Tow vehicle advice: 4x4 or 4x2?
I will be buying a new tow vehicle in next 6 months. Recently I have received a lot of advice to get the new vehicle with 4x4. My old truck was a 4x2 and did fine. Why am I getting this advice? I only...
Forum Discussion
Supercharged said: "I like to watch the Trooper in Alaska drive on the ice and snow with the 2 wd cars.
They must know folks don't need them. Just the ones they run down driving 4x4's."
With due respect, having arguably more experience driving in Alaska (and for that matter with DPS, including Troopers) than anyone else on this forum, I'd offer a couple of thoughts:
- Watch the trooper shows all you want, it's a limited slice of what they do: and many of the episodes show only city driving....and while 4WD helps on those polished ice intersections, in the city is not the extent of where 4WD is needed. Strangely enough, roughly 40% (and that number is increasing) of the troopers are now driving 4WD vehicles such as Ford/Chevy PU's and Ford Expeditions.
- Many of the Alaska State Troopers episodes are in the Mat-Su area (Palmer/Wasilla, known as "Meth-Su") and in Fairbanks area. By and large, neither the episodes in the Meth-Su, nor the episodes in the Fairbanks area represent the worst driving conditions: Meth-Su gets most of their snow blown away by wind and often has bare pavement much of the winter and Fairbanks is one of the dryer spots (with limited snowfall) in Alaska and typically has either bare pavement or compacted snow, none of which "needs" 4WD.
Of course, 4WD is not a necessity, but it is an "access leverager" which allows easier and more secure access to a greater range of roads and conditions.
They must know folks don't need them. Just the ones they run down driving 4x4's."
With due respect, having arguably more experience driving in Alaska (and for that matter with DPS, including Troopers) than anyone else on this forum, I'd offer a couple of thoughts:
- Watch the trooper shows all you want, it's a limited slice of what they do: and many of the episodes show only city driving....and while 4WD helps on those polished ice intersections, in the city is not the extent of where 4WD is needed. Strangely enough, roughly 40% (and that number is increasing) of the troopers are now driving 4WD vehicles such as Ford/Chevy PU's and Ford Expeditions.
- Many of the Alaska State Troopers episodes are in the Mat-Su area (Palmer/Wasilla, known as "Meth-Su") and in Fairbanks area. By and large, neither the episodes in the Meth-Su, nor the episodes in the Fairbanks area represent the worst driving conditions: Meth-Su gets most of their snow blown away by wind and often has bare pavement much of the winter and Fairbanks is one of the dryer spots (with limited snowfall) in Alaska and typically has either bare pavement or compacted snow, none of which "needs" 4WD.
Of course, 4WD is not a necessity, but it is an "access leverager" which allows easier and more secure access to a greater range of roads and conditions.
