A set of chains, a locking rear, and a good bit of weight will beat a 4WD with nothing but tires any day. However, for high speed driving in snow you really do need the 4X4 to keep the rear from wandering around.
why two wheel drive trucks are usless...
- Thread starter 6.9poweredscout
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timothyr1014
Full Access Member
Agreed...A properly setup 4X2 will walk a typical 4X4...but a properly setup 4x4 will walk both...until it gets stuck.
On the dually I have been impressed more then once by its ability to keep itself moving in some REALLY soft stuff...a locker, good tires, and some weight in the bed make all the difference
On the dually I have been impressed more then once by its ability to keep itself moving in some REALLY soft stuff...a locker, good tires, and some weight in the bed make all the difference
6.9poweredscout
Bleeds IH red...
BUT what about a set of 4 chains on all 4 driving tires!!!
i had an '88 grand marqis i put chains on and it was going through the snow in the woods keeping up with 4x4 quads! it was funnnny. but just the pull of a lever and i could do the same thing and save a half hour from putting chains on.
-Jon
timothyr1014
Full Access Member
Back when I was into european stuff I used to run spiked-spiders all around on my older audi quattros...you could lock manually lock the center and rear diffs and the were a force to be reckoned with in the snow....light enough to not sink in, and enough claws to keep her moving at a good clip.
jim_22
Full Access Member
In my younger days, I had a 1970 Mercedes 280SE that I drove through the Austrian Alps to visit my girlfriend, and the only way I could get there was with a set of 4 chains. Awesome!
Russ
Idont do injectors
For the DDC 4wd didn't do him much good 
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argve
Resident Fruitcake
oh man he was telling me about that the other night.... he did get her stuck pretty good... I have always lived by the rule that 4x4 only gets me stuck that much more - with always running 2wd trucks I'm always careful and end up not getting myself stuck anywhere but in the driveway....
ocnorb
IDIT
+1 
I always had problems with messing up my full size 4x4 trucks, so now I stick with 2wd or take the Jeep if its needed.
Kinda like 4x4's Anonymous for me. I just have to say no...
of course a plow truck is a whole other story.
I always had problems with messing up my full size 4x4 trucks, so now I stick with 2wd or take the Jeep if its needed.
Kinda like 4x4's Anonymous for me. I just have to say no...
of course a plow truck is a whole other story.
GOOSE
Happy IDI'er
Thats a nice truck. An '86 d60 f350? Not even any rust in the wheel wells. What happened to the poor guy? Looks like he's a ways off of the road. Say what you want, if 2wd is the only difference, you're gonna be stuck way sooner. That blue plow truck would've needed 3500lbs in the bed to come close to pushing the same snow. 4wd gives you a drive axle with the heavy diesel right on top, plus the weight of a plow or winch. As Mel said earlier it helps the truck handle better while under way. The touque is distributed to two drive shafts, 4 axles, this decreases the chance of breaking something and offers a built in spare driveline to get home if something does break, I have driven a front wheel drive truck after the rear driveshaft spit out. 4x4's have a higher resale value. When it comes to treading lightly, a 4wd will leave less of an impact on the trail. Stock, a 4wd sits up higher, offering better ground clearance. 99% of 4x4's have low range that takes stress off of the trans when things get real sticky. I guess someone will argue thats not needed either. When it gets muddy, sandy, or snowy, 2wd is a waste. If your travels are limited to paved or well maintained dirt roads, I understand no need for a 4wd. If you hunt, cut firewood, plow snow, go to the beach, dunes, farm, navigate a construction site or go anywhere else a built, maintained road is not present, 4x4 is too convienent not to have.
I could argue that a 300 straight six could do the job just fine and the expensive diesels aren't needed. I could set up a straight 6 truck to do so but why work around all of the short comings instead of just starting out with a better setup. I'll keep 4wd, set it up with lockers, good tires, ballast in the truck and a 2 wheel driver will be white knuckled and stuck a hundred miles behind at the end of the day.
I could argue that a 300 straight six could do the job just fine and the expensive diesels aren't needed. I could set up a straight 6 truck to do so but why work around all of the short comings instead of just starting out with a better setup. I'll keep 4wd, set it up with lockers, good tires, ballast in the truck and a 2 wheel driver will be white knuckled and stuck a hundred miles behind at the end of the day.
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timothyr1014
Full Access Member
goose...I totally agree, I think part of what the guys are pointing out though is that when you get a properly loaded 4X4 stuck...its going to be really stuck, vs a 4X2 that just wont move under its own power.
Personally for getting around, its 4X2 99% of the time, and then use the 4X4 when she comes to a stop....when she comes to a stop in 4X4 there had better be another truck around or something real solid to anchor to.
Personally for getting around, its 4X2 99% of the time, and then use the 4X4 when she comes to a stop....when she comes to a stop in 4X4 there had better be another truck around or something real solid to anchor to.
Russ
Idont do injectors
An old timer once told me "All 4wd will do for ya... is get you farther away from the road before you get stuck" 
Russ
Idont do injectors
Ron went over to his (iirc) FiL to plow out his driveway, that's about as far as he got.
BigRigTech
Diesel junky
Looks like my last plowing adventure.....Easy to do with the right temp and snow, packs like ice as soon as you scrape it off.
....Easy to do with the right temp and snow, packs like ice as soon as you scrape it off.
TBigLug
I Miss U Baby Girl
My trucks two wheel drive for two major reasons.
1. SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper
2. TYPICALLY a 2WD of the same vintage is in better shape because Johnny Leadfoot didn't have it out bogging in the back 40 it's whole lie.
FWIW- My 2WD has NEVER been stuck. You just have to be skilled enough to not drive it where it's gonna get stuck. 300 lbs. of sand in the bag and some SUPER grippy retreads and I never have problems. Drove through every snowstorm mother nature has thrown at us and around our driveway covered in 12" of snow no problem.
1. SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper
2. TYPICALLY a 2WD of the same vintage is in better shape because Johnny Leadfoot didn't have it out bogging in the back 40 it's whole lie.
FWIW- My 2WD has NEVER been stuck. You just have to be skilled enough to not drive it where it's gonna get stuck. 300 lbs. of sand in the bag and some SUPER grippy retreads and I never have problems. Drove through every snowstorm mother nature has thrown at us and around our driveway covered in 12" of snow no problem.
Dirtleg
Full Access Member
O.K. fuel on the fire here. Back when I was younger and lived in the Sierra Nevadas (Nor Cal plenty of snow) we had a 78 f250 2wd with a 460. Filled the back with bricks and put on aggressive snow tires and rarely if ever had any issues getting around. Still had to put on chains if we drove through a caltrans checkpoint which sucked and was unnecessary.
Fast forward to now living on a farm in Virginia. Just a week ago I was moving some boards from my shop to a stall in the old barn. Had probably 2000+ lbs in the bed. Hit a little snow/ice/mud on the way there and was stuck bad. Couldn't go forwards or backwards. In fact sideways was the only way it would move at all. This with a 4x4 and all terrain tires. Had to use the tractor to pull it out. Now at my place a 2wd would be stuck all the time. I've had to pull many of them off of wet grass. One in particular a 94 dually f350 with concrete tools in the bed has been stuck a few times in the grass. Not driver error either just no available traction. The same happens to me in my trucks in 2wd. Put them in 4wd and motor on through most of the time. If I had a 2wd here this winter I would have had to chain it up everytime I went down my driveway to the house.
I am sold at this point. We've got 3 4wd vehicles and I don't see that number diminishing.
Fast forward to now living on a farm in Virginia. Just a week ago I was moving some boards from my shop to a stall in the old barn. Had probably 2000+ lbs in the bed. Hit a little snow/ice/mud on the way there and was stuck bad. Couldn't go forwards or backwards. In fact sideways was the only way it would move at all. This with a 4x4 and all terrain tires. Had to use the tractor to pull it out. Now at my place a 2wd would be stuck all the time. I've had to pull many of them off of wet grass. One in particular a 94 dually f350 with concrete tools in the bed has been stuck a few times in the grass. Not driver error either just no available traction. The same happens to me in my trucks in 2wd. Put them in 4wd and motor on through most of the time. If I had a 2wd here this winter I would have had to chain it up everytime I went down my driveway to the house.
I am sold at this point. We've got 3 4wd vehicles and I don't see that number diminishing.
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