new GMC 1500 2x4. No one needs 4x4 anyway

pnichols wrote:

Supercharged wrote:
Got wife 2018 GMC 1500. No one but famers,ranchers, ult. company, cops, logers, and people up in Canada need 4x4, just something saleman sell people who have good credit anyway. Waist of money.

We have just about everything in our lives insured, for example ... we live up in the mountains on the side of one, but we still have flood insurance on our house - just in case water causes the earth to move which in turn causes the house to move.

That being said, having 4X4 capability in a vehicle is the same as all other kinds of insurance ... it's for "just in case".

Here's our vehicle traction needs and wishes:

- Our sedan needs it's automatic electrically locking rear differential just to get up our asphalt surface driveway when it's covered with either leaves or rain water.

- Our daughter's SUV needs needs to be switched into 4WD to do the above on our driveway, under the same conditions.

- My 4X4 GMC 1500 pickup needs it's automatic mechanically locking rear differential to change into locked mode to do the same as above on our driveway, under the same conditions.

- My 4X4 pickup needs to be switched into 4WD low range to make it up our driveway in any weather when bringing our daughter's horse trailer up to our house with a horse in it.

- My 4X4 pickup needs to be switched into 4WD high range whenever I do volunteer work in the rough, hilly, creek-crossing, backcountry of a large California State Park.

- We wish our Class C had 6X4 drive with high/low ranges so we wouldn't have to pass up some great off-highway rockhounding spots in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, California, etc..

After having it, I would NEVER buy a pickup truck WITHOUT 4X4 drive. A 2WD pickup is only half a truck. My dad used to even say that 2WD pickups were built backwards - the driven wheels should be the front wheels where the bulk of the weight is most of the time for better traction most of the time.

Yeah, it is all about insurance for those unique times when one needs it. There are occasions when weather really has most folks snowed in that it will be days before the county gets all the roads cleaned. In an emergency, a 4x4 is the only way to get 20 miles to the nearest medical facility when weather throws a fit. And I take it step further. When I know weather is coming, I throw on the snowplow. It is about 2 miles to the nearest hard top road and at least I can cut a path for my neighbors.