
I just moved to little Esterhazy Saskatchewan, and there's a local here who has an absolutely mint shape champaign coloured one, see it about once a week. I own a few super rare cars myself, a 91 Dodge Spirit RT, and a 2001 Dodge RamCharger from Mexico, and even I was shocked as hell to see one with my own eyes.
Nice work! Have the Yukon and it will hopefully be my forever hauler. Late 80s Honda Prelude Si had 4WS, probably on motortrend dawt cawm if you poke around.
The quadrasteer GMC Denali (2002) was my first vehicle after turning 15 and 3/4 in Nevada. Everything was great and unique and it turned heads like crazy. One thing what sucked, however, was the 4 wheel steering motor would burn out and disable trying to run anything larger than a 18 inch rim, as 20’s were becoming very fashionable at the time, this was a bummer for my teen self. Took two motor burn outs and replacements under warranty and courtesy of Desert Pontiac and GMC to realize 20s weren’t going to work ever😅
I purchased a 2002 Sierra SLT Ext Cab new. It was essentially a Denali, except it was not all-wheel drive or 4WS. Sticker price was $31,000. The Denali package started at $44,000 that year.
@@GreenHawkDrive i had an 89 mazda mx-6 with 4ws. and a turbo! 4ws was awesome when it worked. i think thats the problem with most is that they break and not many were produced so there just arent any parts to keep em going. and cost. except for the hondas as theyre all mechanical. those seem to last.
I think the Honda prelude system was fully mechanical. The wheel steered the same direction when the steering wheel was slightly turned. This was for better handling, but they steered the opposite direction when the steering wheel was turned sharply in order to decrease turning radius. That attempted to accomplish the same thing mechanically that the GM system did electronically.
The Prelude worked great. The steering effort was just slightly higher than normal P/S and they held alignment well. You could use a large cotter pin in place of the special pin that Honda made for Alignment. The Honda pin would shear off if you tried to drive off with the centering pin still in the rear steering.
I’ve never seen one of these in person, but heard about them, pretty cool feature! I drove an 05’ AWD crew cab Denali for several years with the 6.0. Great truck with plenty of power, but 13 mpg. I traded it for an 18’ Silverado crew cab 4x4 5.3, hands down not as good of a truck as the Sierra, but I get 22mpg on the highway. The turning radius actually wasn’t too bad on the Sierra, but the quad steer would’ve been nice. Thanks for sharing this!
The crew cab 6.5' bed 1500HD quadrasteers aren't very common. You can't turn as well as the shorter quadrasteers, but still a huge improvement. A CCLB quadrasteer would have been awesome.
It is a shame GM never did bother bringing the system down in price and pushing it harder, though 2 people I know had issues with their Quadrasteer trucks. The first one, I got to recently drive his, and it is NUTS how much more maneuverable the system makes the truck. He had the controller fail on his truck at about 35,000 miles, and said it scared the hell out of him as he was in the middle of turning through a tight circle driveway, and suddenly the truck stopped turning in as tight as he needed as the wheels failed safe to straight ahead. He did a three point turn to finish, and the module was replaced under warranty. The second guy straight up admitted his system failure was of his own making. He bought his truck lightly used, and used it for actual work around his farm. He had finished his chores for the day, decided to go out in his back pasture and cut some donuts. He miss judged his distance from a drainage that had large rocks in it, he smacked a large rock, broke a wheel and broke the steering knuckle right at the tie rod on the left side. He got lucky and found a wrecked truck for a decent price, swapped the parts he needed over to his truck, and as far as I know he still has all the extra parts from the wrecked truck in storage on his property. Both of these guys, one with a GMC and the other with a Chevy, still have their trucks now because they have, as trucks, been reliable, easy to service and mostly easy to work on for repairs, and neither wants to live without their Quadrasteer.
Shit, these trucks made life easier for those of us who've worked in the outdoor amusement industry. Trying to navigate a carnival midway with these was a beautiful thing.
I owned a 2003 GMC Sierra short bed extended cab with Quadrasteer. I loved that truck! I eventually sold it when I needed a bigger cab because we had 3 kids, also some of the electronics were starting to give me issues (but not the steering or ride control) . The ride control was another interesting feature though not nearly as impactful as the steering. I could U-turn anywhere! The tow/haul mode made backing easier and shifting lanes at highway speed a million times more stable. In fact changing lanes felt really weird because you just kind of glided into the other lane, no sway! I really miss that truck. Part of me wants to buy one of the new EVs just to get my 4ws back.
A mechanic at the shop I work at said they are a nightmare to get an alignment dialed in on. According to him, once you get one aligned, when u work on the other, it throws off the first one.
You mentioned the tech being unmatched by Mopar, which gave me a thought. As someone who currently sells parts for a living, I _absolutely despise_ post-1980s Mopar. The whole thing shoulda burned in the 90s or early 2000s to save it from its current fate as the laughing stock of the entire automotive world. Honestly. I think Mopar since the late 1980s or early 1990s are some of the worst vehicles to own and/or work on. Some of their design choices are just plain stupid, like having different brake systems with no way to, at a glance, identify for sure which one you have. Yeah, did you know certain Dodges and Jeeps can have different brake pads and calipers from others of the same year and submodel? I think it's some kind of heavy duty brake system. GM does the same thing when it comes to having different brake packages, but the difference is, on a stock non cab and chassis GM truck or SUV (at least from the early 2000s) which hasn't been molested by an upfit into a box truck, a bus, an RV or similar, there's a sticker in the glovebox that has the VIN on it and says "service parts identification, do not remove." That sticker is essentially a build sheet. It tells you damn near everything, from brakes to transmission to suspension, engine, and even interior trim and beyond. Dodge? No, you're SOL. Call the dealer and give them your VIN in order to get the right brake pads. Part of me wants to pity Dodge and Jeep owners, but at the same time a concerning number of them are massive dickheads with an ego the size VY Canis Majoris and a consumerism streak that would give a tapeworm a migraine. I believe I can wrap up my thoughts on the state of Mopar and the people who generally buy Mopar right there. Of course there are modern Mopar owners who are alright, but holy HELL if there aren't a lot of cultists.
@lsswappedcessna Atleast we got the Plymouth laser rs and eagle talon tsi in the 90s. I had one but had to decide between my 1993 lightning or the car. When it came to trucks the 1999 and 2000 dodge ram charger is by far the nicest looking 2 door compared to the gm and ford version. Mopar with the 12v and 24v killed it when it came to heavy duty trucks. I don't like the whole car scene now, cars trucks motorcycles it's all about clout. I rather do rc stuff and work long hours instead...
As an ‘03 Silverado cat eye Quadrasteer owner, I can confirm it is amazing. I had a friend (RIP) who when grabbing dinner one night started to question my life’s choices when trying to park right by the front door in a very tight parking lot, and as I turned in he said, “Oh right, Quadrasteer. Never mind, carry on.” It is a fantastic system, and I hope with some new electric trucks having 4 wheel steer, it makes a comeback. Very few people seem to know it even exists, but a few months ago, a guy knocked on the door and said he was driving by, noticed it was a Quadrasteer, and had to stop to see if I wanted to sell it. The only downside to the system in my opinion is the weight of the axle and the amount of unsprung weight. I bought the truck from a guy who had already replaced the factory ride control shocks, and with the rough roads around me, your standard shock doesn’t last. For years I wanted to add a Roadmaster Active Suspension to the truck but they didn’t offer a kit since the steering hub is right up against the U bolts, so last year I made some brackets through Send Cut Send, and it helps out so much.
I remember seeing commercials of the quadsteer when I was a kid, and never actually seen one in person or even heard it ever mentioned since then. I always thought maybe I was insane and made the whole thing up until this video!
I drove a Honda Prelude with 4-wheel steering. I want it again so bad! Game changer in parking lots and tight spaces and felt unreal on the highway to float horizontally between lanes.
The infiniti FX50 S had this feature as well, I had one equipped with the option. It's a very rare vehicle now and it was only a few degrees of steering, not as much as quadrasteer but still enough to make a difference.
Good video man! I have a 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 6.0, not a quadrasteer tho. I’ve never seen a Quadra steer 1 year ago parked in person but have never seen one driving in person. I do tow 5th wheel trailers and this seems awesome.
OK, I really like this. Most RUclipsr do some sort of subscriber giveaway when they hit a milestone. This dude says "I'm going to do something nice for my wife". Love it!
I own a 04 Denali Quadrasteer, I’m the second owner of it and it’s been in Wyoming its whole life, other than the typical paint issues from GM and the rust belt of the area, it’s an amazing truck, hasn’t let me down once, it’s a great system and it makes towing and parking etc so much easier. I wanna keep it forever but I really want a newer vehicle but mine is worth around 11-12k so I may just keep it lol. I’ve done a lot of work to make it look cooler lol
215,xxx miles and counting on my 04 Sierra Denali. I’ve owned the truck since 2012 when it had just over 100k on the odo and I’ve never had an issue with the quadrasteer system. I used to drive an 06 Chevy 2500 with a duramax for work, so no rear steer. Sometimes I’d be making a turn, forget that I wasn’t in my truck and end up way over estimating how tight of a turn I could accomplish 😅 I love my Denali. I wish it had a more modern 6+ speed tranny and some more power but I’ve done plenty of towing with it and really don’t see a need to replace it anytime soon.
I worked for a couple different Chevy stealerships in 2005 and 2006. We were trained to look for the Quadrasteer button anytime we moved a truck or SUV around the lot. Apparently one of the lot techs had at one point in time turned too sharp and caused a lot of damage. I think I only ever experienced 1 truck with it though. It was a used GMC we took in on trade.
I've met over a dozen people who have owned a Quadrasteer vehicle, and each one of them said they LOVED them. But good luck finding parts, and someone "willing" to work on them now.
My boss has quadrasteer on his 04 Silverado. He bought it new because he wanted quadrasteer. The shop next to us also owns one. Having driven it and pulled it in and out of our shop every day. It's really one of the best systems ever. I love the system and am so jealous of his truck! Reliability wise they're kinda a nightmare. Thankfully goood systems exists. They're a company they specializes in parts for quadrasteer trucks. Even with their issues. They're such a joy to drive and use. Makes driving any other pickup without it such an unpleasant experience.
That's incorrect the GMT800 Suburban/ Yukon XL 1500 had leaf springs, the Quadrasteer required a 14 bolt rear axle, those trucks and lesser 1500 Pickups had 12 bolts.
These thing were a nightmare to work on up here in the rust belt.. and they were super costly to repair... 80% of customers just had us disable the system if it was going to need a repair. My buddy figured out how to hack the rear steer and made a kit with 3 buttons and a switch so u could manually steer the rear or lock it into 1 of the 3 steering modes on the fly. Gm actually sued him because he accesed priority gm coding but all he did was bypass the eletrical circuits and he actually had the case thrown out of court after a few years.
I worked for GM when the qudrasteer was available. The major issue was that during its launch, it was only available in the top of the line trucks. So, any quadrasteer vehicle started around $45K and went up from there. The standard Z71 was around $32K
It' had a lot of reliability flaws! I am a retired wrecker driver I saw everything I knew what was reliable and what wasn't. The advertising gets people to buy garbage. I could say what US manufacturer is the worst but it's the most purchased and will get fan boys bent out of shape. "F"
My dad had a 2002 Sierra Denali with it for years. Towards the end I drove it more than him, and we all loved it. Towed a 22ft v8 boat with ease, and a 30ft travel trailer
We had an older Coleman aircraft tug, (tractor, USAF ) assigned to us...short wheelbase, FWD, and that goofy lever that stuck up from the floor...that was the manual 4 wheel steer. When you got good with that it was amazing..one would not get stuck for long if you knew how to use it right...and the places you could get to...parking equipment very close an not mashing said equipment...I never towed aircraft though, but the guys that did could park the aircraft exactly where they needed it..real handy...
The Quadrasteer system was developed by the Saginaw Steering division of Delphi Automotive Systems for GM. Delphi was formed in the late 1990s by spinning off GM's parts divisions. I worked at the Interior and Lighting systems division in the early 2000s when items like power sliding doors and power adjustable pedals were being introduced. DELPHI is actually an acronym based on the divisions that were merged. Delco Electronics, Packard Electric, Harrison Thermal and Interior and Lighting Systems.
A Quadrasteer Yukon XL 2500 saved me from the minivan fate when we got the news of 🐣 #6. The Quadrasteer part was terrifying - but that system is simple and simply brilliant. The GOAT, as the kids call that Yukon, is by far my favorite, most enjoyable vehicle of any that I’ve ever owned (ranging from modern trucks to Land Cruisers and German luxury sedans). If you can find a Quadrasteer anything from somewhere between CA and TX (i.e., rust-free), buy it!
As a Canadian another thing I heard about these systems is that ice and salt were really hard on them. Salt would corrode and disable the system and ice would build up causing issues; it's the same reason any truck or SUV bought with automatic folding running boards these days almost immediately has them ripped off and replaced with static ones since they become inoperable in the winter.
I have a '03 Denali Quadra-steer. Everything works, Yes even AC And heat! All straight body, Zero rust. I tried to sell it a while back for 3500 dollars and got zero takers. Well that's not true. A lot of migrant workers wanted to buy it for work purposes but could only offer up to 1000 dollars. As much as I would have liked to help those poor guys out, I just couldn't give it away at that cost! I gave up and kept it along side my '23 Frontier Pro-4X. She has almost a 1/2 million miles now and still going strong. I ended up letting my son use her to go to work in. He isn't allowed to tow with it or lend it out. He's 33 BTW, I value the truck enough that I lecture my 33 year old son on how to take care of it!
I have a 2003 1500HD quadrasteer, I just hit 203,xxx miles and I rarely turn OFF the quadrasteer function. It works perfect still 24/7 And you’re right, pulling a trailer with it is such a breeze, going around corners and backing the trailer into places is so EASY
At the 2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary in Nashville, Chevrolet had several Quadrasteer trucks there that you could drive on a course they had set up. After showing my racing license, the representative allowed me to run "a bit faster" than the typical drive, and it was amazing at how you could basically autocross this big truck on such a tight course at such speed. My friend in the back seat couldn't believe how fast I attacked the course. My basic reaction was almost like they had cut the truck in half, as it really didn't feel any longer than that when driving it. I've looked for one on and off over the last ten years, but never found one when I was looking to buy. Now they are 20 years old, and a couple I've seen pop up mention that the Quadrasteer is disabled now. As we were walking away, we could hear some of the reps telling others in line, "no, you can't drive it that fast, that was a professional driver on a closed course for demonstration only." LOL It is probably why we didn't get in trouble, because it sure made an impression on those watching. And that is what Chevy wanted, right?
I remember seeing this at the Orlando auto show when it came out. It was incredibly expensive. My friend and I, who both drove (and still drive) full size trucks were staring at it up on the platform looking at how it worked. A rep came over and started on the hard sell. I laughed and told him we knew how to drive and park and those who don't should buy something smaller. He was visibly angry and stormed off.
I've seen a couple 8100 vortec suburbans with quadra-steer. One of my regulars at my last job owned one. I'm not sure if it was custom built, but it was pretty stinkin cool
If these are still available in the USA it’d be a surprise if they weren’t still sought after, I really like this truck, a really good effort from GM, credit where credit is due.
People didnt want to spend 11k for actual sick mechanical option but now people are paying 15-20k for lame appearance packages.
OUTSTANDING analogy.
This was a remarkably accurate take. Well played
It's almost as if consumers have gotten dumber. Waaayyy dumber.
They did not want to add and pay for something that can fail and potentially leave them stranded. There is a post here from a GM tech, who confirmed the issues.
Which purely cosmetic package are people buying for 15k-20k? And 11k in 2002 is equivalent to almost 20k today lol.
I'm surprised four-wheel steering hasn't made a comeback in modern pickup trucks, considering people seem more than willing to take out a loan of six figures to buy a Denali, High Country, Limited Longhorn, or King Ranch nowadays.
I agree. Some guys were saying it’s on some new EV trucks?
It's on the hummer I believe. @@GreenHawkDrive
Its standard equipment on the Cybertruck
Why would they? Like you said, they'll take out a 6 figure loan as-is. Why make things better?
reduce profit margin to give the consumer an actual good product you say? Nahhhhh we will keep marking up the price and give you the same old
Former GM Tech here. I worked at Chevy all through the 2000s. Our dealership rarely sold any Quadrasteers. And the few they did sell kept coming back in the beginning with rear tire wear problems. Also SO EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR. But the customers that had them, thoroughly loved them. Especially for towing. I've been a drivability tech for over 20 yrs and many of the times when I see these Quadrasteer vehicles over the years, they've had the rear steer locked out and sys disabled for years, due to interoperability. Even the GM dealerships are unable to get parts to repair these. The last Quadrasteer diff that came in needing rebuid at my shop was in 2021. We had to send it out to a specialty shop. Ended up costing cust around $5k just for rear axle overhaul. 😮
But his rear steer was functional again and he loved it.
As always, the good stuff in the comments. Thanks for sharing!
I'm kind of surprised they haven't tried to bring it back now with everyone, seemingly thinking they need an SUV because nobody can drive anymore, and they depend on them to somehow remedy that...
@braydons5623 It was a good concept. And I think it excelled in turning abilities for the longer wheelbase vehicles. But it's just a lot more maintenance. And costly upkeep.
Think of all the parts you have on a front end that wears out. And now add all those parts onto the rear of a HD vehicle, that tows a lot. It's just asking for a lot of expensive parts to wear out.
The steering knuckles are attached by ball joints. The axle shafts have to have universal joints in them. There's going to be inner and outer tie rods attached to an electric steering rack. Systems going to need an entirely separate control module and wiring harness. 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💸
@@braydons5623they did. It's in the silverado-e
@@4by_yotaguy373 not quite that bad!! Look at the Toyota LandCruiser V8 4x4 the diff has huge balls at each end allowing the rear wheels to flex in any direction without any CV shafts!! It would however need a rack and pinion steering and rod ends and 1 set out of 2 ball joints but that's not nearly as expensive as needing CV shaft replaced and the rack and pinion don't fail very often!! I know this because Honda prelude 4WS has been a thing since the early 80's and it has almost no real issues with the major hardware it's mostly just rod ends and ball joints that need replacing. My last prelude had 1 set of ball joints and rod ends in its entire life and that was a 88 model and ran till it rusted out last year.. in total I spent about $500 on the rws in its life!! I spent more on shocks and breaks than I did on the steering system. Also Honda 4WS systems was a 3rd of the price greedy GM was asking for.
My mom, a tiny, 5' 4" woman, has an 05 Silverado 1500HD quad cab with quadrasteer. She LOVES it...
you call 5'4 tiny? I'm her height 😂
That is such a big as flex :D
@@Cosmetic_Astro lol. I mean. It's pretty tiny. I'm over 6', so to me, it's almost a whole foot difference.
Please list last 8 of VIN so I can confirm RPO codes. I can look up full history on her truck and confirm such a rare vehicle.
@jonjacob1962 whatever freak tryna act like giants are normal 😂
If they made these with the diesels, it would have KILLED
@@PigglyWigglyDeluxe absolutely. I think it would go like hot cakes with the kids today
@@louyork8379lol yeah for sure
Yeah, killed axles lol
@@motley114 The Quadrasteer axle was not weak by any means, it could have held up to the diesel available at the time just fine. It was a 35 spline Dana 60, used CV's instead of weaker U-joints, had cast iron knuckles on the Suburban 2500 8-lug version. Standard Dana 60's have been under countless 3/4 & 1 ton truck front and rears, including diesels.
They did make them with the diesel it was just so expensive for the time it was super rare to see my uncle ron had one and to this day its the only one I’ve ever seen
I still remember seeing that commercial as a kid and thinking it was so cool
Just like a rock......
With the cows
Same here. I remember running to my dad and telling him he needs this truck that his is lame now 😂
I am the proud owner of a 2003 Silverado Quadrasteer. I bought NEW. DEALER ORDERED. Still have it 277,000 LIKE A ROCK
I bet you can replace that tailgate handle in 30 seconds flat.
I never comment on yt videos but I have to chime in here. I've always been a Suburban 2500 fan and I had one from 2015-2021, but I wanted a quadrasteer since I saw the commercials in 2003 and this year I finally got one. Apologies for a wall of text but I think this info may help someone. I've owned it now for 8 months and put a lot of miles on it, after doing tons of research before and after buying it. I'll start by saying that wear items like tie rods are available from many places. Ball joints are made in small batches and they are expensive but you can get them, and I've seen some trucks that had gone 360k+ miles on the originals (and yes the entire 4WS still worked!) The sensor and many other unavailable parts are being made by a small company called gooodsystems, note the extra "O". He engineered a new sensor which should last longer than the original, even if it gets wet because it's sealed. He sells everything you'd need to keep one of these working. A few points to counter the people saying it's not reliable - it absolutely is, so long as you maintain it, do NOT SUBMERGE THE AXLE, and leave it turned on. Leaving it in 2wd mode or letting the truck sit for a long time can let the centering spring seize. Launching a boat can submerge the axle and ruin the position sensor or corrode other electronics and this seems to be the biggest source of people who say it's unreliable. Very few owners actually have failures if they did not do this to theirs. You need to inspect the tie rod boots and make sure they stay sealed for the same reason. The gear oil in the differential needs to be changed more often than many are comfortable with, around 15k miles- but it's easy, and not doing it can cause the limited slip (not a G80) to have problems and it will chirp the tires when you turn sharply, or stop locking up when it should. It takes a special gear oil that was also used in some corvettes but amsoil has an oil with additive that people like to use now. I've seen no evidence that the system is harder on tires than a normal vehicle. Mine had evenly worn tires with a lot of miles on them when I bought it. I'm a couple thousand miles into a new set without issue so far. For the driving experience, the tight turning has to be felt to be truly appreciated. I have barely driven my 2018 Sierra Denali since I got this Suburban because I enjoy the 4WS so much. I haven't towed yet, so I can't verify anything about that experience. But I can fit in places no other full size trucks can, easily. Parking garages, tight drive thrus, pulling U turns in narrow spaces. It feels more stable at high speeds, 75-80+, than my old one without QS was (same year, 2005) The handling is a little wonky and takes getting used to in the transition zone between 40 and 50 mph where it's either slightly steering or not steering at all. Taking wide sweeping highway curves at high speed makes it sort of slide around the corners. Your front end will start to point towards the right side of the lane as you turn tighter with all 4 wheels trying to crab walk. I think the Suburbans/Yukons especially look good with the extra marker lights. I fully believe the only thing that kept these from being bought was expense and ineffective marketing. If they had cost a reasonable amount, and every dealership had one available to test drive and got every new truck buyer to try it out, I think they'd have become ubiquitous. Mine was special ordered in 05, and I'm the 2nd owner. I will be its last owner. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
This was great to read, thanks! As I believe the best comments here are from the actual owners of these trucks, or people with first-hand experience. Awesome to hear that someone is making sensors and parts for these! 👍 I also agree with what you said, many of these systems that have problems were not maintained properly. And I said elsewhere, I've met over a dozen customers throughout the years that owned these 4WS trucks/burbans and each one said the same thing. They believe it's one of the best inventions ever, and they're never going to sell it. 😮
And another thing that you said... If the GM dealerships would have had one of these QS vehicles available to test drive, every potential truck buyer would have experienced it and loved it. 100%
The dummies at my dealership never had any.
Thanks for sharing this, fantastic read. Always been a fan of 4ws vehicles, and QS no less.
The last years of my 02 Sierra Denali w/ quadrasteer. It was used as my work truck and trailer hauler. I've never had an issue with the QS unless it was below zero out, and all that it took was to let it warm up and hit the button.
Rear tires wore better than my fronts.
It was submerged tons of times launching boats and it has survived northern IL winters with heavy salt.
I did hear that since mine was the first year it was over engineered, but I'm not positive on that, but the rear differential definitely looks bigger on my than the later years.
I still drive a 99 454 c2500 suburban
Man, coming from a GM/ Delphi family this takes me back to when days were better.
I bought a new 2003 black Silverado extended cab Quadsteer and still drive it to this day. I love it and have run it in 4 wheel steer its entire life only opting out in a few off roar situations. Aside from being able to make a u-turn on a rural street, it’s phenomenal on winding mountain freeway driving which is what we have where I live in Siskiyou Co. I also get far less tire wear due to not scrubbing the rear tires during tight turns at freeway speeds. The other fun bonus is, that being black and having the marker lights on the cab roof, quite often when merging onto the freeway behind an eighteen wheeler that is traveling well over the speed limit, they mistake me for the CHP and are immediately get on their jake break😂 Lastly, I’ve had zero issues with the Quadsteer or anything else. To me it’s a collectors item now and I will keep it forever…I’m old so my forever may be different than yours⏳
My ex's grandpa had a GMC with this quad steer. He babied that truck to death
Does that mean he took good care of it?
It means he had it in diapers and fed it Similac
Had an used 03 Denali QS for over 5 years until rust finished destroying it. Saw a pristine one on the way to work the other day. Still miss it.
shoulda had that rust fixed, assuming it was mostly body rust and anything on the frame was fixable. Sure you may have spent $10k but that's still way cheaper than a new truck.
I owned a 04 sierra Denali with this system it was absolutely amazing for towing and parking , you could select on the dash how you wanted the rear to turn. You could back a 30ft trailer up no problem
My dad worked for GM during that period. It was a feature ahead of its time. I remember driving a demo and it was pretty awesome. What killed it was the price for the option. I believe it was 3000 -3500$ USD which was a lot on top of the MSRP at that time. Now it’s a regular feature in most EV SUVs from GM, Tesla, etc. Even most Porsche and Range Rovers can be optioned that way. GM often overlooked as an innovator.
It failed because it was a $7000 upgrade.
I have a 2004 sierra denali quadrasteer and its awesome!
I've owned an 2002 Sierra Denali Quadrasteer since 2018. Hands down one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. The quadrasteer system works flawlessly I never turn it off. 6.0 liter V8 pulls anything like it isn't even there, one of the few downsides is poor fuel economy you're lucky to get 15mpg. It's sitting at 190000 miles roughly, still chugging along happily
My 6.0’s have all gotten between 9 and 12 mpg no matter what. Lifted or stock, towing, city or highway. Good strong torque engines. The 5.3 is awesome in half tons.
Just bought a 03 crew cab quadrasteer, i am absolutely in love with this truck.
I bought one of these to pull a camper trailer. It is amazing! I’ve pulled the camper with newer trucks and really prefer the stability of my Quadrasteer. The truck is a beast and really quick when not towing. Fuel mileage isn’t great, but towing a trailer it really gives respectable mileage. The truck even has adjustable dampers which also help towing stability. Never getting rid of this truck!
I remember when they came out wanted one. I know alot of people said at the time it would be dangerous. But most owners say it was pretty reliable.
the lincon at 7:17 looks so refreshing to me because it doesn't have the ridiculously tall and large hood we see on all modern trucks (even the tacoma looks like a chevy now)
9:26 buddy needs a front end alignment 😂
If "crab steering" could be activated at very low speeds, it would be the perfect "parallel parking" mode.
True.
Exactly
I parrallell parked my 2000 Silverado when it had no power steering
Crab steering isn’t helpful for parallel parking it takes far too much distance to crab walk . Coordinated steering works great to get the truck over quickly.
@@haweater1555 what is crab steering?
These would have been great vehicles for police and fire departments, especially in areas with tight or congested streets, I doubt many many were bought with this expensive option. The Tahoe, Expedition, and Excursion were very popular in emergency services back then.
Really good point
Especially for super high speeds, but you know they but the lowest bidder unfortunately, there would've be a surplus of these parts!
Unfortunately fire departments would much rather just mandate that all roads be made wider instead of adopting more maneuverable vehicles, saving a couple dollars for the department but costing the taxpayer an obscene amount.
Large fire engines actually do have this sometimes
@samuelkerr465 Yes, those all-steer trucks are awesome, but the older ones had a lot of problems.
I still remember these commercials. When I started looking to buy a truck 2 years ago, i was really bummed this hadn't caught on. Parking even a 2022 short-bed 1/2T truck in my local parking lots is a CHALLENGE (helped by 360-camera coverage), lol!
I’ve owned an 04 Denali since 2010. Quadrasteer still works flawlessly. I still love to for towing. Seems successful to me! 162,000 miles and counting!
I drove a Sierra 1500HD equipped with Quadrasteer back when they were new, and I have no idea why it didn't catch on. I was actually tasked with doing a demo of the system at a local racetrack for the GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealer, so I was the pace "car", and hauled the trophy girl around, making conspicuous U-turns and 360 degree turns whenever possible. One other area where these trucks shone was in high speed lane changes and emergency maneuvers: Jerking the wheel produced an instant response and change of course, rather than the feel of the front end of the truck taking action while the rear axle heels over and reluctantly follows half a second later as we've come to expect from conventional steering setups.
This was in an era where white collar dads and helicopter moms were buying crew cab diesels and V10 Excursions as commuter vehicles, so you'd think they'd have had no problem ponying up the money in this "go big or go bigger" era. The GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealer I mentioned did actually sell a number of them, so for awhile they weren't an uncommon sight on the roads in NW Montana, though never as common as you'd have expected.
I had one and absolutely loved it. I had two issues during my ownership; the first was a sensor that was repaired under warranty and the second was when I backed into a rock and bent a tie rod end. Other than that it was great. However, I traded it at about 90k but because I was nervous that it would be hard or impossible to repair in the future. Mine was an '03 and I bought it when GM started offering discounts so I think it was only about a $2,000 option.
I had the C3, it was my favorite truck ive had out of many. Its super rare now
The GMT800 platform is truly timeless.
I own one with 275,000 miles. The good thing about parts being hard to find is that you almost never need them. My 4ws still works and is original from 2003.
those quadrasteer suburbans looked nice.
Man, we were talking those trucks at work like a week ago. We have Allison transmissions in the work trucks. I know this because of badging on the hood. Swear to God. Weird badge. But yeah, that badge sparked the 4 wheel steering trucks and what happened to that. Neat coincidence
Must be a special edition
@@rme5596 it’s a base model 2023 Chevy 3500. Like rubber floor and all. Utility box for a bed. Pretty basic.
They always had Allison transmission in the gmt800 3/4&1 ton Duramax trucks
FYI, the Allison in GM's 2020+ isn't a real Allison. Allison looked at GMs design and supposedly tested it, and GM pays them for the name. Most people don't know this, obviously GM doesn't advertise it. Slapping the Allison brand on it is kinda bullshit.
@@samholdsworth420the 8.1 big block in the trucks also came with an Allison.
4 wheel steering wasn’t new, like you said, but the usefulness / rarity aspect of it being on a truck escaped me. 👍
I was a mechanic at this time and truthfully I only remember one of these coming in that fully worked
I hope you get to 50k subs quickly! Thanks Green Hawk ❤
Appreciate that man!
@@GreenHawkDrive I hope you learn to fix your mic issues first before you get there. The extreme panning was annoying. Voiceover dialog should always be in the center, not over to the left.
All combine harvesters have rear wheel steering, not four wheel steering.
In farm equipment, four wheel steering is common in sprayers and telescopic boom handlers. For combines. It would be very costly to handle the front end weight on steering wheels, and not practical if dual front wheels are used as shown. Seperate left and right brake pedals currently serve the function of providing tight steering when needed.
I ran the prototype outer tie rods for this when I worked for aam at Tonawanda forge. Was nothing more than a longer stem. Used the same dies as the front outer tierods. Just a different length stem locator.
I just moved to little Esterhazy Saskatchewan, and there's a local here who has an absolutely mint shape champaign coloured one, see it about once a week.
I own a few super rare cars myself, a 91 Dodge Spirit RT, and a 2001 Dodge RamCharger from Mexico, and even I was shocked as hell to see one with my own eyes.
Nice work! Have the Yukon and it will hopefully be my forever hauler. Late 80s Honda Prelude Si had 4WS, probably on motortrend dawt cawm if you poke around.
The quadrasteer GMC Denali (2002) was my first vehicle after turning 15 and 3/4 in Nevada. Everything was great and unique and it turned heads like crazy. One thing what sucked, however, was the 4 wheel steering motor would burn out and disable trying to run anything larger than a 18 inch rim, as 20’s were becoming very fashionable at the time, this was a bummer for my teen self. Took two motor burn outs and replacements under warranty and courtesy of Desert Pontiac and GMC to realize 20s weren’t going to work ever😅
I remember when Quadrasteer was new and being reviewed on car and driver back in the early 00's❤
I purchased a 2002 Sierra SLT Ext Cab new. It was essentially a Denali, except it was not all-wheel drive or 4WS. Sticker price was $31,000. The Denali package started at $44,000 that year.
Bro u left out honda prelude 4ws .... love your videos man
It so funny I was thinking the same thing. I think it’s the first one I remembered being in commercials. “Jack be nimble”
I know! I put a picture of it in the video though.
Galant vr-4 had 4ws.
I owned a 1989 Prelude 4WS. Loved that car. Drove it till the wheels fell off. 4WS wasn't strictly necessary for a small car, but it was useful.
@@GreenHawkDrive i had an 89 mazda mx-6 with 4ws. and a turbo! 4ws was awesome when it worked. i think thats the problem with most is that they break and not many were produced so there just arent any parts to keep em going. and cost. except for the hondas as theyre all mechanical. those seem to last.
you cut the best part of the cow commercial, the cows jaw dropping and hay falling out
I think the Honda prelude system was fully mechanical. The wheel steered the same direction when the steering wheel was slightly turned. This was for better handling, but they steered the opposite direction when the steering wheel was turned sharply in order to decrease turning radius. That attempted to accomplish the same thing mechanically that the GM system did electronically.
But the honda came out first so gm was attempting to accomplish electronically what honda did mechanically
The Prelude worked great. The steering effort was just slightly higher than normal P/S and they held alignment well. You could use a large cotter pin in place of the special pin that Honda made for Alignment. The Honda pin would shear off if you tried to drive off with the centering pin still in the rear steering.
been here since the beginning, and I think its real sweet your gonna treat your old lady with a vacation when you hit 50k bro 🎉
Thank you man, I really appreciate that. Thanks for sticking around🤝
I’ve never seen one of these in person, but heard about them, pretty cool feature! I drove an 05’ AWD crew cab Denali for several years with the 6.0. Great truck with plenty of power, but 13 mpg. I traded it for an 18’ Silverado crew cab 4x4 5.3, hands down not as good of a truck as the Sierra, but I get 22mpg on the highway. The turning radius actually wasn’t too bad on the Sierra, but the quad steer would’ve been nice. Thanks for sharing this!
I saw a quadrasteer heavy half ton 1500hd while back. That has to be somewhat rare.
When looking for videos and photos, that particular configuration rarely came up.
Last I saw own was on Toyota lot and it caught my eye seeing chicken lights one a half ton till saw it was 1500. Was about 5 years ago.
The crew cab 6.5' bed 1500HD quadrasteers aren't very common. You can't turn as well as the shorter quadrasteers, but still a huge improvement. A CCLB quadrasteer would have been awesome.
It is a shame GM never did bother bringing the system down in price and pushing it harder, though 2 people I know had issues with their Quadrasteer trucks. The first one, I got to recently drive his, and it is NUTS how much more maneuverable the system makes the truck. He had the controller fail on his truck at about 35,000 miles, and said it scared the hell out of him as he was in the middle of turning through a tight circle driveway, and suddenly the truck stopped turning in as tight as he needed as the wheels failed safe to straight ahead. He did a three point turn to finish, and the module was replaced under warranty. The second guy straight up admitted his system failure was of his own making. He bought his truck lightly used, and used it for actual work around his farm. He had finished his chores for the day, decided to go out in his back pasture and cut some donuts. He miss judged his distance from a drainage that had large rocks in it, he smacked a large rock, broke a wheel and broke the steering knuckle right at the tie rod on the left side. He got lucky and found a wrecked truck for a decent price, swapped the parts he needed over to his truck, and as far as I know he still has all the extra parts from the wrecked truck in storage on his property. Both of these guys, one with a GMC and the other with a Chevy, still have their trucks now because they have, as trucks, been reliable, easy to service and mostly easy to work on for repairs, and neither wants to live without their Quadrasteer.
Shit, these trucks made life easier for those of us who've worked in the outdoor amusement industry. Trying to navigate a carnival midway with these was a beautiful thing.
I owned a 2003 GMC Sierra short bed extended cab with Quadrasteer. I loved that truck! I eventually sold it when I needed a bigger cab because we had 3 kids, also some of the electronics were starting to give me issues (but not the steering or ride control) . The ride control was another interesting feature though not nearly as impactful as the steering. I could U-turn anywhere! The tow/haul mode made backing easier and shifting lanes at highway speed a million times more stable. In fact changing lanes felt really weird because you just kind of glided into the other lane, no sway! I really miss that truck. Part of me wants to buy one of the new EVs just to get my 4ws back.
I have a 2003 silverado extended cab with quadrasteer and love it. Grest for getting into tight areas.
A mechanic at the shop I work at said they are a nightmare to get an alignment dialed in on. According to him, once you get one aligned, when u work on the other, it throws off the first one.
Interesting
Someone drove these back in high school. Fast truck for the time, plus the tech was unmatched by Ford or Mopar. #Quadrasteer
It was the same LQ4 6.6 and 4L70w that the Silverado SS and GMC VHO trucks had so that's why they were quick along with that AWD for launches.
You mentioned the tech being unmatched by Mopar, which gave me a thought. As someone who currently sells parts for a living, I _absolutely despise_ post-1980s Mopar. The whole thing shoulda burned in the 90s or early 2000s to save it from its current fate as the laughing stock of the entire automotive world.
Honestly. I think Mopar since the late 1980s or early 1990s are some of the worst vehicles to own and/or work on. Some of their design choices are just plain stupid, like having different brake systems with no way to, at a glance, identify for sure which one you have. Yeah, did you know certain Dodges and Jeeps can have different brake pads and calipers from others of the same year and submodel? I think it's some kind of heavy duty brake system.
GM does the same thing when it comes to having different brake packages, but the difference is, on a stock non cab and chassis GM truck or SUV (at least from the early 2000s) which hasn't been molested by an upfit into a box truck, a bus, an RV or similar, there's a sticker in the glovebox that has the VIN on it and says "service parts identification, do not remove." That sticker is essentially a build sheet. It tells you damn near everything, from brakes to transmission to suspension, engine, and even interior trim and beyond. Dodge? No, you're SOL. Call the dealer and give them your VIN in order to get the right brake pads.
Part of me wants to pity Dodge and Jeep owners, but at the same time a concerning number of them are massive dickheads with an ego the size VY Canis Majoris and a consumerism streak that would give a tapeworm a migraine. I believe I can wrap up my thoughts on the state of Mopar and the people who generally buy Mopar right there. Of course there are modern Mopar owners who are alright, but holy HELL if there aren't a lot of cultists.
@lsswappedcessna Atleast we got the Plymouth laser rs and eagle talon tsi in the 90s. I had one but had to decide between my 1993 lightning or the car. When it came to trucks the 1999 and 2000 dodge ram charger is by far the nicest looking 2 door compared to the gm and ford version. Mopar with the 12v and 24v killed it when it came to heavy duty trucks. I don't like the whole car scene now, cars trucks motorcycles it's all about clout. I rather do rc stuff and work long hours instead...
I thought I was crazy when I saw an old gmc with 2 axle steering driving on the road. This video cleared things up
I had four wheel steer on my first car. 1989 prelude. Loved that thing
As an ‘03 Silverado cat eye Quadrasteer owner, I can confirm it is amazing. I had a friend (RIP) who when grabbing dinner one night started to question my life’s choices when trying to park right by the front door in a very tight parking lot, and as I turned in he said, “Oh right, Quadrasteer. Never mind, carry on.” It is a fantastic system, and I hope with some new electric trucks having 4 wheel steer, it makes a comeback. Very few people seem to know it even exists, but a few months ago, a guy knocked on the door and said he was driving by, noticed it was a Quadrasteer, and had to stop to see if I wanted to sell it.
The only downside to the system in my opinion is the weight of the axle and the amount of unsprung weight. I bought the truck from a guy who had already replaced the factory ride control shocks, and with the rough roads around me, your standard shock doesn’t last. For years I wanted to add a Roadmaster Active Suspension to the truck but they didn’t offer a kit since the steering hub is right up against the U bolts, so last year I made some brackets through Send Cut Send, and it helps out so much.
I remember seeing commercials of the quadsteer when I was a kid, and never actually seen one in person or even heard it ever mentioned since then. I always thought maybe I was insane and made the whole thing up until this video!
I drove a Honda Prelude with 4-wheel steering. I want it again so bad! Game changer in parking lots and tight spaces and felt unreal on the highway to float horizontally between lanes.
check out the super duty widetrack front end. all the repo tow truck drivers loved it.
The infiniti FX50 S had this feature as well, I had one equipped with the option. It's a very rare vehicle now and it was only a few degrees of steering, not as much as quadrasteer but still enough to make a difference.
Good video man! I have a 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 6.0, not a quadrasteer tho. I’ve never seen a Quadra steer 1 year ago parked in person but have never seen one driving in person. I do tow 5th wheel trailers and this seems awesome.
OK, I really like this. Most RUclipsr do some sort of subscriber giveaway when they hit a milestone. This dude says "I'm going to do something nice for my wife". Love it!
I own a 04 Denali Quadrasteer, I’m the second owner of it and it’s been in Wyoming its whole life, other than the typical paint issues from GM and the rust belt of the area, it’s an amazing truck, hasn’t let me down once, it’s a great system and it makes towing and parking etc so much easier. I wanna keep it forever but I really want a newer vehicle but mine is worth around 11-12k so I may just keep it lol. I’ve done a lot of work to make it look cooler lol
Great video brother
215,xxx miles and counting on my 04 Sierra Denali. I’ve owned the truck since 2012 when it had just over 100k on the odo and I’ve never had an issue with the quadrasteer system.
I used to drive an 06 Chevy 2500 with a duramax for work, so no rear steer. Sometimes I’d be making a turn, forget that I wasn’t in my truck and end up way over estimating how tight of a turn I could accomplish 😅
I love my Denali. I wish it had a more modern 6+ speed tranny and some more power but I’ve done plenty of towing with it and really don’t see a need to replace it anytime soon.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE mine! It's the best feature I've ever found in a truck.
I worked for a couple different Chevy stealerships in 2005 and 2006. We were trained to look for the Quadrasteer button anytime we moved a truck or SUV around the lot. Apparently one of the lot techs had at one point in time turned too sharp and caused a lot of damage. I think I only ever experienced 1 truck with it though. It was a used GMC we took in on trade.
I've met over a dozen people who have owned a Quadrasteer vehicle, and each one of them said they LOVED them.
But good luck finding parts, and someone "willing" to work on them now.
Most combines don't have 4 wheel steering, they have rear wheel steering. The front wheels stay straight.
Got you 1 more subscriber to 50K. Really enjoy your content. Keep up the good work 👍
$11,000???? (In today's money)
That's insane lol
Best video yet, your content is always top notch
Glad you touched on this!
Thank you!
My boss has quadrasteer on his 04 Silverado. He bought it new because he wanted quadrasteer. The shop next to us also owns one. Having driven it and pulled it in and out of our shop every day. It's really one of the best systems ever. I love the system and am so jealous of his truck!
Reliability wise they're kinda a nightmare. Thankfully goood systems exists. They're a company they specializes in parts for quadrasteer trucks. Even with their issues. They're such a joy to drive and use. Makes driving any other pickup without it such an unpleasant experience.
That's incorrect the GMT800 Suburban/ Yukon XL 1500 had leaf springs, the Quadrasteer required a 14 bolt rear axle, those trucks and lesser 1500 Pickups had 12 bolts.
10 bolts… gm stopped using 12 bolt tear ends in trucks in like 1979 or 1980
I've had an 03 burb since new, there are not and never were leaf springs on it. Also its a 10 bolt rear end.
@@hendo337 the 2500 suburbans had leaf springs.
It appears they only put it on heavy duty and 1500HD. Which would explain the leaf spring issue lol
10 bolt 8.6" actually. And the 1500 suvs had rear coils.
The U.S. Secret Service has a few older Suburban 2500 models with quadsteer.
Wouldn't surprise me. These bitches have *torque*
These thing were a nightmare to work on up here in the rust belt.. and they were super costly to repair... 80% of customers just had us disable the system if it was going to need a repair. My buddy figured out how to hack the rear steer and made a kit with 3 buttons and a switch so u could manually steer the rear or lock it into 1 of the 3 steering modes on the fly. Gm actually sued him because he accesed priority gm coding but all he did was bypass the eletrical circuits and he actually had the case thrown out of court after a few years.
I worked for GM when the qudrasteer was available. The major issue was that during its launch, it was only available in the top of the line trucks. So, any quadrasteer vehicle started around $45K and went up from there. The standard Z71 was around $32K
It' had a lot of reliability flaws! I am a retired wrecker driver I saw everything I knew what was reliable and what wasn't. The advertising gets people to buy garbage. I could say what US manufacturer is the worst but it's the most purchased and will get fan boys bent out of shape. "F"
That’s still an opinion though. That’s like saying Audi is better than Mercedes… Some will agree some won’t🤷♂️
Good luck on your journey to 50k the car community is there on youtube for it
My dad had a 2002 Sierra Denali with it for years. Towards the end I drove it more than him, and we all loved it. Towed a 22ft v8 boat with ease, and a 30ft travel trailer
We had an older Coleman aircraft tug, (tractor, USAF ) assigned to us...short wheelbase, FWD, and that goofy lever that stuck up from the floor...that was the manual 4 wheel steer. When you got good with that it was amazing..one would not get stuck for long if you knew how to use it right...and the places you could get to...parking equipment very close an not mashing said equipment...I never towed aircraft though, but the guys that did could park the aircraft exactly where they needed it..real handy...
The Quadrasteer system was developed by the Saginaw Steering division of Delphi Automotive Systems for GM. Delphi was formed in the late 1990s by spinning off GM's parts divisions. I worked at the Interior and Lighting systems division in the early 2000s when items like power sliding doors and power adjustable pedals were being introduced. DELPHI is actually an acronym based on the divisions that were merged. Delco Electronics, Packard Electric, Harrison Thermal and Interior and Lighting Systems.
A Quadrasteer Yukon XL 2500 saved me from the minivan fate when we got the news of 🐣 #6. The Quadrasteer part was terrifying - but that system is simple and simply brilliant. The GOAT, as the kids call that Yukon, is by far my favorite, most enjoyable vehicle of any that I’ve ever owned (ranging from modern trucks to Land Cruisers and German luxury sedans). If you can find a Quadrasteer anything from somewhere between CA and TX (i.e., rust-free), buy it!
As a Canadian another thing I heard about these systems is that ice and salt were really hard on them. Salt would corrode and disable the system and ice would build up causing issues; it's the same reason any truck or SUV bought with automatic folding running boards these days almost immediately has them ripped off and replaced with static ones since they become inoperable in the winter.
Subbed for the Trip!!!
Thanks man!
I have a '03 Denali Quadra-steer. Everything works, Yes even AC And heat! All straight body, Zero rust. I tried to sell it a while back for 3500 dollars and got zero takers. Well that's not true. A lot of migrant workers wanted to buy it for work purposes but could only offer up to 1000 dollars. As much as I would have liked to help those poor guys out, I just couldn't give it away at that cost! I gave up and kept it along side my '23 Frontier Pro-4X. She has almost a 1/2 million miles now and still going strong. I ended up letting my son use her to go to work in. He isn't allowed to tow with it or lend it out. He's 33 BTW, I value the truck enough that I lecture my 33 year old son on how to take care of it!
I've never heard of this. Fascinating.
I have a 2003 1500HD quadrasteer, I just hit 203,xxx miles and I rarely turn OFF the quadrasteer function. It works perfect still 24/7 And you’re right, pulling a trailer with it is such a breeze, going around corners and backing the trailer into places is so EASY
Great information, always wondered how they worked
At the 2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary in Nashville, Chevrolet had several Quadrasteer trucks there that you could drive on a course they had set up. After showing my racing license, the representative allowed me to run "a bit faster" than the typical drive, and it was amazing at how you could basically autocross this big truck on such a tight course at such speed. My friend in the back seat couldn't believe how fast I attacked the course. My basic reaction was almost like they had cut the truck in half, as it really didn't feel any longer than that when driving it.
I've looked for one on and off over the last ten years, but never found one when I was looking to buy. Now they are 20 years old, and a couple I've seen pop up mention that the Quadrasteer is disabled now.
As we were walking away, we could hear some of the reps telling others in line, "no, you can't drive it that fast, that was a professional driver on a closed course for demonstration only." LOL
It is probably why we didn't get in trouble, because it sure made an impression on those watching. And that is what Chevy wanted, right?
Ironically if offered today it would probably sell really well. I’d buy it.
I remember seeing this at the Orlando auto show when it came out. It was incredibly expensive. My friend and I, who both drove (and still drive) full size trucks were staring at it up on the platform looking at how it worked. A rep came over and started on the hard sell. I laughed and told him we knew how to drive and park and those who don't should buy something smaller. He was visibly angry and stormed off.
What a disrespectful way to act on both your parts
I've seen a couple 8100 vortec suburbans with quadra-steer. One of my regulars at my last job owned one.
I'm not sure if it was custom built, but it was pretty stinkin cool
Good nod to the Honda Prelude. That's the first 4 wheel steering vehicle I drove other than the articulating 4x4 tractors on drove on the farm.
I had one back in 2012. Best truck ever. I wished I never sold it.
I love how the older gm trucks looked. I had an 09 but right after that they started getting these mega grills that are fugly
If these are still available in the USA it’d be a surprise if they weren’t still sought after, I really like this truck, a really good effort from GM, credit where credit is due.
Agreed
@@GreenHawkDrive I have 4 wheel steer on my GMC Sierra EV. Absolutely love it.
I had a co-worker who had a black gmc quad steering. It was so beautiful
Quad steering is on the new hummer ev and the sierra ev i work at a chevy dealer so im pretty updated on the new vehicles
I’ve always wanted a truck with four wheel steering, but finding these is almost impossible nowadays