horse or cart first?

rhagfo wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"A two wheel drive truck in snow is useless."

Oh bosh. Of course they aren't useless, they don't get around as good as a 4WD obviously, but will do just fine in moderate snow. Some weight in the back and knowing how to drive in snow helps a lot, and a locking differential helps too.

There are two parts to driving in snow, go and control!
Yes, you can do a decent job of going with a 4X2, but for great control you really need 4X4. When the front wheels are driving and not plowing control is much better. That and most likely with a 4X2 you will likely loose traction in the most inconvenient place, like half way up a grade. With 4X2 you need to stop and chain up, with 4X4 just engage 4X4! I consider it cheap insurance.

I grew up in Iowa, and now live in Missouri. I've rarely found a need for 4WD, in all the many years of snow. We used to go out in our rear wheel drive cars and do some really stupid stuff and very rarely got stuck enough to need someone with a tractor to pull us out. 4WD vehicles were very much a rarity in the 50's and 60's but we actually got around pretty well in the winter.

If I lived somewhere that received a lot of snow, Utah, the mountains of Colorado, the northeast, etc. I would most likely spend the money for a 4WD vehicle, but someplace that only occasionally gets 6-8" of snow it's just a waste of money.