4 wheel Drive or NOT to 4 wheel drive, That is the question???

[Second Chance]

We've been full-timing for 21 months and approaching 17K miles with the rig. Have not needed 4WD yet. We have an "unusual" 1-ton DRW truck in that it is only rear wheel drive. A neighbor of ours in an RV park two weeks ago joked that I could tell people that I had 4WD... there are four wheels being driven with a DRW truck. As Rick (OP) stated, it does help some with fuel economy and payload and the maintenance costs are lower. Then again, we don't boondock or get off-road on BLM lands, etc., and my testosterone levels may be a bit lower than some of the younger guys. Steve and I usually see eye-to-eye on things, but I disagree on the resale/trade-in issue. I don't buy anything based on the next owner's preferences - and this is my "bucket" truck, anyway!

Rob

[D2Reid]

Add my name to need 4x4. White Oaks Campground, it rained, there were leaves, rear wheels were slipping, pushed a button, no more slipping. Ocala National Forest, FL and Great Sand Dunes Oregon, OR. It wasn't a lot of sand, started through towing, rear wheels started slipping, again with the button, no more problem. Probably could have made it without 4x4, but I didn't have to sweat it.

Lots of snow birds in FL had 2wd. They left their driveways up north, traveled the interstate, parked their 5th wheel in the paved site in FL for the winter. In the spring they would take the 5th wheel back home, same route. They never needed 4x4.

And for us 4x4 is necessary because we go to remote places that are often nor more than a 2 tire track, sandy, snowy. Not so much mud.

Dallas

[Bamaman]

The 2x4 and 4x4 question has some angles to it. Many owners think if they're paying $55K for a truck, why not go ahead and spend the extra $4-5K for 4x4. 4x4 diesel pickups also sell much better than 2x4 trucks, especially in the far north and in Florida (because of sand.)

On the other hand, 2x4 trucks have less maintenance and fewer things to go wrong. I never cherish paying an auto mechanic shop $110 per base rate labor to fix something I seldom use.
And you have the cost--that cost of the 4x4 may just break the camel's back. These new diesel pickups are already priced out of sight for the common man.
What I like is that 2x4 trucks are lower and don't require a step ladder to get my wife in (a real issue for mobility challenged people.) Modern 4x4 bodies are just too high, and that can cause leveling problems with some fifth wheel trailer hitches.
My SuperDuty F250 diesel has polypropelene running boards that are safer to stand on than hard, round bar style running boards on most 4x4's.

All that said, if I lived north of Louisville or St. Louis or in Florida, I'd go 4x4. I live in the Mid South and can afford to pay for 75 wrecker calls before I'm in the hole. I've never been stuck in my 2x4 diesel in almost 14 years, but I do use A/T style tires instead of highway tread.

[RamGunner]

4WD will generally have higher resale value. Maintenance isn't a big deal (a couple of quarts of Dexron III) and maybe front differential service (a couple of quarts of diff oil).

The only time I needed it to get out of a bad situation was a dirt road that looked completely dry. It wasn't. Deep mud. I was able to self-recover using 4WD. If we would not have had it, we would have been stuck.

It's better to have it, give up the 1000 lbs of towing capacity it takes away, and be able to get out of a bad situation.

[MitterMoe]

I have used it a few times for tight quarters and I would rather have and not need than need and not have plus I have had 4x4s since I had my DL....been known to try the limits of trails...

[Luv2Ski]

I used the 4x4 towing the trailer for the first time last week. Was backing into a space and ended up with the duals on sloppy mud left over from a gully washer the night before. I was also close to being jackknifed. Suddenly I couldn't go backwards or forwards. Took a deep breath, crossed fingers and shifted into 4-Low. The front tires were still on the pavement - barely. It was enough grip to extricate our 23K lbs of GCVW from that muddy mess. I can't imagine how we'd got our rig out of that goo otherwise. It probably would have involved some hefty winches and cribbing.

[KatrinaAnon]

Just depends on where you go. If you are staying in hard surfaced campgrounds you may never need it.

Be aware if you get stuck, getting towed out will be both costly and time consuming.

[JCZhome]

Some very good examples of why to spend that bit extra to have a piece of mind to be able to get out or get in when two wheel drive means a phone call to get a recovery. Also, the additional of being able to play on some of those off road trails when you're unhooked from your 5er. Let me just add that it's very, very expensive for recovery if you're stuck off road (AAA and other tow services do not go off road).

I'll just add that up until we got suck in that sand a few weeks ago.....I would have said "I never go off road with my 376TH". It can only be a few feet off of the pavement that gets you stuck, so don't think you'll "never" be off the hard surface.

A few years back a friend got stuck a couple hundred yards off road in his Isuzu 4x4 in the mountains of Nor Cal. He was buried up to the body. Thought I could pull him out since I had the big off road tires and wheels on my 4x4.......wrong. Called AAA......they don't go off road and his chains/cables would not reach. But....there was another AAA driver that did off road recovery as a side job. $400 for each truck and oh......CASH ONLY! Since we had both just spend the night in our stuck trucks and both of us covered in mud, we took him up on his offer to take us to the casino five miles back down the road to get cash.

[gordofuchs]

One thing to be considered is utilizing the transfer case in low gear if transcending a long steep grade, if you don't want to burn up the brakes. A few years back when trying to slow our rig down, (also during my greasy brake episode), I was trying to crawl down a steep grade, in first gear. Things were heating up, trans temp and brakes. I stopped, and shifted the transfer case into low. I was able to crawl down the grade, without using the truck brakes at all. The trans temp also returned to normal temperature.

I also believe when you do sell the unit, it will be easier to do and bring a few more bucks.

[dmagnus]

I live out in the country in west central Wisconsin (near the Twin Cities). I wouldn't be caught dead without at least one 4X4 in the family, in fact, my wife's car is AWD. My Ram Diesel is a 4X4. It is also my daily driver to-from work, so I need to be able to "get there". I've already used the 4WD pulling in/out of my son's lake place (wet grass). Using four wheel drive saves a lot of torn up sod.