What Is GMC Hummer's CrabWalk?

The giant EV can move diagonally with this cool feature.

Emme Hall | 

Nov 27, 2023 | 3 min read

GMC

Many off-road trails are just that: trails. They can be narrow with tight turns between trees or rocks. It's usually best to have a vehicle with a slim waistline and short wheelbase to navigate such twists. Vehicles these days, however, keep getting bigger, and none quite as much as the 2024 GMC Hummer EV.

While the Hummer pickup and SUV have wheelbases — 126.7 inches and 135.6 inches, respectively — that are in line with a smaller off-road truck such as the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison at 131 inches, it's the body width that really makes the Hummer stick out. At 7 feet, 9 inches wide without mirrors — more than a foot wider than the Chevy — it's hard to avoid obstacles along the trail. However, this beast has a special feature that turns it into a maneuverable trail rig: The CrabWalk.

CrabWalk Turns All Four Wheels

CrabWalk is part of GMC's 4-Wheel Steer technology. The 4-Wheel Steer function can be turned all the way off or put into automatic mode. At higher speeds, the rear wheels can turn the same direction as the front wheels for more stability. At slower speeds, the rear tires can move in an opposite direction from the front tires for tighter turns. With CrabWalk engaged, the rear tires can move in the same direction for increased maneuverability at low speeds.

This isn't the first time General Motors trucks and SUVs have had steering ability on all four tires. From 2002 to 2005, buyers of Chevrolet and GMC full-size trucks could get Quadrasteer as an option, although its initial high price kept shoppers away.

How to Enable CrabWalk

If Auto mode of 4-Wheel Steer won't let the vehicle clear the obstacle or make the turn, the driver can specifically select CrabWalk mode to have the rear tires move in the same direction as the front tires, maintaining the same steering angle, between 7 and 10 degrees.

This allows the Hummer to move in a diagonal line. It can be an eerie sensation, but there is no question that it lets the vehicle get through tight situations that would best a traditionally steered truck.

To engage CrabWalk, the driver must slow to a near stop and straighten the steering wheel. The controls for CrabWalk are on the infotainment screen or the Drive Mode Selector knob; it depends on the vehicle. Once it's enabled, you'll get a 360-degree camera view around the truck or SUV so you can see just what is surrounding you. To turn off CrabWalk, you can either drive faster than 25 mph for more than 10 seconds or select 4-Wheel Steering again.

The Cost of CrabWalk

For 2024, both the Hummer truck and SUV are offered in 2X dual motor or 3X triple-motor models. CrabWalk is standard on the 2X trim, and both the pickup and SUV body styles come in at around $102,000. The 3X models cost $108,000. GMC had been willing to give an $8,000 credit to reservation holders, but all reservations have already been spoken for.

All vehicle pricing includes MSRP plus destination charges (set at the time of publication) and will be rounded to the nearest thousand.

Emme Hall

Emme Hall loves small convertibles and gets out to the canyons in her 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata whenever she can. You can also find her in the dirt in her lifted (yes, that's right) 2001 Mazda Miata, or racing air-cooled Volkswagens in races like the Baja 1000. She's taken first place twice in the Rebelle Rally — once driving a Jeep Wrangler and then a Rolls-Royce Cullinan the second time. She was also the first driver to take an electric vehicle to the Rebelle Rally when campaigning the Rivian R1T to a top-five finish.