Any D/A owners with 2 wheel drive?

BrokenBoots · December 30, 2003

Seems like most are 4 by 4's.

Curious about the 2 bys and why it was chosen and any regrets.

spacebuzzard · December 30, 2003

I tend to stay on hard ground and could not see the extra maintenance or ex pence. I also know one of these days I might eat those words when im stuck. Years ago I had a Ford with 4wd and had a lot of problems.

BrokenBoots · December 30, 2003

I have owned 4bys in the past and never used it.

In Atlanta it rarely snows and if it does it's gone in 24 hours or less. If it's a bad storm, the city shuts down.

I don't camp or farm. I don't even use a boat ramp.

The 2by has a locking diff so both rears are turning. I have never gotten stuck.

My only concern is resale.

bluenote · December 31, 2003

I'm happy with my 2wd. With the locking differential, it has kept on truckin' through poor traction conditions. When I recently put new tires on, I did go with a much more aggressive tread pattern than the OEM Firestones, and they've done quite well so far this winter.

Greg · December 31, 2003

In the non-HD world, I've been buying (mainly) fullsize 2wd pickups and SUVs with locking diffs for about 10 years. (I drive about 30K a year, mainly freeway miles.) This includes a Suburban, Sierra, Avalanche, and S-10. I usually add about 300 lbs. of weight in the back and have never been stuck or lost control. A couple times, my Sierra required a bit of running start to get up my rather steep driveway after freezing rain. Mileage on all of the fullsize vehicles ranged between 18 - 20 MPG overall and step-in height, except for the Avalance, was lower than their 4wd counterparts.

During this time, I also had a 4wd Ford Expedition for a couple years that saw 4wd engaged about twice, never saw better than 14.5 MPG, and was a constant source of complaints by my wife about step-in height.

The biggest drawback is lack of popularity of 2wd in Michigan. It's hard to find well-equipped 2wd units in stock. The purchase price for 2wd is about $2 - 3K lower than 4WD, and, unfortunately, this price difference persists when you trade / sell the vehicle. Around here, it usually takes longer to find a private buyer for a used 2wd truck.

MCourson · December 31, 2003

All highway and towing here, no off road. No regrets.

BlackSilver · December 31, 2003

I quit buying 4x4's when it dawned on me that I was never in a situation in the past 20 years where I'd needed to use it. If you're a farmer, work in muddy construction sites, do backwoods hunting, or like to play in the mud then 4wd is the ONLY way to go.

In my case, my trucks are always on dry pavement, usually pulling something with a couple thousand pounds of pin-weight, so 4WD is an investment which would pay no dividends.

My 2WD trucks cost about $3,500 less, have less maintenance cost, and give better MPG. Works for me!

tmoreau · December 31, 2003

I had a 4x4 once, it was fun but I never used four wheel drive on-road. Since I dont want to buy a brand new truck and trash it off-road I have no reason to get a 4x4. Dont hear me wrong, I venture far from pavement somewhat regularly but there is a difference between going someplace unpaved and four wheeling for fun.

I am actually highly OPPOSED to using 4x4 on the street. They sure as heck dont stop any better and only turn better when under power (and only sometimes). This does not lead you towards safe driving and even an alert attentive driver is more at risk of exceeding the availible traction when 4x4 is engaged. If your in 2wd and have a heck of a time getting moving on a road, or lose traction when traveling at a constant 40mph in a straight line, you KNOW how hard its going to be to swerve or stop without ever having to think about it.

Now, the bonus to getting a 2wd truck is less maintenence, less machinery under the sheetmetal to fail, thousands less on the purchase price. If your talking 1/2 ton trucks you also get rack and pinion steering instead of recirc. ball and THAT is a very good thing (rack and pinion is amazing, very nice to drive). You also arent tempted to go mudding with your truck which probably isnt here simply for your enjoyment, right? You NEED your truck, you dont need to have it out of commision because you did something stupid.

Of course a 2wd truck is harder to sell and demands a lower resale price, but that theme follows throughout my truck since I like a manual trans and vinyl floor etc.