2wd vs 4wd

ford truck guy wrote:

MPond wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
Pretty simple. I personally know quite a few people that bought 4x4s and don't have an idea as to how to engage 4x4.. These folks own lifted "boulevard queens" with wagon wheel rims and way oversized tires, drive in the city, their trucks have never touched dirt let alone mud.. Happens a lot more than you think..

...

So you have anecdotal evidence, just like I do. Only my anecdotal evidence is just the opposite of yours.

I wonder if there are any real statistics about it around? Would be much more interesting that either of our opinions...

AND in MY CIRCLE everyone who has 4X4 uses it many times a year ,between the weather , and surf fishing...

Good thing your "circle" never lived 30 or 20 years ago when 4x4 was pretty rare..

I learned years ago from my Dad who tended a oil well which was about 1/2 mile off a low priority paved road on how to drive on snow and ice with 2wd pickup.. We used to use the front end to plow through snow drifts right up to the hood..

Dad never owned a 4x4, he used real winter tires in the winter and only a couple of times I can recall we had to throw chains on to get into that well in the winter.

We also used to cut firewood and often drove his truck TOO the trees no matter how far off the road they were..

One of the most vivid memories of getting fire wood was when we PASSED up TWO 4x4s STUCK SIDEWAYS on a very steep MUDDY hill. At the bottom of the hill we broke out the chains and gave it heck.. Flew right past the stuck 4x4s..

The 4x4s had finally backed down and gave up by the time we had cut enough wood to load our truck.

Yep, folks now days think 4x4 is the only way to do things..

By the way, 4x4 on ice, doesn't stop you any faster.. Every year I see many 4x4s sliding off icy roads planting their vehicles in such ways you really wonder just how they did it..

4x4 often gives folks overconfidence and they find themselves in far more trouble far quicker than one would expect..

Seen that this morning, riding with a coworker (front wheel drive car) we had a quick lake effect snow dump an inch of snow.

The road crews had not gotten any salt down and my coworker was struggling to keep the car on the road. Only a mile from my house we started down a steep hill and noticed vehicles off the side of the road halfway down the hill.. We slid to a stop, moved to the shoulder and two 4x4s zipped past us.. They slide off the road in front of us when they realized the hill was impassible..

We turned around and went home.. We made the smart choice.

When the roads are extremely bad with snow and ice, I simply go back to bed, work can wait another day.

As far as camping on sand, I have no interest in that, while I do like visit beaches I just don't wish to park my stuff on sand dunes. Besides the beaches I visit there is no parking or driving on them allowed..

Resale.. by the time I am ready to give up on a vehicle it is done, totally worn out with high mileage.. I have a 2003 F250 with 5.4 right now that has 200,000 miles on the clock, with that mileage resale on 4x2 is around $5K, 4x4 would be $6.5K, a difference of $1.5K which is less than half of what 4x4 option would have cost back then..

It isn't my daily driver now, was replaced by a 2013 F250 4x2.. DD will most likely get to start driving with the '03 in a couple of years and that most likely will beat the rest of the snot out of that truck.. When we are done with it the worn out bald tires will have more value than he rest of the truck.

Heck I have a 1970s rear wheel drive car which I bought used when I started driving, it has 297,000 miles on it.. Drove it daily up to '99. I am currently doing a total tear down and restoration of the body.. Had a lot of fun with that one.