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Running abilities of an off-road, all-wheel drive vehicle depend considerably not only on total traction effort but also on its distribution among the drive wheels. This distribution is largely determined by mechanisms and systems installed in power dividing transmission units. These are interwheel differentials, interaxle reduction gears, and transfer cases. To control the wheel driving forces for obtaining the optimum vehicle properties, a more creative and efficient way to design wheel drive systems and to control vehicle running abilities is being proposed. Optimization criteria for the tractive and velocity properties, fuel consumption, turnability, and ride stability of a vehicle have been used for the mathematical optimization of the wheel driving forces. The vehicle is modeled in motion with taking into account the kinematic requirements.

To develop better performing vehicles, for ground transportation, it is necessary to improve the theory in vehicle dynamics for choosing suitable mass and geometric parameters for highway as well as for off road trucks. A new approach is required for choosing such optimal mass and geometric parameters. The present paper is devoted to this problem. A new method for synthesis of mass and geometric parameters is introduced here. The method allows us to synthesize the parameters in such way as to provide a vehicle with the best transport efficiency under various road surface conditions. Constraints such as limitations on these parameters, vehicle running modes, mass and geometric parameters are included in the model. Furthermore other constraints for vehicle running abilities which are dependent on mass and geometric parameters, as well as an algorithm for synthesizing mass and geometric parameters are also included in the paper for pre-optimization process.