4X4 Vs 4X2
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Elder User
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Hewitt, Minnesota
4X4 Vs 4X2
Just thinking about this. How often does a person realy use four wheel drive outside of recreational use? It got me thinking. Given the differential being how it is a 2wd with a diff locker will go through just as much as a factory stock 4wd. And most people with SUVs (4X4) never leave pavement anyway.. If I was racing the desert I wouldn't be caught dead with out a good 4wd. But to transport that vehicle to the desert I wouldn't want the extra expense of a 4wd when a good 2wd will serve just as well for this purpose.
i ain't rite
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
a 4X2 with diff lock will still have trouble in some conditions where a 4X4 will walk through. but you are correct in that 90% of the people that own a 4X4 do not even know how to engage it.
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2005
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4x4's look better.
i have used 4x4 a couple of times this year besides rec use, once in a blizzard and once in a normal heavy snowfall, i think haveing a 4x2 would have really sucked in those conditions, heck, i tried it!
i have used 4x4 a couple of times this year besides rec use, once in a blizzard and once in a normal heavy snowfall, i think haveing a 4x2 would have really sucked in those conditions, heck, i tried it!
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2004
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From: Billings Montana
When we lived in Reno, my Dad had a 4x4 and I think he used it 4 times in 8 years. It was completley wasted on him. He only used it when it snowed. When I moved to Montana, my folks moved up shortly afterwards and now he has a 2 wheel drive! Of any place to have 4x4 it's Montana in the winter! I have always had a 4x4 because when I go hunting or just driving in the woods, it's just good insurance knowing that you can get out, (hopefully).
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: The Big, Oregon
My car hasn't been out of 4wd since I got it-
A lot of the SUVs you see, aren't even 4x4. Many are just 2wd, with the high ride height of a 4x.
4x4s have their place, I count on that in my business, but I do agree that most people don't have a clue about how/where/why to use it. So many people think that 4x4 will keep traction on a snowy highway, yet they are the first in the ditch. A snowy highway is probably the worst place to use 4x4, unless you are climbing a hill at about 10mph.
A lot of the SUVs you see, aren't even 4x4. Many are just 2wd, with the high ride height of a 4x.
4x4s have their place, I count on that in my business, but I do agree that most people don't have a clue about how/where/why to use it. So many people think that 4x4 will keep traction on a snowy highway, yet they are the first in the ditch. A snowy highway is probably the worst place to use 4x4, unless you are climbing a hill at about 10mph.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: west MI
I use 4x4 alot in the winter helps get through the pile of snow left at intersections in the morning, then I take it out of 4x4 for the rest of the trip
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Post Fiend
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4x4 is great on snowy highways, the idiots who think the 4x4 will make the thruck act like its dry out are the ones who land in the ditch.
for fun, i tried out both 4x2 and 4x4 driving in snowy conditions in my truck, while in hays ks during a blizzard, i culdn't even leave the parking lot in 4x2, switched to 4x4 and it drove just fine.
in salt lake city in december when there was heavy snow fall, i was on the highway heading south and while in 4x2 the trucks rear tended to want to whip out into the other lane when applying the gas, also when takeing off from a stand still it just wanted to spin the tires, switched to 4x4 and it drove just fine.
for fun, i tried out both 4x2 and 4x4 driving in snowy conditions in my truck, while in hays ks during a blizzard, i culdn't even leave the parking lot in 4x2, switched to 4x4 and it drove just fine.
in salt lake city in december when there was heavy snow fall, i was on the highway heading south and while in 4x2 the trucks rear tended to want to whip out into the other lane when applying the gas, also when takeing off from a stand still it just wanted to spin the tires, switched to 4x4 and it drove just fine.
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Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Marion, VA
If you don't live in the mountains, go off the hardtop and do "farm stuff", you probably don't need a 4X4. I live in the mountains where it snows a lot, have a very steep driveway and frequently pull a trailer on hills on grass and/or dirt so I need 4X4 frequently. I seldom need it for more than a few hundred feet. I went for 30+ years with a 4X2 open differential and never got stuck. However, you will find you are far more careful as to where you go and what you get yourself into if you don't have a 4X4. 99% of people want a 4X4 but don't need it. My wife insists she has to have a 4X4 Escape "just in case" even though she would never get out in weather when she would actually need it.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Damascus-Boring, Ore
The one thought that does cross my mind, if we're talking late model stuff and live somewhere where we would/could see winter- how many times do you have to get stuck to justify an extra $2,000 on a rig that's already going to cost $25,000-$45,000? And you get all of that back, and then some- even if the truck is 10+ years old down the road.
We don't get a lot of snow in this area of the Pacific Nwst- but we have mountains close by that do, ton's of wheeling opportunities, and the off ice-storm. I wouldn't be without it, although we've got pretty mild climate, all things being equal.
We don't get a lot of snow in this area of the Pacific Nwst- but we have mountains close by that do, ton's of wheeling opportunities, and the off ice-storm. I wouldn't be without it, although we've got pretty mild climate, all things being equal.
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Elder User
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Hewitt, Minnesota
I don't know guys. if the snow ever got bad enough that a 2wd drive would get stuck I'd either stay the heck off the roads or in an emergency I'd get the 1650 Oliver. Showing off is the number one cause of death for pride.
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Middle of a field CT
Did everyone forget about snowplowing?
Even with the bigger trucks that have the weight 2wd with a locker leaves some to be desired
And what about those times when you NEED 4hi to be able to smoke that punk kid in the camaro
Even with the bigger trucks that have the weight 2wd with a locker leaves some to be desired
And what about those times when you NEED 4hi to be able to smoke that punk kid in the camaro
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Mexifornia
I live where it dosen't even think of snowing and I have driven in the snow and I hate it, but I haven't been without 4wd for many years, its funny now I only have one out of all three vehicles, but only one is a truck. I actually use it a lot, but I spend a lot of weekends up at the ranch and even the dry steep uneven ground requires it; especially with a 7300# rig.