4WD or 2WD

monkey44 wrote:
Owning a 4x4 probably gets us into areas where we wouldn't go without it, even if 2WD gets us there - and it's a lot more fun and scenic. BUT, if you only need it once and don't have it, you'll wish you did.

If you never go anywhere but paved roads, you may never need it. Never drive in mud, never drive on grass, never leave a maintained road, two-wheel drive will do it - probably. It's the 'probably' that might get you though.

This Monkey bought a two-wheel drive PU in 1976 - got stuck once. Sold it, bought a 4x4 and never owned a 2x4 since, never got stuck again either. Just sayin' ...

Then there are people like my brother. Had not been stuck in at least 25 years. Bought a 4X4 Suburban, then a few months later, a Jeep for his DW. With the Chevy, he backed a trailer load of brush near the ditch to unload. Called his wife, got the Jeep stuck too. Called me, my wife had the pickup, so I got his old 4X2 Suburban, and pulled them both out (One at a time). 2nd load of brush, we used the '48, no trouble.

Owning a 4x4 probably gets us into areas where we wouldn't go without it, even if 2WD gets us there - and it's a lot more fun and scenic. BUT, if you only need it once and don't have it, you'll wish you did.

If you never go anywhere but paved roads, you may never need it. Never drive in mud, never drive on grass, never leave a maintained road, two-wheel drive will do it - probably. It's the 'probably' that might get you though.

This Monkey bought a two-wheel drive PU in 1976 - got stuck once. Sold it, bought a 4x4 and never owned a 2x4 since, never got stuck again either. Just sayin' ...

what he said. Ditto.

ksss wrote:
I am pretty sure no one is buying a 4X4 just so that they can have a sticker on the side of their truck. I don't see the marketing departments of the various OEM's pushing 4X4 over 4X2 either. You don't have to push what people are already buying by what 95%? I don't understand the purpose of a 4X2, the logic escapes me, but I can respect someone's decision to be in the 5%ile. The fact made that pickups may soon be 4X4 only makes sense when compared to the manual transmission's fading from the option sheet. There are very likely currently more manual tranny drivers than there are 4X2 drivers and yet the manual option is gone. The costs of providing both 4X2 and 4X4 as an option is certainly much higher than either auto or manual tranny. Since vehicle height is brought up often as a reason for 4X2, perhaps offering a slammed 4X4 as a new pickup option or maybe a yearly subscription to a yoga studio would help with that.

What he said ^^^^^^^^

My truck will hopefully never see snow but when climbing up on leveler blocks it is so much easier in 4 WD low range.:B

Now that my trucks carry 2-ton or 3-ton campers on the back, I find less use for 4wd but it has not eliminated its use. On the other hand, I've been carrying chains since 1989 that I have not had to use because I have 4wd. The chains have been put on ensure proper fit, but that was done on a clean dry driveway rather than sloppy mess along side a road.

As Grit dog pointed out, areas where temperature is right at the freezing point are the worst. Wet snow will pack most tire treads and turn to ice and ice will have a sheen of water on it when compressed by a warm tire. It is much easier to drive the Sierra Nevada ranges in winter than the Cascades and I drove through all of the Austrian and Swiss Alps with my 2wd Opel without having to chain up.

^So yeah in the figurative sense, myred is not in the great white north. But to his credit, I'd take my chances with a 2 wheeler IN the great white north over the coastal mountains.
At least it gets COLD in the GWN. The warm, wet, greasy, icy, Cascade Concrete, SLOP that is Pacific coastal snow around here is MUCH worse to drive in than the nice cold light fluffy snow that falls where it actually gets cold.

Heck, grew up in the midwest, plowing snow, riding snomachines, lived in the Rockies and AK and never even considered buying tire chains until moving here. Now, they're a necessity for some places we ride snomachines, that if the same terrain, but in the Rockies would be no problem.
(But I'm not jaycocreek, or I'd be able to do it with a 2wd dually!) LOL

I have been stuck plenty of times with 4wd and chains on all 4 wheels, sometimes just trying to get home.

StirCrazy wrote:

myredracer wrote:
I hate 4WD trucks and we live in the Great White North. Have never once needed it.

With 4WD, I don't like the fact they're up to 5-6" higher off the ground, there's more stuff to leak and need maintenance and you lose payload cap.

come on, your hardly in the great white north, I am only 3 hours from you and there are several time where we have been caught by freak snow storms while camping, good thing my truck had 4x4 or I wouldn't have made it home. I have a newer 4x4 ford and it is exactly 1" taller than the equivalent 2wd and I actually have the higher payload capacity between the two. there really is no reason not to have one any more, no more maintenance than 2 wd really, when I lived on the island I had a 2wd diesel, wait till you get stuck climbing the gravel road hill out of a campground, or go to leave in the morning and cant get going on grass that's wet with dew... oh ya 2 wd was fun I'll tell ya. plus I also use mine as a daily driver so I have to drive the Coq all year for work, just being able to switch to 4wd when I need it is great with that road, but yes there are people who just don't need one and all the power to them, just means they always camp where its nice.

Steve

I was going to say the same thing. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are the Great White North to me. The coast of BC doesn't qualify anymore than Seattle does.

myredracer wrote:
I hate 4WD trucks and we live in the Great White North. Have never once needed it.

With 4WD, I don't like the fact they're up to 5-6" higher off the ground, there's more stuff to leak and need maintenance and you lose payload cap.

come on, your hardly in the great white north, I am only 3 hours from you and there are several time where we have been caught by freak snow storms while camping, good thing my truck had 4x4 or I wouldn't have made it home. I have a newer 4x4 ford and it is exactly 1" taller than the equivalent 2wd and I actually have the higher payload capacity between the two. there really is no reason not to have one any more, no more maintenance than 2 wd really, when I lived on the island I had a 2wd diesel, wait till you get stuck climbing the gravel road hill out of a campground, or go to leave in the morning and cant get going on grass that's wet with dew... oh ya 2 wd was fun I'll tell ya. plus I also use mine as a daily driver so I have to drive the Coq all year for work, just being able to switch to 4wd when I need it is great with that road, but yes there are people who just don't need one and all the power to them, just means they always camp where its nice.

Steve