F150 Locking Differential vs 4X4

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
I had 2 2WD Trucks, an 87 and a 91. I did get stuck, but going where I shouldn't have been going. Also, changing tires did help in the snow. Would I buy a 2WD truck again? Sure, price is right, and all I wasn't planning anything needing 4X4.

2 wheel drive trucks can have amazing traction when properly equipped. I had a 1987 Ford Bronco many years ago. Although it was technically 4 wheel drive it did have manual locking hubs that required the driver to get out and engage.

I was towing a 2 ton trailer across an open field when both the truck and the trailer started sinking in. I realized I needed to lock the hubs and put it in 4wd if I was going to get out. I got out of the cab, locked in the hubs, put it back in gear and slowly slogged through the mud. It was slow going, but no problem getting through. When I got over 1/2 a mile back to the pavement I got out and unlocked the hubs. When I got back in to put it back in 2 wheel drive I realized I'd never had it in 4 wd. A mile out and back through mud over the axles in 2 wheel drive and it didn't have any trouble what so ever.

I didn't realize how deep the mud was until I got back to the house. There was mud over the top of the front axle and around the transmission. The crash shield under the transmission acted as a plow and pushed mud around the case, the tail shaft and into the drive shaft tunnel. It took over a week with a pressure to get several hundred pounds of mud of the underside of the truck.