4wd vs 2wd?

blkwtr said:
Grew up in the Midwest on a farm. Learned to drive in snow, ice, mud, rocks and hills with 2wd. No one had 4wd. No one had a suv (they didn't exist). So, I don't need 4wd. I live in Florida now and go off road about 100 times a year. With 2wd I have only been stuck once in the last 35 years. The John Deere that tried to pull me out also got stuck. So, a lot depends on where you drive and how you learned to drive. The 4wd thing is overrated.
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Going down a rough grid or backroad with bad ruts after a rain storm is one thing, doing much of the off roading many of these guys post photos of, there is no way a 2wd would make it. 4wd, not overrated at all. Volcom's post above... prime example.
 
no1knows said:
I was wondering if the 4 wheel drive made a huge difference as far as the capability of the vehicle. I wanna buy a TR4 and figured 4wd was the way to go, but was told that it didn't make a huge difference. I don't plan on doing any hardcore off-roading with it, but don't want anything to stop me. I would like the vehicle to be capable of driving with adverse driving conditions, on trails, during inclement weather, etc.

Thanks
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Always get the 4x4 if you can afford it. More valuable resale. More capable. Never know when it will save you.
 
Holy thread revival!

Anyway, don't get a 2wd 4Runner unless you need a station wagon. And if you need a station wagon, then get a station wagon.
 
Volcom said:
2wd wouldn't have even gotten to the start of these trails. Just because you don't need 4wd doesn't mean it's overrated.
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The bottom picture looks familiar. Is that the road to Holy Cross City (crossing French Creek just below Holy Cross City)?
 
Hitman said:
Anyway, don't get a 2wd 4Runner unless you need a station wagon. And if you need a station wagon, then get a station wagon.
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This was going to be my comment. If you only need a 2WD SUV then you don't need a body-on-frame SUV. Unless you are doing heavy towing, which excludes for 4Runner for other reasons. Otherwise maybe look at an old AWD Subaru Forester or Outback.

I drove a 2WD S-10 then a 2WD Silverado in the Midwest for a decade. The S-10 was my beat-up college vehicle; my (now ex) wife talked me out of a 4WD when we bought the Silverado. I drove it through multiple icy midwest winters, the big V8 was a towing beast, and I managed to get it down some rather extreme rutted and washed-out roads when geocaching.

But I regretted going with 2WD more times than I care to count. Driving in ice/snow was a nightmare. I got stuck once in 1" of snot-slick mud inches from pavement; it just didn't have the traction to push the front tires over a little vertical lip to the road.

I may buy another 2WD vehicle for highway-only, but from now on I will always have at least one vehicle with 4WD or AWD.
 
There are many occasions where I wished I had 4wd/4x4, and there hasn't been one occasion where I wish I had 2wd/2x4.
 
blkwtr said:
Grew up in the Midwest on a farm. Learned to drive in snow, ice, mud, rocks and hills with 2wd. No one had 4wd. No one had a suv (they didn't exist). So, I don't need 4wd. I live in Florida now and go off road about 100 times a year. With 2wd I have only been stuck once in the last 35 years. The John Deere that tried to pull me out also got stuck. So, a lot depends on where you drive and how you learned to drive. The 4wd thing is overrated.
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Definitely not overrated lol. It may be unnecessary to some but for my life style I can get you stuck in under 5 minutes. Definitely... not overrated.
I have 4WD and a locker and still find myself stuck sometimes.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 
When it snows in Tahoe they let me through with no chains on since I have snow tred tires and 4wd, while 2wd vehicles have to chain up. For this reason alone, I didn't even consider buying a 2wd 4Runner.
 
Good Nite said:
When it snows in Tahoe they let me through with no chains on since I have snow tred tires and 4wd, while 2wd vehicles have to chain up. For this reason alone, I didn't even consider buying a 2wd 4Runner.
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ooooo man... I totally forgot about that. That is a massive pro of any 4WD including a Subaru or whatever you decide to drive.

I remember doing a trip to Tahoe once as well, back before I had my 4Runner, and putting on chains and driving with them was such a crap experience. I felt like a 2nd class citizen having to pull over while the rest of my crew got to keep going past the checkpoint.

In addition to all that inconvenience, I really put a lot of damage onto some brand new tires I bought just for that trip. The sidewalls start to get chewed up even with cables.

One way or another, you pay for it.
 
KidVermicious said:
It depends entirely on what you plan on doing with the truck. If it's a people-mover/errand-runner and won't see anything worse than icy freeway or gravel roads, a good set of tires on a 2wd rig is all you'll ever need.

If you ever get out and about, though, get a 4wd. When you hit something unexpected in the back country and need 4wd, nothing else will do.
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2nd this!
 
i looked specifically for a 2wd 4cyl. Found a 2000 with 235K miles for less than $3K. Runs like a top. First car for my teenage son but I've been driving it for the last few months while I have the engine in my other vehicle rebuilt and the 4runner has become one of my favorite cars of all times. We live in CA and it's sunny and warm all the time so no need for 4x4 and I have two other trucks if we need that ;) And with the roll down back window surfboards fit nicely in the the back.
 
Bigtalljv said:
i looked specifically for a 2wd 4cyl. Found a 2000 with 235K miles for less than $3K. Runs like a top. First car for my teenage son but I've been driving it for the last few months while I have the engine in my other vehicle rebuilt and the 4runner has become one of my favorite cars of all times. We live in CA and it's sunny and warm all the time so no need for 4x4 and I have two other trucks if we need that ;) And with the roll down back window surfboards fit nicely in the the back.
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ahhh yes, CA ... a place you can do surfing and snowboarding in the same day if you were motivated enough to do so.

If traffic wasn't absolute garbage you could probably hit the dunes, surf, and head to the mountains for a little snow in the same day.
 
Bumbo said:
ooooo man... I totally forgot about that. That is a massive pro of any 4WD including a Subaru or whatever you decide to drive.

I remember doing a trip to Tahoe once as well, back before I had my 4Runner, and putting on chains and driving with them was such a crap experience. I felt like a 2nd class citizen having to pull over while the rest of my crew got to keep going past the checkpoint.

In addition to all that inconvenience, I really put a lot of damage onto some brand new tires I bought just for that trip. The sidewalls start to get chewed up even with cables.

One way or another, you pay for it.
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Big +1 on this... really enjoy rolling past chain control and not having to stop and chain up.
 
Having regretfully bought and sold 2wd vehicles, I'll never do that again. Even if you don't use it but a few times a year, the peace of mind is worth the minimal price increase (avg $1500).

:lookout:
 
Good Nite said:
When it snows in Tahoe they let me through with no chains on since I have snow tred tires and 4wd, while 2wd vehicles have to chain up. For this reason alone, I didn't even consider buying a 2wd 4Runner.
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I question those chain control guys. Sometimes they just come up to window, ask you if you have 4x4 and let you through. Don't even care about snow tires.
 
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