best front-rear weight dist for off road

[GlennWA]

A conversation with my brother and some recent observations got me wondering whether cars with a natural weight distribution over the front ot rear is preferred for offroading.

My brother's experience was that his 80 series was rear biased and would lift a front wheel first while his nissan patrol ute tends to lift a rear wheel first. He prefers the latter. I know my defender isn't trying unless a front wheel is in the air and it seems the fj cruisers and prados lift a rear wheel first.

Any other opinions on the difference between vehciles that tend to lift a rear as opposed to a front wheel and which you would prefer. My brother prefers the front stay on the ground and he raised concerns about torque on the rear lifting the front wheels uncontrollably. I haven't been too concerned with the defender's tendency although it has been unnerving when having to reverse with the front in the air.

Any other thoughts out there?

[goingbush]

it depends on if your going up hill or downhill,

generally its a lot harder to safely go down a steep hill (read under-control) than it is to go up the same hill. As long as the cg is behind the front wheels when going downhill and infront of the rear wheels when going uphill all is good.

[isuzurover]

It used to be thought that weight forward was best, but then centre/rear engined buggys started to dominate rock crawling competitions.

Balanced/centred weight distribution and low CofG seem to be the best option.

[Hall]

The motor/gearbox in my old 4wd truck was mid mounted. Had a very short rear prop shaft. So was near centre balanced. Worked a treat.
Cheers Hall