2WD Or 4WD?

[Evan A. Beck]

What do you got...



2WD or 4WD?

 

[MikeR]

Got one o' each,but apperently this poll won't let me vote twice once I already voted.



I think the next poll should ask who has actually 4 wheeled theirs,'cause I've seen some road queens with a front differential out there.

 

[Archive]

For me, I could not own a 2wd. It would be useless. If you don't trailer and mostly run up and down the road, or commute to work, then I can understand it. On a rainy day (of which we have many in the NW!) you could not back a trailer around a pasture without spinning and tearing the ground up.



Road Queens? LOL. Yep, there are those. My 3500 has been all over the Rocky Mountains... in lots of snow!

 

[Papa Joe]

4WD. If I had a 2WD, it would be winerized for four months and parked for one or two more. I love that Cummins, but if the wheels under it are not 'connected' in the snow the truck is scary.



We're all Road Queens in the summer



PS Hey, guys. 1000 posts

 

[jponder]

Originally posted by MikeR

Got one o' each,but apperently this poll won't let me vote twice once I already voted.



I think the next poll should ask who has actually 4 wheeled theirs,'cause I've seen some road queens with a front differential out there.

The first thing I did was go 4 wheeling with my truck when i got it. I didnt ever want to hear"have you even used your 4 wheel drive?" and me have to say no. Unfortunately i did put some scratches from the bushes and stuff oh well I didnt buy it to look at it!!!!!!!!!

 

[Zacman]

4wd vs 2 wd

I certainly understand the reasoning why all you folks up in the NW own 4wds. But for a lot of us urban folks in Texas about the biggest things we have to climb here are the curbs 99% of the rest of the year we have very little snow or ice so for the most part and a 4wd is really an un-necessary expense. There are quite a lot of 4wd Rams and Ford PSD 4x4's down here and I simply view there ownership as a status symbol for the most part or appears that way to me.



when I bought my Ram that very day we started having snow and ice start falling and by the time I got home there was two or three inches of slush on the road. Never once did I feel the need for getting a 4wd. Before I get slammed for some of my statements that doesnt mean I have never owned one myself. Indeed I have owned a 4x4 for 10 years, driving habits and preferences change over the years. If I lived in an area with harsher winters, indeed I most likely would own one and in those environments they are a necessity in my view.



David

 

[jponder]

Originally posted by MikeR

Got one o' each,but apperently this poll won't let me vote twice once I already voted.



I think the next poll should ask who has actually 4 wheeled theirs,'cause I've seen some road queens with a front differential out there.

Dont you hate that one vote per person? This is the USA! We should be allowed to vote as many times as we like

 

[RustyJC]

We use our 3500 almost exclusively to tow our 5ver. For this service, I've never seen the need for a 4x4, and we've been in and out of wet campsites from the East Coast to the Rio Grande. A 4x2 has a number of benefits for highway trailer towing - lower initial price, more usable trailer towing rating for a given GCVWR since the truck weight is less, the rig sits lower which is beneficial for stability and economy, fewer drivetrain parts so less drag and less maintenance, etc. As an example, how many over-the-road Class 8 rigs do you see with driven front axles?



IMHO, if you need (or want) a 4x4, by all means buy one, but for our service, we really don't.



Rusty

 

[LEEH]

Had a 4X4 on my 96" RAM. after 100,000 miles, I looked at how many miles I used the truck in 4X4 mode. Grand total of 2 miles!!!! Now I asked myself, why I need the extra expense and maintenance costs of 4X4? Couldn't come up with a good answer so I went back to 2X4 on my 2001. 5. Am very happy with it, much better ride and hopefully better mileage once it is broken in.



Another bennie of 2X4 is the truck sits lower, so I can lower the 5er back to its factory setup. Got real tired of having to use a step ladder to get into the 5er and it sure does tow better!



We do have winter in this country and so far, I could have gotten along just fine without 4X4.

 

[Max Wedge]

Last 4x4 I owned was a '67 International Scout--(What a Ride), I am glad this big monster is 4x6. Here in Ohio (SE) we get a little snow, but mostly mud, and this thing is helpless in 2wd mode. Probably Goodyear Wranglers are junk, but even in 4x6 mode it still tends to sink when chasing coyotes through those freshly plowed corn fields



I LOVE my 4x6!!! I think they should just make 2 trucks, 1 ton SRW QC LB 4x4 & 1 ton DRW QC LB 4x6. If you need anything less, buy a Dakota!I think they should just make 2 trucks, 1 ton SRW QC LB 4x4 & 1 ton DRW QC LB 4x6. If you need anything less, buy a Dakota!

 

[Doc Tinker]

Papa Joe - Does the length of our noses grow in relation to our post numbers?





You guys are beating up on us 2 wheelers today!



Yes, I've needed a 4x4 one time, since I bought my truck in October of 1999. That one time, I was in the worst part of town at 2 am, stuck sideways in the road, in 8" of snow. My back tires were up against the curb and I couldn't go nowhere. Fortunately for me, a guy and his girl came out, dug me out and pushed me back into the tracks. Later that day I found out that car load of thugs were on that street, earlier in the night, robbing stranded motorists.



Someday I will replace my truck, the new truck will be a 4x4 Road Queen.



Maybe "Road Queen" answers the question of whether our truck is male or female - If you never go off road, is it a female?





Doc

 

[CJ Johansson]

I got the 4WD because I needed it. I use it daily (though I don't really need it) - home is at the top of a 2 mile grade that varies from 10% to 18%, gravel. Without 4x4, it really tears up the rear tires. And then, there's winter, with the snow on the grade... Plus, there's hauling trailers and such on pastures and hay fields, which can get muddy. Now, if I could only get an ARB air locker for that Dana 80 back there...



-cj

 

[o_mccarroll]

My 4x4 "Road Queen" saved my a$$ the other night... The Great Flood of '01 had me in a situation where I was looking at either letting my truck drown or finding dry land. 4-low was the only way I was able to climb up a steep grassy/wet/muddy embankment as water was rising fast. I was spinning my tires and dropped her down into 4-low. Climbed right up. I would be looking at a seriously wet truck and a lot of money to repair if I hadn't had 4x4.



No, I don't do a lot of off-roading. If I wanted an off-road truck, I would have bought a Jeep or something, not a 7000 lb monster. These trucks were not made for rock crawling. 4x4 is there just to help if I find myself in a bind, whether it's at the deer lease or in a flood.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Mine does just fine rock crawling! Blasting around on the sand dunes too - nothing stops it. I use my 4wd just as much in the summer as I do in the winter, wouldn't live without it. Only problem offroading it is the width but that's what buffers and polish are made for! No road queen here - my trucks all male! #ad

 

[BFaoro]

I would have to say in Colorado I use my 4x4 quit often. Almost as much in summer as winter. We pull trailers out across pastures thru mud and up these little mountains and in the fall before the snow comes I have to go hunting. Oh yeah I almost forgot I have to show the wife that , "yes it will to go up that hill, hang on. "

 

[Wheaties]

Steve,



Here's a question I haven't seen come up yet:

How are you rigging the Ram to drive on the dunes?



I used to 4-wheel on the beach at Nantucket, let the air out to 10-12lbs, and blaze on up to the remote beachs of Great Neck where the fishin was good.



Are you using the factory tires? If not are they still type L? What pressure on them?



I don't have any immediate plans to go, but it's a nice piece of info to have should the need arise...



Matt

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Matt, I'm running 285/75R16 BFG AT KO's - they are a D rated tire rated for 3305 lbs (stock was a 235 something I think, E rated at 3042 lbs/tire). I run 16 psi in the front and 10 in the rear - that's actually pretty high pressure compared to previous trucks where I ran down around 8 and 6, but the tires are squatting big time at 16 and I don't have any problems at all. I have RS9000 shocks all the way around and I run the fronts at 5 and the rears at 1, an RS5000 steering stablizer, plus my ladder bar setup for the suspension. The primary problem I used to have with my truck at the dunes was massive amounts of axle wrap in the rear, couldn't use any more than half throttle. The ladder bars have completely solved that problem. If you're just driving around on the beach you won't have that problem though, only if you're hammering it on rough sand. I'm going to be organizing a GLTDR trip to the dunes sometime this summer to introduce more guys to it, John West (another GLTDR member) takes his truck out there too.



-Steve

 

[Pete Peterson]

I thought congress was passing a law to do away with 2wd trucks???????... . Pete

 

[ramfan2]

I've probably only used my truck in 4WD mode 10 times since I've owned it. But when I did need it, I was glad I had it.



That can pertain to some other things too!



Hey Papa Joe. Where is Rathdrum?



Chris



P. S. Think we'll see anyone with the user name Road Queen any time soon?

 

[Bad340fish]

I miss my Yoda

I have a 2wd. Do I need a 4wd no. . do I want one YES . I sold a 91 Toyota 4x4 that was locked in the rear with 5. 29 gears and 33x12. 50 Goodyear Wrangler M/Ts(Great tires off the pavement... I think they were more sqaure than round though). It saw a LOT or rock and had plenty of battlescars to prov it. Had to sell it to pay my tag and insurance on the ram at first(Which i bought to tow my car). I was looking for a 4wd truck but i basicly stole this truck. Couldn't turn down an SLT QC SB with a 5 speed and only 20K on the clock for $22k. I am now considering a new one if I don't like the looks of the 2003 when its released. I doubt it will see alot of offroad use(all the trails here are Jeep and Yoda width) But it won't be a %100 road queen. . maybe a road princess lol

If the dragstrip was closed this was off road