Pt fwd????

[bacci]

Does anyone regret getting a Part time 4wd. I am currently driving a 04 4wd sport and love it. I am looking at the new 2014 trail premium and wondering if i am making a mistake going from full time 4wd to pt 4wd. I live in NJ and mostly drive local but do hunt and fish and rely on my 4wd for upstate mountain roads in the snow. I am also very comfortable locally in the bad weather with it.
the Limited is fairly pricey compared to the trail, and while it does have FT 4wd i have a hard time justifying another 5 K when the premium has everything i want (still trying to get KDSS though).

I know all the arguments about its how you drive and what kind of tires etc. I just want to hear from anyone who maybe switched and had to get used to shifting into 4wd and if they regret it. do they feel any less secure with it.

thanks

 

[philsey]

I prefer pt 4wd. I'm old school I guess - I just see no need for ft awd, when 99% of my driving does not call for it. Extra weight, extra cost, extra whirring bits, etc.

Sure, I live where we have winter/snow, and I use 4wd when I need it, and that little shifter is easy to tug into place. And with all the traction controls/nannies in a 5th Gen, I'm fine.

But, the next guy will prefer FT, ya know?

 

[fourwd1]

Just get something that does both.
My Trooper is conventional part-time RWD, plus an AWD mode, and a low range 4WD mode.

 

[KidVermicious]

You're going to get a lot of guys coming in here and telling you about how necessary their fulltime 4wd is where they and how they couldn't make it through a winter without it. Oddly enough, everybody else manages just fine.

AWD/Full time 4wd is nice to have. It's hardly a necessity. You don't have to switch into 2wd for every patch of pavement that might not have ice. and you don't have to switch into 4wd every time the pavement isn't perfectly dry. You'll be fine with the vanilla 4wd.

 

[SV_Dude]

My first 4runner was an 03 limited with the full time 4wd. It was nice to not have to shift into it but I wouldn't want it again. I would want something selectable only because if I put a locker up front I wouldn't want it to be on while I'm dd'ing on dry roads. You can get a selectable locker though and avoid that but it's a lot more money.

 

[ant-ny]

I agree with Philsey. My '11 is 4WD and I prefer it that way. Most of my driving is around town, with very limited off roading. My truck is not modified at all. I much prefer to switch it into 4WD when I need it for the snow. This year, I have been using it a lot. My wife's car is a Ford Escape, AWD. I chose that because I wanted her to have AWD because I am afraid that otherwise, she would put the thing in 4WD and leave it there.....all year long and most likely damage something. I think its what your personal preference is. I personally like to have more "control" over my driving and be able to put it into 4WD when I feel its necessary. That being said, I don't recall hearing many people complain about the performance of AWD. My wife's Escape is quite competent in snowy conditions.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I can't speak for anyone else but multi-mode 4wd was one of the main reasons I switched to a 4th gen T4R after my 3rd gen proved inadequate as a tow vehicle for our Teardrop trailer.

I seriously considerd both the Nissan Xterra and the R51 Pathfinder (2005-2012, not the current car-based crossover) but ultimately dismissed them because I really wanted multi-mode 4wd (there were a few other minor considerations but the multi-mode was the big one.)

I love being able to use 4wd on the highway if there is intermittent snow or ice, or even rain, without having to worry about the running gear being damaged. That's particularly true this winter since the extremely long cold snaps have meant that dry roads can have intermittent patches of glare ice. When I had my 3rd gen I'd just have to try and get over those in 2wd, or else slow down and pull the 4wd shift lever very quickly when I got to them.

Having said that, I do wish the 4th gens had an actual shift lever instead of the little dial.

 

[bacci]

thanks for the replies. I don't think I will regret not having the full time 4wd, as long as I know i have the option to engage all 4 when needed then. I am still struggling with myself over why i I need to get into a new one when the 04 has been very reliable and still has alot more to go with only 113K. I think I am just nervous about getting into the time zone with it when a big repair bill will be closer to reality and then kicking myself for not having done it sooner.

I always said Ill keep it ten years then get another, but the quality of today's trucks don't compare to the 4th gen. I test drove a SR5 the other day and it seems tinnier and less absorbent of the bumps than my current. not so sure it will last ten years with all the cheap materials they use. The limited seems much better. Although I have not been able to test one yet I think the Premium trail will be as close to the 04 Sport as I can get with the better suspension and thicker frame. without breaking the bank too much

 

[ant-ny]

You say you love your 04 sport, and it ONLY has 113K? I think you are fine. That truck should go for many, many more miles. If you like your current ride, stay with it. If something happens and it comes up with a large repair bill, then you can re-think it then. Until then, I would keep on drivin it. Just my two cents. Good luck

 

[bacci]

thought about keeping it, but im not the kind of person who is comfortable keeping a car more than ten years, even thought it's still a baby. I often hear folks getting swearing by their cars and getting 250K or more miles on their toyotas and other brand trucks - you either are the type of person who is lucky and can keep a car that long with no worries or you are not. I look at it as I can still get a good resale price while it is still in tip top shape and use that extra money to buy the new car I want now, rather than wait for something major to break and lose money fixing it then deciding to sell it at a loss. I'll opt for another worry free ten years.

 

[THatfield]

I wish I had Multi-Mode AWD/4WD in my 3rd Gen, but I don't mind the P/t system. I think it has made me a better driver, but I do miss the option of AWD.
[MENTION=1857]fourwd1[/MENTION]

The Torque on Demand system was the best Auto4WD system I used. Extremely effective in snow and ice, as well as off road performance.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I wish I had Multi-Mode AWD/4WD in my 3rd Gen, but I don't mind the P/t system. I think it has made me a better driver, but I do miss the option of AWD.

But on the "grass is greener" side, you have a by-god lever to go into 4wd - no worries about whether the actuator will fail. :