2WD or 4X4 for a truck camper

jaycocreek wrote:
Somebody explain this to me,maybe our 1%er can..

A 4X4 without lockers has only 2 wheels driving..One front and one back so isn't that a 2WD?

A 2WD DRW with lockers has 4 wheels driving..So isn't that a 4WD?

Knowing that now,how can a labled 2WD-DRW be so useless on snow when it actually has more rubber on the ground with power to them..

Omg. You sound more like my father with every post! As he has passed, this makes me recall him so fondly.
Especially those times we were pushing his 2wd 68 gmc out of the mud, with a load of firewood in the back.
I can hear him now (I was little so I drove while he pushed) “Give it more gas son. It has posi traction. If you get both wheels spinning it’s like 4 wheel drive!”
As he’d climb back in the truck I’d say “Why don’t we just get a 4wd like the other kids dads have? except little Timmy, his dad has a Honda, poor kid...”
Dad would say, wiping the mud from his face, “We made it out, didn’t we? Just like 4wd”

I gotta stop, I’m getting emotional.......




Lol

Love ya Jayco. Hope I’m still making firewood at 70 best to ya

I guess you can plow snow with a truck camper in the bed, but it seems that 4 wheel drive trucks don’t have to. ;)

ticki2 wrote:
A city 2wd plow truck usually comes in 6 or 10 wheel variety . They have a plow out front creating a path for themselves. They have 5 to 10 ton spreader out back with salt or sand . They are rarely diving over even 2 " of snow . But you knew all that , so back to stirring the muddy water .

I forgot to throw in,if you have ever plowed snow,you know that pushing snow requires more traction than not pushing snow..I plow snow every year for extra money..Also the State trucks have tandom axles "ususlly" with a locker to lock in both axles just like most logging trucks...But even with that,it's only one set doing the work on each axle..

It's safe to say a 2WD with a truck camper on the back for traction,does pretty good in snow,with posi-trac or lockers,even better.

ticki2 wrote:
A city 2wd plow truck usually comes in 6 or 10 wheel variety . They have a plow out front creating a path for themselves. They have 5 to 10 ton spreader out back with salt or sand . They are rarely diving over even 2 " of snow . But you knew all that , so back to sturring the muddy water .

Being a small town with limited resources,our 1-ton 2WD-DRW dump trucks are forced to dual jobs,summer and winter..No spreader,just a plow on a dump truck..

The state has as you described,not the small logging and ranching towns..

A city 2wd plow truck usually comes in 6 or 10 wheel variety . They have a plow out front creating a path for themselves. They have 5 to 10 ton spreader out back with salt or sand . They are rarely diving over even 2 " of snow . But you knew all that , so back to stirring the muddy water .

A single rear wheel truck (4x2 or 4x4) with weight in the bed and narrow studded real winter tires is pretty capable in cold snow and specially on compact snow and ice.Lots of vehicles do ok in fluffy fresh snow. Once you can walk or drive up on top of the snow a grader (tandem single rear wheels) with a v-plow or a 400hp snowblower (single wheels) does good.

It’s why World Rally cars aren’t duallies in winter rallies.

2x4 is fine for most cases, 4x4 is better in a few cases. It really comes down to personal preference and what you plan to do. I drive a 4x4 now, previous trucks were 2x4. Was happy then, still happy now.

GAR2 wrote:
Man!! I’m turning into an old guy— few years to 60 yet ????

Naw,in a couple months I will be 71..I still have to get about 20 cords of wood a year for me and my son,who helps..It keeps my blood moving and I am used to pain from a life time of logging,so it doesn't hurt much..

Specta-.I am no stranger to the 2500 HD 4X4 trucks and there capabilities..I often compare this one to my 2WD in the snow as my son likes to beat his dad at things..LOL..So far within reason,he hasn't shamed my 2WD when compared to my 2WD..We do it all the time in the snow..

GAR2 wrote:

I carry firewood in mine because that's what I do in the summer months

Not to change the subject, but-

:) Ditto, Love my wood heat! and hate the cost of propane.

Your not really changing the subject..How to get firewood with a truck camper with 2WD when the truck bed has a truck camper in it.

I use my ATV trailer to haul wood..I pull up to where I will be cutting wood and the wife goes in the TC and watches DVD's while I cut and throw them to the road,then she helps me some stacking the wood on the ATV trailer..I can put 1-cord on the ATV trailer with the TC on the truck paying attention to tongue weight with a solid bar extension..

I wanted a 8.6ft TC so I didn't have to deal with a hitch extension and weight limitations but the wife won that one for more room..I never have had a problem getting wood with my 2WD DRW even in the snow..Haven't had to chain up yet because of all the weight over the axle and good siped tires but I always carry chains for that freak storm that happens often in the mountains..

Part of my reasoning for 2WD's are I grew up with a dad that only had 2WD's for all the hunting/fishing and outdoor stuff we did from hauling horses to the trailhead to pulling a trailer or TC out over the passes in snow storms..I saw how he did it and we were never stuck or limited and years and years of working way back in the woods in all kinds of conditions..

Growing up with truck campers in the family in the 1950's until now,2WD will work if the nut behind the wheel is up to it..LOL

jaycocreek wrote:


A 4X4 is useless with the wrong driver behind the wheel..Seen that a time or three..

Me too. :)

One morning after a bad snow storm I was in a 7-11 getting a cup of coffee on my way to work.

There was a Deputy in front of me and he was telling a couple of customers what idiots drivers who had 4wd were.

He said that 1 out of every 3 vehicles that had been involved in accidents that morning were 4wds.

I told him that's to be expected because 1 out of every 3 vehicles in Utah have 4wd.

There are idiots that drive both.

You can add weight, chains, lockers or what ever and make a 2wd perform better in the snow.

Take a base 2wd truck without all the added traction devises and its USLESS in the snow.

Hauling my camper in the mountains the truck does a lot better in 4wd on washboard roads than it does in two wheel drive.

And I'v seen numerous times when a 2wd in unable to back out of a deep gutter without melting the torque converter when with a 4wd all you need to do is pop it in low range and the problem is solved.

Low range has a lot of advantages in the great outdoors when you're hauling a big camper on your truck.

Like yourself, I've had both, had 4wd with lockers and did a lot of rock crawling in Moab and explored the backwoods of the Rockies for years.

I will never own another 2wd truck.