Pickup Trucks- 2wd vs 4wd

[Zee09]

In my day nobody did either
It was a big rare deal
I used to have to take my old 2wd (pun) Ford 801 select-o-speed speed tractor and plow out my neighbor
every snow fall no matter 1 inch or 3 feet. She had a bad heart and then the ambulance could not get to her
house.


I've actually had to dig my way out many times and often during a bad time ( knee surgery etc)
I had AWD SUV's but they can't push deep snow to get to the road. The road crew here piles your driveway up
every 30 minutes.

 

[Zee09]

Truth- the Ford C-Max has a worse turning radius than a F350- I lived it but I am cornfused by it

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
98 % of two wheel drive truck owners would be fine with a Chevy Impala. They don’t really need a truck.

Absolutely correct.

Right, because the Impala will move this.




I will give you one trillion dollars a day for one hundred trillion centuries if you can show where I said that.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Zee09
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Zee09
Just had a thought ( yeah a rarity lol )

The big mall parking lots around here are often plowed by 2wd 3/4 ton
Pickups. And heavy snow at times.


Bet they have sanders in the back and are dealing with flat ground that isn't filled with rocks or potholes.

You have a point, but I'll counter it anyhow.

Yes that is true- But they do push a bunch of snow- wonder why most have 2wd?
In that situation 4wd may not hold up well?


Just remembered--most 4WD's are part time. Without a center diff turns get much harder, especially at lock to lock. So if they can get decent traction in 2WD then they are ahead of the game. That is one thing that bugs me on mine, lock to lock turning in the driveway.

Don't think it's about holding up well--yeah more parts to break but I don't think it's due to that. SWAG on my part I know.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
WTH are you guys doing with your trucks?


Not getting stuck in snow and pulling out those who are.

*

Speaking on the subject, I picked up a 6x14 enclosed trailer to move stuff around. If I look for anything made in the last 20 years or so, what would move it and isn't a pickup or full sized SUV? [Since we're all hating on pickups right now I'm going to guess full sized, mid sized and small SUV/CUV's are next on the hate-list.] I presume the standard advice would be for me to a) drive the 30 miles to Home Depot and rent, or b) rent a UHaul for $100 a day.


Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Zee09
Originally Posted By: supton

Just had a thought ( yeah a rarity lol )

The big mall parking lots around here are often plowed by 2wd 3/4 ton
Pickups. And heavy snow at times.


Bet they have sanders in the back and are dealing with flat ground that isn't filled with rocks or potholes.

You have a point, but I'll counter it anyhow.

Yes that is true- But they do push a bunch of snow- wonder why most have 2wd?
In that situation 4wd may not hold up well?


Just remembered--most 4WD's are part time. Without a center diff turns get much harder, especially at lock to lock. So if they can get decent traction in 2WD then they are ahead of the game. That is one thing that bugs me on mine, lock to lock turning in the driveway.

Don't think it's about holding up well--yeah more parts to break but I don't think it's due to that. SWAG on my part I know.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
WTH are you guys doing with your trucks?


Not getting stuck in snow and pulling out those who are.

*

Speaking on the subject, I picked up a 6x14 enclosed trailer to move stuff around. If I look for anything made in the last 20 years or so, what would move it and isn't a pickup or full sized SUV? [Since we're all hating on pickups right now I'm going to guess full sized, mid sized and small SUV/CUV's are next on the hate-list.] I presume the standard advice would be for me to a) drive the 30 miles to Home Depot and rent, or b) rent a UHaul for $100 a day.


Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.

Many trucks for rent are not equipped for towing (i.e. brake controller) because the rentals companies don't want them abused. You can find them-but there are not many.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.


Vic might be able to but it isn't rated for it. Not sure what it'd need to be set up properly for it (yeah I know the PI's are setup better but plain jane ones would need more work).

At 6x7 frontal area I do believe it's past Dodge's rating for their minivans. Don't know about others. Not crazy about FWD and towing on dirt roads either. Haven't looked into mid sized SUV's so have not kept up with them.

I'm sure there are plenty of vehicles with the umph but at some point you wonder where the tow rating came from.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.


I'm sure there are plenty of vehicles with the umph but at some point you wonder where the tow rating came from.


If manufacturers could get away with rating a Ford F-350 with zero tow rating their lawyers would rejoice

If you want a closer idea of what something can tow you need to look to Europe our US tow ratings are not written by engineering they are written by lawyers.

If a manufacturer feels it can get away with not listing a tow rating they will, consumers in many cases would not accept it so they have to provide one to sell certain vehicles.

The Volt for example is a 4000lb car with no tow rating, I have seen folks pull 3500lb boat trailers behind them with anti sway bars and trailer brakes without issue.
One guy towed his Jeep cross country with one.

If you use load distribution hitches, trailer brakes, a little common sense and keep things cool you can pull most anything with most anything else safely, the key is that it’s always easier to tow something lighter with something heavier.
But as a semi shows something comparative small can pull something very large if you equip things correctly and use commonsense.

 

[supton]

I take Euro ratings with a bit of salt--their max towing speed is 55mph and they run lower tongue weights (5% vs 10+%).

It's a fair point but I don't think it's as straight forward as comparing the two.

 

[JTK]

I got lost in this thread so sorry if it's been mentioned, but there isn't a huge cost difference between similarly equipped 2wd and 4x4 pickup trucks these days.

Not like it was 25yrs ago when you could pick up a nice brand new base model 2wd F150, Dodge or Chevy 1/2 ton for $12K. A base model 4x4 version was at least 50% more cost.

 

[glock19]

2WD with a locker will probably handle everything short of off-roading. Of course, 4WD with a locker gives you a little extra peace of mind.

 

[IndyIan]

I was impressed how well my Dad's 03 4x4 F150 does in 2wd with some Hercules Terra Trac ATW tires and some weight in the back on the roads. For our driveway and land, and for towing sleds on back roads 4wd is pretty much necessary though. I suppose you could use chains to get closer to 4wd on back roads and off road but it would be a PITA alot of the time.
In the used market 2wd are significantly cheaper and for some guys they would work just fine.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: glock19
2WD with a locker will probably handle everything short of off-roading. Of course, 4WD with a locker gives you a little extra peace of mind.


While I haven't done nothing serious, I've gone back some seriously sketchy fire-access type roads that mostly only Jeeps go down and did just fine (mostly hold my beer moments just to prove to some friends...). Although with the locker I have some decent A/T tires. The clutch wasn't happy, but it's about shot anyways.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I have driven 2wd trucks through amazing stuff just using sensible technique. Bringing along a whole extra set of running gear is a ridiculous amount of weight in most full size trucks. No thanks.

AWD/4WD is generally not needed here, I can see folks wanting it up north...

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: Delta
Originally Posted By: glock19
2WD with a locker will probably handle everything short of off-roading. Of course, 4WD with a locker gives you a little extra peace of mind.


While I haven't done nothing serious, I've gone back some seriously sketchy fire-access type roads that mostly only Jeeps go down and did just fine (mostly hold my beer moments just to prove to some friends...). Although with the locker I have some decent A/T tires. The clutch wasn't happy, but it's about shot anyways.


Yeah, I wasn't including fire access roads and forest service roads in off-roading. I was thinking more like trail riding. If there is an established road (even if it's dirt and rutted), I think a 2WD truck with a locker and decent tires should make it.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.


Vic might be able to but it isn't rated for it. Not sure what it'd need to be set up properly for it (yeah I know the PI's are setup better but plain jane ones would need more work).


A Panther with the towing package was rated for 5000lbs. Base CV/GM got stiffer (I think P71) rear springs; otherwise, it was just hitch, wiring, and trans cooler. (Higher-trim CV/GM and all Town Cars had rear air-ride.) My Magnum was rated for 3800lbs towing, nothing required but hitch & wiring.

Quote:
At 6x7 frontal area I do believe it's past Dodge's rating for their minivans. Don't know about others. Not crazy about FWD and towing on dirt roads either. Haven't looked into mid sized SUV's so have not kept up with them.

I'm sure there are plenty of vehicles with the umph but at some point you wonder where the tow rating came from.


In many cases, thin air.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: CKN


Many trucks for rent are not equipped for towing (i.e. brake controller) because the rentals companies don't want them abused. You can find them-but there are not many.


There are now wireless brake controllers: just plug it in.

Uhaul rates their DRW trucks to tow 5 tons!

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Zee09
Originally Posted By: supton

Just had a thought ( yeah a rarity lol )

The big mall parking lots around here are often plowed by 2wd 3/4 ton
Pickups. And heavy snow at times.


Bet they have sanders in the back and are dealing with flat ground that isn't filled with rocks or potholes.

You have a point, but I'll counter it anyhow.

Yes that is true- But they do push a bunch of snow- wonder why most have 2wd?
In that situation 4wd may not hold up well?


Just remembered--most 4WD's are part time. Without a center diff turns get much harder, especially at lock to lock. So if they can get decent traction in 2WD then they are ahead of the game. That is one thing that bugs me on mine, lock to lock turning in the driveway.

Don't think it's about holding up well--yeah more parts to break but I don't think it's due to that. SWAG on my part I know.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
WTH are you guys doing with your trucks?


Not getting stuck in snow and pulling out those who are.

*

Speaking on the subject, I picked up a 6x14 enclosed trailer to move stuff around. If I look for anything made in the last 20 years or so, what would move it and isn't a pickup or full sized SUV? [Since we're all hating on pickups right now I'm going to guess full sized, mid sized and small SUV/CUV's are next on the hate-list.] I presume the standard advice would be for me to a) drive the 30 miles to Home Depot and rent, or b) rent a UHaul for $100 a day.


Off the top of my head, I would say just about any mid-sized crossover, most minivans, and a fair number of sedans would pull that trailer. My Magnum or my Vic would, easily.

A U-Haul truck that will pull that trailer is $20/day.

......and a dollar a mile

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike

WTH are you guys doing with your trucks?


Enjoying the great outdoors, and work.

I can name the boat ramps off of the top of my head that you are not escaping in 2WD with an empty boat trailer. Had to strap people up plenty of times to get them out of that.

The other contender is sugar sand. 99% of our nature parks are feet-deep sugar sand. You're not getting in or out in a 2WD truck. Where there isn't that, there's actively fed mud.

It's rare to see a 2WD truck out there, but if you do, it's probably being towed out.

 

[4wd]

One of the craziest scenes I’ve seen was two guys pushing on a 3/4 ton 2WD while one had a Vmax SHO near WOT trying to come off a slime covered ramp … when one guy slipped I called a safety time out, dropped off my boat, and pulled them out with a mid sized 4WD

 

[SteveSRT8]

I drop a boat regularly at several different ramps around here. It's only a 17 footer but it's very heavy. An old Mariah with an I/O.

Never even spun a tire. Yet I see folks at the exact same ramp spinning and roaring trying to get up. There may be something to the actual driving style.


I remember hanging at Lake Seminole when my kids were little. While they played me and the Wife would laugh at the ramp antics, very amusing.