2WD or 4X4 for a truck camper

[jaycocreek]

Okay,this is for hauling a truck camper only and what a new guy should get when going to buy a truck camper..

Here is a pretty honest opinion of the pro's and con's of both and yes,he has a truck camper..Northern lite 10-2

2WD vs 4WD with TC only

Do you "Really Need" a 4X4 with a truck camper?..

[jaycocreek]

Hey Jim..You forgot this part..Laffin..And it was from a long time RV.Net poster...

I've driven a 2WD into some places that guys with 4WD were afraid to drive through. It depends on the driver and the level of skill and common sense they have to determine if they will get stuck or not.

[jaycocreek]

From RV net archives on 2WD vs 4WD..

As for rough roads, steep surfaces, loose surfaces, a 2wd truck will roll in it just like a 4wd truck. People forget that 4WD wasn't around in production vehicles until the start of World War I, and then it was special order or custom made. Before then and even after, people drove millions of 2wd vehicles around everywhere, and there wasn't paved roads in lots of areas until the 1950's. So to say that 2wd's can't go anywhere doesn't hold up. Yes people got stuck, and they winched themselves out, but to say that only a 4wd can go someplace isn't exactly true. I've driven a 2WD into some places that guys with 4WD were afraid to drive through. It depends on the driver and the level of skill and common sense they have to determine if they will get stuck or not.

[jimh406]

jaycocreek wrote:
You did a drive by huh....

I’ve driven by/through a lot of towns. Btw, I have no issue with staying home during inclement weather when you are in a beautiful place, and McCall is that as well.

[specta]

jaycocreek wrote:

In the state that I live in the "big thousands dollars" that will cost you is when you try and sell a 2wd pickup. You wont get squat for it.

I sure do not understand that..Marysville Utah gets about 1/2 the national average of snow a year that others do..We get double that and my old 2WD ford F-250 sold for what I payed for it on the first looker..Ours is a community of Loggers and Ranchers that use there pickups hard.

McCall Idaho where I spent over 40 years living and working out of,gets 5-6X the snowfall you get there and 1/2 the town drives 2WD's..A good pickup in 2WD or 4WD sells easily if the price is reasonable..

I guess that is one of the big differences in Utah and Idaho..Just one.LOL

Sorry but I don't live in Marysvale.

Yep, they both sell if reasonably priced and the 2wd will be priced substantially lower than the 4wd.

Check the resale value for yourself.

[srschang]

Yup,then ad the transfer box gear oil changes plus the front differential oil changes,there spendy..Just to have my rear differential changed at a dealer would be super expensive versus doing it myself..More drive lines/U-Joints and worse gas mileage plus a better ride..

A 4X4 doesn't come without the extra maintenance cost,I know,I have two 4X4's..

This is my beater 4X4 I use just to get wood close to town..I don't use it over my 2WD DRW around town in the snow..To squirrely..


Guess there's a difference with the newer 4x4s. The first 4x4 maintenance called for on my truck is change the transfer case oil at 120,000. I will sell/trade it long before then. It never calls for changing the front differential oil. Probably because the front hubs unlock when I take it out of 4wd. 90% of the time, when the truck is in 2wd, all the 4wd hardware just sits there not spinning.

So, to bring this somewhat back on course for the OP, my take is it depends how you will use your truck. If it will be 100% with the TC on it, I could go either way, as I don't use my truck camper in the winter. But since I drive my truck (without camper) most days through the winter, I need 4wd here in the snowbelt south of Buffalo, NY. Can't get up my driveway without it.

[jaycocreek]

srschang wrote:
Frankly when somebody writes that 4x4 doesn't cost in thousands over the life of the truck, I think he must be idiot or liar.
Anybody can come with different explanation?

Just entered my truck, 2015 Ram 3500 4x4 diesel into a couple different used car price websites - KBB, Edmunds, NADA. Looks like it will be worth ~$3000 more when I trade it in vs the exact same truck in 2wd.

The 4x4 option cost me $2465 when I ordered the truck new. Huh.

Scott

Yup,then ad the transfer box gear oil changes plus the front differential oil changes,there spendy..Just to have my rear differential changed at a dealer would be super expensive versus doing it myself..More drive lines/U-Joints and worse gas mileage plus a better ride..

A 4X4 doesn't come without the extra maintenance cost,I know,I have two 4X4's..

This is my beater 4X4 I use just to get wood close to town..I don't use it over my 2WD DRW around town in the snow..To squirrely..



Fixed it doing it differently

[srschang]

Frankly when somebody writes that 4x4 doesn't cost in thousands over the life of the truck, I think he must be idiot or liar.
Anybody can come with different explanation?

Just entered my truck, 2015 Ram 3500 4x4 diesel into a couple different used car price websites - KBB, Edmunds, NADA. Looks like it will be worth ~$3000 more when I trade it in vs the exact same truck in 2wd.

The 4x4 option cost me $2465 when I ordered the truck new. Huh.

Scott

[jaycocreek]

For those who don’t know, McCall is pretty flat and has cold dry snow, and generally really cold when it snows.. Not anywhere close to the type of snow or terrain of downtown Seattle not to mention that Seattle doesn’t have much snow equipment, people can’t even drive in perfect weather, and Seattle has more than one intersection.

There’s also no reason to drive around McCall in Winter because there is nowhere to go, and for the real snowy weather, you’d never drive a conventional vehicle and more likely just use a ATV/UTV/Snowmobile. Having a 2WD that you never use is probably fine

Luaghing..You did a drive by huh...

This is Mccall when I moved there, at 5,000 feet right in the middle of Idaho's mountains..Going for groceries is sometimes a chore at -35F and 5 feet of snow..My diesel wouldn't run and the 4X4 was frozen..Took the wifes '67 Ford F-250 straight 6 2WD to town that day..LOL


..

[jimh406]

jaycocreek wrote:
I guess this thread has run it's course because it is only a couple that would never agree with the others that a new person to truck camping does not need to have 4X4 to haul there TC.

A new person doesn’t even need a TC. They could get along fine with a tent and only camp in warm dry weather near facilities.

Yeah, maybe run it’s course because you said this thread was about why each of us needs 4x4. Even after all of our examples, you two insist you could have done what we have done with your 2WDs.

For those who don’t know, McCall is pretty flat and has cold dry snow, and generally really cold when it snows.. Not anywhere close to the type of snow or terrain of downtown Seattle not to mention that Seattle doesn’t have much snow equipment, people can’t even drive in perfect weather, and Seattle has more than one intersection.

There’s also no reason to drive around McCall in Winter because there is nowhere to go, and for the real snowy weather, you’d never drive a conventional vehicle and more likely just use a ATV/UTV/Snowmobile. Having a 2WD that you never use is probably fine. 😄

[jaycocreek]

I probably can’t come up with an explanation you would understand...

Sure you could..The problem here is where we live and what we use our truck campers for..I am sure where you live by Seattle 4WD is needed at times..My daughter moved to Everett Washington from McCall Idaho and laughed at how people drove over there when they got those rare snow storms..Actually,it scared her the way they drove with little experience in the snow..

I know your not that way by your post and occupations...People with 4X4's will defend the 'til death,I used to be that way in my younger years..Also,I could name a few times 4X4 with a TC could be better than 2WD..But and a big butttt,years and years of driving in the snow with a truck camper has shown me that I rarely needed 4X4 unless I went looking for trouble taking it where I should not have..Didn't care back then..Break an axle.. fix it/dent up the camper..fix it..Those days are over..

I know where I can take my 2WD with my TC now and why I have to much truck for my currant TC..I do alot of off camber(if you will) traveling on backcountry roads..My TC is 10ft at the ladder rack and 93" wide taking me where larger wider truck campers cannot go and my 2WD DRW get's me places my old F-250 2WD would not get...

The whole point is,it works for me and I did not have to spend way way more for the same used DRW in 4WD..People with 4X4's,and I still am(Just not for a TC),sometimes think there used 4X4 are made of gold.I have a Dodge Dakota 4X4 with awesome tires that goes where know has ever gone..(laffin) and a Nissan 4X4 that is my beater truck and wood getter..I cruise the hills in that not worrying about dents and dingsand go where I want and get stuck where I want.:):)

I enjoy 4X4ing alot and I spend alot of time in the mountains and have my entire life and once you put a big heavy truck camper on your 4X4,you are very limited to where you can go and the only advantage is 4 low and an occasional trip on snowy roads that studs could do almost as well and chains even better...

I guess this thread has run it's course because it is only a couple that would never agree with the others that a new person to truck camping does not need to have 4X4 to haul there TC..

I do not have a scanner but I will try and find some of my old pictures of my 4X4's carrying a TC in the mountains and take a picture with my trudty Pixel 2XL with the Pixel 4 camera(laughing)

[jaycocreek]

In the state that I live in the "big thousands dollars" that will cost you is when you try and sell a 2wd pickup. You wont get squat for it.

I sure do not understand that..Marysville Utah gets about 1/2 the national average of snow a year that others do..We get double that and my old 2WD ford F-250 sold for what I payed for it on the first looker..Ours is a community of Loggers and Ranchers that use there pickups hard.

McCall Idaho where I spent over 40 years living and working out of,gets 5-6X the snowfall you get there and 1/2 the town drives 2WD's..A good pickup in 2WD or 4WD sells easily if the price is reasonable..

I guess that is one of the big differences in Utah and Idaho..Just one.LOL

[burningman]

Kayteg1 wrote:

Frankly when somebody writes that 4x4 doesn't cost in thousands over the life of the truck, I think he must be idiot or liar.
Anybody can come with different explanation?

I probably can’t come up with an explanation you would understand...

My experience owning many two and four wheel drive trucks doesn’t bear that out.
I had a 2WD crewcab dually and parked on a steep hill with a camper and heavy trailer.
Tried to back up, but couldn’t.
The 4WD I replaced it with, same otherwise, did it easily because it had low range.
I could rattle off other incidents half the day.
Just recently I was coming up the trail out of my friend’s camping property on wet leaves and lost traction. Not goin’ nowhere, even with the camper weight and limited slip diff.
A simple shift to 4WD and problem gone, truck not stuck.

These examples are with the camper on.
Even if it did cost thousands extra over the life of the truck - which it doesn’t - it would be worth it.
And I’d get it all back in resale value.

[jimh406]

specta wrote:
14% is nothing. I've been up steeper driveways than that.

My road up to my trailers is steeper than that. I agree, but there isn’t a video of him going up either. Could have just parked at the top, walked down and took the picture. 🙂

That’s what I did in this case at Fort Stevens. No, I didn’t drive the extremely soft sand on the beach.

[jimh406]

I’m not sure what constitutes need since there is no way to know what might happen on a trip.

Last February, I left the ranch when there wasn’t any snow forecast. We were going to be back in a few days. Just headed over for a grandkids birthday. The forecast changed and snowmageden set into Western WA.

We had to wait at my daughters for the snow to settle down so we could head down I-5. We stayed at the Mother-in-laws, and woke up to another unforecasted snow. We were able to make it out of their neighborhood and were actually the only vehicle that left the in laws house. They only had 2WDs: a truck and a Camry.

They lost power and so we went by the store in the truck/camper to get some things they needed. So, we stayed another night and got propane even though there was 8-10 inches of snow.

Power came back on, so we went to the next relatives house. That night … you guessed it, snow again. Her uncled stayed home in his 2WD truck because he didn’t think it was worth chaining up to get back up his driveway.

We continued on to Salem, OR to visit my brother. The passes were still nasty so we were giving them time to clear. By the time we got to Salem, the roads were clear.

After a couple of days, we headed back from Oregon. Along the way back from Oregon, we hit unforecasted snow/ice in the Gorge and then up by Kennewick. DW drove after I dislocated my collarbone for the days we were gone. She is more than capable, but I wouldn’t have wished chains on her and that would have added about a day to our trip home since you can drive very fast with chains.

When I got back to Montana, I couldn’t even get up my driveway with 4x4 and good tires. The snow was too deep. So, I walked the 1/3 mile up to my upper shed and got the Ranger UTV that already had the plow on it. Good thing, because I dislocated my collarbone while in Washington. After plowing for a couple of hours to get rid of the foot or snow and the drifts that were even higher, I was able to get the truck with camper up the driveway. No, I didn’t try to install my chains.

Maybe a 2WD could make this trip, but I had DW put the truck in 4x4 several times and we drove at least 100 miles in 4x4. We could just stay home in Winter. 😄

[specta]

Kayteg1 wrote:
my RWD took me up that 14% forest road just fine and it even did not use LSD I have.

14% is nothing. I've been up steeper driveways than that.

Is your LSD manually or electrically engaged?

Without the wheels spinning how do you know it wasn't engaged?
Pressure from both wheels is what engages the clutches.