Pickup Trucks: 2wd vs 4wd

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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
As a fleet owner I am never a fan of 4wd. Why carry two sets of running gear here in Fl? It's just rarely needed at all.


lol in Florida, "off road" means driving an airboat around the swamps.

If you don't need 4WD, you don't need it.
 
How many upscale 4x4's never see anything tougher than a big puddle in a supermarket car park?. An awful lot of them over here are used for Mom to take the kids to school under the mistaken impression they are safer than a modern sedan, they are known as "Chelsea Tractors" btw.
I can't think of any situation where a 4x4 has any advantages over a 2wd on any kind of paved road, however the macho image of 4x4 seems to overrule a lot of truck buyers logic circuits.

Claud.
 
Originally Posted By: Claud
How many upscale 4x4's never see anything tougher than a big puddle in a supermarket car park?. An awful lot of them over here are used for Mom to take the kids to school under the mistaken impression they are safer than a modern sedan, they are known as "Chelsea Tractors" btw.
I can't think of any situation where a 4x4 has any advantages over a 2wd on any kind of paved road, however the macho image of 4x4 seems to overrule a lot of truck buyers logic circuits.

Claud.


Silly people should not influence a reasoned decision if you really need or don't need 4WD. I don't think anyone here made the argument it was essential for paved roads.

I know one thing, every year when I hunt the property at the top of a mountain at the end of a fire trail, there are no 2WD pickups parked there.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
I know one thing, every year when I hunt the property at the top of a mountain at the end of a fire trail, there are no 2WD pickups parked there.


Nor will you on the estate where a friend works as beater for bird shoots.
What you will see is old Land Rovers pulling Range Rovers, BMW X5s, Mitsubishi Shoguns back onto surfaced tracks after the owners thought 4x4 meant go anywhere with road tires......

Claud.
 
Down here in TX gulf coast area, you see those big 4x4 F250'S, Chevy 3500's & Ram's 3500's up & down the freeways, and think they can go anywhere....until they hit the sand beaches, lol and down they go stuck like a rock in concrete
 
Here in the NE either a front wheel drive, AWD or 4 WD can mean a world of difference in getting around safely over conventional rear drive. And that's on paved roads. If you hunt, you better have it or have friends with it.
On the other hand there a plenty of SUV drivers that think 4 WD means they can drive at high speed no matter what the road conditions are. You can tell who they are when you see their vehicles' rear ends sticking up from the ditches or snowbanks.
 
I think part of the situation is that its just not generally appreciated what improvements have been made in snow tires over the years. I last lived in snow country in 1990. The Blizzaks I have now are better than the studded tires I had then.

The 1980s was when 4X4 got popular. There was more of an improvement in relative inclement weather performance in those days if you went to 4X4. The vogue of 4X4 is still with us, even though the marginal improvement in utility by going to 4X4 over snow tires is less. Most people these days would reflexively buy a Subaru before they would buy a set of snow tires.

That said, if I lived in the U.P. or the finger lakes or some of the places I see you guys posting from, I would have both 4X4 and snow tires. After all, if its your safety you are talking about, why stop short with all-terrain tires after spending all that money on 4X4? You have to have tires on your car anyway, so why not go to the trouble to change them out twice a year anyway and have all the protection you can get?
 
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I'm not a truck guy - I honestly don't see myself getting a truck, ever. Having said that, if I'm already going to get something which uses that kind of fuel with no return in driving pleasure, I figure I'm "in for a penny, in for a pound" - I'd get a 4x4 just in case.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: HM12460
I just want one!


Probably the most important reason for getting a 4WD. Nothing wrong with that, of course.


Honestly, I suspect it is the ONLY actual REASON most people get 4WD trucks. (Most of the other "reasons" are, in fact, rationalizations.) I had several, and needed the 4x4 regularly. Now, I no longer have an unpaved half-mile driveway, I no longer plow...my Dakota is RWD.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: ragtoplvr
We call 2WD with limited slip the poor mans 4 wheel drive.

With a pavement base,good snow tires and some driving skills you can go where the 4X4 go. Break out the chains and you can go about anywhere.
I disagree. Chains may help on ice but a 2wd truck with a locked axle is still completely useless in sand with a trailer or steep hills with softball sized rocks. I'll put my 4x4 with open diffs up against a 2wd with lockers any day

I agree..without a load in the bed a dusting of snow will stop a 2 WD. Having had 2 4WD trucks...I would lock the hubs even in a snow dusting.


Pablum. I had no trouble in 6" of snow in what most people would call the WORST possible truck for snow: a short-wheelbase, high-torque 2WD Dakota!
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Pablum. I had no trouble in 6" of snow in what most people would call the WORST possible truck for snow: a short-wheelbase, high-torque 2WD Dakota!


Yeah... I just pushed one of those out of my driveway 2 weeks ago.

Really.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Pablum. I had no trouble in 6" of snow in what most people would call the WORST possible truck for snow: a short-wheelbase, high-torque 2WD Dakota!


Yeah... I just pushed one of those out of my driveway 2 weeks ago.

Really.


Considering I just drove mine through the worst winter this area has EVER had...so? And last I checked, we get LOTS more snow here than in Maryland!
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

Considering I just drove mine through the worst winter this area has EVER had...so? And last I checked, we get LOTS more snow here than in Maryland!


And we have many more freeze/thaw cycles and black ice throughout the Winter, so... so?
 
Except for a brief stint with a Camry when I was young and stupid I have driven RWD cars and trucks since I was 17, and I'm done. I'm ordering a new truck and spending the extra $5k for 4wd.


1 or 2 contact patch's that provide forward thrust will always lose to 4.

Nothing beats being able to stop on a steep hill and go.
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Except for a brief stint with a Camry when I was young and stupid I have driven RWD cars and trucks since I was 17, and I'm done. I'm ordering a new truck and spending the extra $5k for 4wd.


1 or 2 contact patch's that provide forward thrust will always lose to 4.

Nothing beats being able to stop on a steep hill and go.


Stopping and turning always beats go. Everything uses all 4 tires for that!
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

Considering I just drove mine through the worst winter this area has EVER had...so? And last I checked, we get LOTS more snow here than in Maryland!


And we have many more freeze/thaw cycles and black ice throughout the Winter, so... so?


Are you the dude in the ditch when the roads are icy?
 
I've come to the conclusion that there are die hard folks who are convinced they are right and everyone else is wrong. Many of the die hard 4x2 folks are that way, and there are plenty of folks that are 4x4 die hards. The 4x2 folks tend to dramatize the potential extra costs and how they get around just fine and its always the 4x4's in the ditch. The 4x4 guys only ever see the 4x2's stuck and just not as capable.

Buy what you want. It's a free country... I've driven both and prefer my 4x4 truck - with snow tires.
 
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