Tow vehicle advice: 4x4 or 4x2?

You dont want it, have ever needed it and dont care about resale value, stick with the 4x2.

First, there is little to be afraid of with modern 4WD systems. The $3k up front is just about the same $3k in value up to about 10 years old. The fuel economy is unmeasureably different.

However, if you haven't needed 4WD in the last 50 years of driving, you probably won't in the next 15. Towing an RV means more weight on the rear axle, more traction that unloaded. Today's traction control systems do a pretty good job in most situations. I highly recommend whichever OEM's limited slip or locking differential. That's a performance bargain.

I would go with the 4X2, with a posi traction type rear. I have used this set up before with good results.

I have a 4x4, but I am not convinced it is really worth the weight. In 30years I needed once and that was to pull my father in law out who has the same truck only in 2x4 we still sit around the camp fire and laugh, but when you try to drive through a swamp in the spring, well:B

live in Mobile, AL, 2 wheel drive is fine. as you point out more to go wrong, costs more to get serviced, etc.
bumpy

Supercharged wrote:
People who own 4x4's like to be sold things they don't need. They can't help it, it's just that way. The only people who need 4x4's are utl. company, loggers, ranchers, city's, and towns in the snow area's, the dealer make a lot of extra money sell the guy that thinks he needs everything. All that extra fuel burned is bad for global warming.

Generalize much?
Your needs may not require 4WD, but mine sure do.

In Oregon 4 X 2 pickups look funny . Lower and leaner .
Whenever I see one it often has Texas plates .
In Oregon there is a need for 4WD frequently .
My last 2wd was in 1980 .
No additional maintenance other than the loss of a half mpg for 33 years and the initial cost increase .
A 5 year old 2WD pickup is sale-proof in Central Oregon .

I f you’re 65 and never needed 4wd you’re not going the places where you would need it, so I’d stick with 2wd. Complexity and maintenance are almost irrelevant, I’ve owned various ones since 1973 and have never done a single repair. I do have to periodically grease the hubs on the ’73 Bronco, though.

If you went off pavement, especially in bad weather, or were on rough, rocky roads you’d appreciate the much better traction. But a 2wd with LS or LD will go a lot of places a 4wd will go in good weather, it will just be a rougher ride. 4wd does have better resale, but it costs more too and if you don’t use it why have it.

In retirement we take up different hobbies and sports. Mine is being a dragonboat steersperson. Now that in itself is harmless, but when the crew asks you to hook up to the trailer and pull the boat out for winter storage, and you do that but the tide is low and the trailer kinda falls off the end of the pavement and the one rear wheel spins... well, in with the hubs and four wheel drive puts me safely up the ramp.

I use four wheel drive low range almost every time I drive up onto levelling blocks too. Normally, just put it into low range, a feature not available with two wheel drive, and the rig climbs onto two or three blocks effortlessly. Without the low range, it's a beast, the engine revs high and it's so easy to go flying over the block once it finally gets up enough steam to climb the ramp up to the block level.

sky_free wrote:
Sounds like you would be fine with 2WD, but keep in mind that it might be harder to sell a 2WD truck when you want to move on if it is anything above work truck trim. Most buyers are looking for 4WD trucks unless it is a basic beater work truck. For me personally I will never buy a 2WD again after my years getting stuck in snow with one in Colorado.

X2 except I live in Oregon.

Two options that with get a lot of post Diesel/Gas and 4X2 and 4X4!

I chose 4X4 and diesel as they fit my needs, I drive a lot of hilly routs pulling an 11K 5er. Nothing will incite road Rage more than some guy in an RV going 40 up a long hill on a two lane road!!

4X4 had a 4X2 F250 that would get stuck on a flat field on damp grass. Ever been on gravel with trailer in tow and try to backup up a hill??
Then there is the fact that we four season camp and you just never know when the white stuff will be in the forecast.

This is a trip home from the coast, this is a main state highway that is very narrow in places. The security of 4X4 makes a lot of difference, yes all TV have four wheel brakes, but when the steer wheels are driving you tend to go that way rather than plow stright ahead.



Same road in summer!