I wish I had a dollar for every time I was stuck in 2 Wheel drive, put in her 4X4 and walked on out of there . And then there is the times when I have my Camper on in northern Alberta and I am tooling along in about 10 inches of snow and you have the road all to yourself except for a few other 4 wheelers. I agree with you Mountain Hound a long wheelbase rear wheel drive vehicle is useless without 4X4. Front wheel drive cars, they have great traction and they don't need 4X4. My 172 inch wheelbase CC sure does. Wrench.

 

My decision making in buying a truck, now that I've decided on a V10, is whether to get 4X2 or 4X4. I have had around 10 trucks in my life and they have all been 4X2's and I seem to prefer them for the little better ride, little better fuel economy, cheaper price (trade- in isn't a consideration as I usually drive them til there ready for the boneyard), and simplicity. Most of the time I've lived in rural snow country and got around pretty good. Now, all my trucks were half tons and I put enough weight in the bed, used good tires, and had a set of chains if I needed them. But I am considering a 4X4 seriously this time because I'm not sure the heavier sprung F350 or F250 I buy is going to get me the same traction as my old half tons when I weight it down. I'm also going to be towing 5000 to 8000 lbs, and, as Wrench said, that low range could come in real handy. So my questions are, with weight added, will these heavier trucks be worse in slop than my half tons? And, Wrench, you mentioned long wheelbase being detrimental to getting around without four wheel drive. Why is that? And finally, how is this new twin-coil monobeam front suspension on the new 05's compare with the older 4X4 suspension? Thanks.

 

I think we're were mainly talking about driving offroad over rough ground where it's easier to get hung up by hitting the frame rails on a ridge or rut.

Longer wheelbase trucks have lower breakover angles and it's easier to hang the frame up in a situation like I mentioned-for example driving up out of or down into a creek bed with a steep bank that's a few feet high. If it's a 4wd, the frame sets up higher so you get more clearance. If you do get the frame stuck on a bank then 4wd usually allows you to go ahead over or at least back off to try again in a different spot.

If you use it on the road or flat ground none of that is worth worrying about.

 

I agree with Mountainhound and the other questions you have I'll try to answer . The beauty of 4X4 is you don't always have time to put weight in your box or put on chains if you get caught in sticky situations. I think the heavier trucks would have just as much traction as your half tons in like situations. I have driven in wet snow where it was very difficult to steer in 4X2 and locking in your front end makes it all better and last but not least you have to experience 4X4 compression braking in low range, low gear to believe it. I have gone down sheer ice grades where if you touch your brakes, you take off like a sled but your 4X4 gears will hold you at about 3 MPH and keep you in control. Years ago we were in this situation going down a ski hill. The truck ahead of me was a 2 wheel drive with chains on the rear . He could keep his speed down but he could not steer and he dragged his passenger side along the ice bank along the road. Much body damage was incurred. If you get an 05 you get a turning radius that is just as tight as a 2 wheel drive. This is a due to the new coil spring front end.
I don't believe the springs will change the front end traction over the old leaf spring front end. Dodges have had coils in their 4X4s for years and they are good 4x4s. The GM independant suspension in a 4X4 has good traction but an IFS suspension is never as strong as a staight axle and that is why Ford went to the straight axle in the SD. The old IFS suspension I had in my 95 4x4 was not a very good front end. The more tired that suspension gets the more your tire camber would deteriorate and you must have seen old 250 4x4s running around with their front tires at ridiculous angles. If you never leave pavement or good gravel roads you probably don't need 4x4 but this incredible option gives your truck a whole new set of capabilities. My new truck is my 6th 4x4 and I just could not imagine not having it. I prefer the manual 4x4 transfer case and you almost have to order to get this free benefit. Read more about this in the SD section , a long thread about ESOF . Take care and good luck, Wrench.

 

I would tend to agree that the 4x2 is the better towing vehicle, but as an overall vehicle, I tend to view them as worthwhile/worthless as "nipples" on a boar. Didn't mean to offend anybody by my characterization.

 

Why would you buy something that you never use. We looked back three trucks to 1991 and asked ourselves how many times did we have a need for 4 wheel drive...answer..none.we did not order 4 wheel drive.

 

I guess this is probably a case where you could say if I a person needs to ask whether or not he needs a 4x4, then he probably doesn't need a 4x4!

 

You are corrrect there..If you need a 4X4 you will surely know it.Our truck is used to tow a Rv. It is in storage Mid November to Mid March. We also drive ON roads..not off roads. Most campgrounds will NOT let you use the 4 wheel drive to pull the RV out IF you do get stuck..tears up their grounds

 

this was the quintessential statement, with 2wd I don't go places where I'd get stuck. But more importantly with 4wd I go places where I MAY get stuck, even in 4wd. I've never been stuck with my 2wd V-10 E-350, I tow alot, I drive it alot, all over the west coast. On the beach (yep), to motorcycle races, car races, sand drags, all over. But I very carefully pick my spots. Prior to this rig I had 4wd's, and I always charged in, guns blazing. Maybe it's just me, I dunno, Ken

 

I know this thread is kinda dead as far as answering the orginal question but nobody stated one of the obvious reasons for going with a 2wd truck.

It has a higher towing capacity over the 4x4.

 

They have a higher cargo rating too, for that matter. At least the 99 to 04 2wds have a higher cargo rating, don't know about the 2005 models.

 

There's no question 4x4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CN