2WD or 4X4 for a truck camper

CAUTION TROLLFEST AHEAD!
DO NOT PROCEED BEYOND THIS POINT UNLESS YOUR ARE JUST LOOKING TO WASTE THE REST OF YOUR WEEKEND.

I've never considered a 2 wheel drive since we like to camp dirt roads and on the beach. In all the years we have travelled with a truck camper I have only needed to put the truck in 4x4 as the rear tires alone lost traction and slipped a hand full of times. It was sure nice to simply pull a shifter and drive right out.

How many times that we proactively engaged 4x4 for sand, mud, steep terrain etc that we may have been ok in 2wd? Not sure.

If I was buying a truck to only travel on paved roads only I would go with a 2WD. If I were buying a truck to haul a 5th wheel I would go with 2wd as the bed rail height is lower and I wouldn't take a 5th wheel out on 4x4 type roads.

I don’t listen to entire youtube videos or RV.NET to get opinions from random people. I’d go to youtube for that. ;).

Care to bullet point why that random person thinks what he does?

I don’t know about most people, but I shopped for a truck camper because I needed a truck not the other way around. For me, I needed a 4x4 for a truck camper because I needed 4x4 for my truck for the rest of the time. In most states in the Northwest, 4x4 removes the requirement of needing to chain up for almost all of the time while crossing mountain passes..

I think most people are the same in that they buy the truck they need irrespective of truck camper. Either 4x2 or 4x4 can haul the weight. Buy the truck you need for other purposes.

BradW wrote:
I would think you would want 4X4 if you are elk hunting in Idaho, but no, you don't have to have it to haul a tc.

That's kinda a missed conception about truck campers and hunting..Once you go so big with a truck camper,you are very limited on where you can go with it..If you have a pop-up TC,then you can go about anywhere with it and 4X4 would be necessary probably,to take full advantage of the unit..

When your 8ft wide and 10-13ft high and have a hangover on the rear,your very limited on where you can take it without banging something up.So your kinda limited where you can take a full sized truck camper..The smaller you go in TC size let's you go just a little farther back in,atleast here in Idaho...

As far as getting stuck in an unexpected snow storm which happens often,I always carry chains and it is not an issue...

There are alot of pro's to a 2WD over a 4WD like maintenance/fuel mileage/more payload/ride etc but it doesn't have the "Kool Factor" the 4X4 has and the 4X4 has better traction in some conditions..

I have owned both with full sized truck campers and when the old standard transmissions had "Granny Gear" 4X4 was rarely and sometimes never used unless I went looking for it..

Resale value is better with a 4X4 but that makes some use 2WD's a steal in price..

" Honest Opinion " simply means the person believes what they are saying . It doesn't speak to the correctness or completeness of the information .

I don’t know about most people, but I shopped for a truck camper because I needed a truck not the other way around. For me, I needed a 4x4 for a truck camper because I needed 4x4 for my truck for the rest of the time. In most states in the Northwest, 4x4 removes the requirement of needing to chain up for almost all of the time while crossing mountain passes..

I think most people are the same in that they buy the truck they need irrespective of truck camper. Either 4x2 or 4x4 can haul the weight. Buy the truck you need for other purposes.

I certainly understand the NW and chains required as our local news station is Spokane news..But living in Idaho where I do,that is not a concern..Rarely is something like Whitebird hill, required with chains..And that's the perk of owning an RV..Camp out the storm..

From what I see on the internet(laffin) a bunch of people rarely use there truck for other stuff..It is mostly used just to haul the truck camper and not run to the store or go see grandma 300 miles away..They take the car or other non-gas guzzling rig..

Interesting...

Well had one 4X2 truck 79 F250 with a 460, got it stuck a couple times in flat fields getting hay. It has been 4X4 since then. No I don’t use all the time just once in a while.

4wd doesn't remove the chain requirement in OR (and WA too I think) if you're over 10k GVWR. That said, I haven't seen anyone pulled over or ticketed for driving a camper in a chains required zone with 4wd and traction tires.

jaycocreek wrote:
When your 8ft wide and 10-13ft high and have a hangover on the rear,your very limited on where you can take it without banging something up.So your kinda limited where you can take a full sized truck camper.

I don’t think that’s at all true in National Forests. Most of the significant roads in National Forests are maintained gravel roads and are wide enough and high enough for logging trucks. A truck camper is really no issue. Many of them are visited by people with horses with longer gooseneck horse trailers as well.

Sure, there are roads that you can’t travel, but there’s no reason you need to travel them just to hunt.

Sliding-into-home wrote:
4wd doesn't remove the chain requirement in OR (and WA too I think) if you're over 10k GVWR. That said, I haven't seen anyone pulled over or ticketed for driving a camper in a chains required zone with 4wd and traction tires.

It’s GVW not GVWR. Back to my point of needing a truck without truck camper, law or not, almost all trucks are under 10K GVW unless you are hauling a significant load.

I don’t know about you, but I’d just wait until it is better weather since I can’t think of any reason why I need to go through a pass when a signifiant storm is occuring with truck camper or other heavy load.