It would be cool if I had some. I was picking up a friend from work who couldn't get his car out. Seeing some of those cars get stuck made me a bit nervous but I plowed through it no prob. My buddy said he wanted to buy the same car as me after that, but I told him it was just the tires, and that my car is definitely more at home in the summer.
That same ride we almost got T-Boned by a 4x4 truck that couldn't stop at the intersection. He ran the red, so I slammed the brakes and slowed down enough to avoid him by a foot or so. If I were rocking my all-seasons, my buddy might be dead.
I try and use the 4x4 in my truck as little as possible. Only had it in 4 hi for 5 seconds going up a hill. I find it much easier to steer and brake with it in 2 wheel.
The last two days, I start up my truck, punch it into 4x4 HI and then off I go to work. Today, with all the snow we got last night and what with the road conditions, I was particularly happy. Nothing beats having power to all four wheels. No more trying to get traction at lights or stop signs, good traction when going around corners or curves, good stability when travelling and you hit a snow drift or a patch of ice. Nothing beats it, IMO.
4x4 Rules!
Couldn't agree more!
My truck has the Eaton locker and autotrac, the thing is just awesome on the snow and ice.
I'm loving my truck as well. Best of all worlds.
4x4 - take offs are soo easy
winter tires - stopping and turning is much better
6 speed manual - creeping down hills in 2nd gear instead of riding the brakes
I should also be loving the traction control, but in fact I hate it. Because of it, I can't do 180s to turn around quick. And that's the best part of RWD.
While a 4X4 truck or other vehicle is nice to have with crappy roads, it does not mean you can drive like your in a tank and are invincible in crappy roads.
/rant
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Originally Posted by Locke
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AWD provides power to all 4 wheels but has an open differential in the center where as 4x4 is locked.
When your vehicle goes through a turn the front wheels and rear wheels follow separate arcs. This is most noticeable when you leave your 4wd locked on drive pavement in a parking lot and your wheels chirp while your steering wheel wobbles. This tire chirping is obviously a loss of traction. Therefore at high speeds, even though the corners are usually very subtle, the rear wheels take an inside line and are spinning slower then the fronts. It may only be 1/100th of a rotation less but when this catches up to the driveline slop the only thing left to do is "chirp". On ice this chirp is a skid and we all know that once you break traction it's much harder to regain it back. (ie, You're turning fairly aggressively in marginal conditions but the tires are holding just fine. You wouldn't dare hit the brakes since you know this would surely cause you to lose traction. Well this split second of a drive line bind is just that, hitting the brakes...) As a result having 4wd ON in slippery conditions on the highway is actually NOT recommended. Want further proof? Try driving a locked rear end in the winter...
AWD doesn't have this problem because it lets the fronts spin faster then the rears without binding the drive train.
Last edited by kevman; 10-14-2009 at 12:08 PM.
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I try and use the 4x4 in my truck as little as possible. Only had it in 4 hi for 5 seconds going up a hill. I find it much easier to steer and brake with it in 2 wheel.
Your transfer case is probably not happy with that.
Some of the worst 4x4 repairs I have ever seen came from people thinking they would save the 4x4 and never engage it. Like anything else, without use the shat seizes up.
AWD provides power to all 4 wheels but has an open differential in the center where as 4x4 is locked.
When your vehicle goes through a turn the front wheels and rear wheels follow separate arcs. This is most noticeable when you leave your 4wd locked on drive pavement in a parking lot and your wheels chirp while your steering wheel wobbles. This tire chirping is obviously a loss of traction. Therefore at high speeds, even though the corners are usually very subtle, the rear wheels take an inside line and are spinning slower then the fronts. It may only be 1/100th of a rotation less but when this catches up to the driveline slop the only thing left to do is "chirp". On ice this chirp is a skid and we all know that once you break traction it's much harder to regain it back. (ie, You're turning fairly aggressively in marginal conditions but the tires are holding just fine. You wouldn't dare hit the brakes since you know this would surely cause you to lose traction. Well this split second of a drive line bind is just that, hitting the brakes...) As a result having 4wd ON in slippery conditions on the highway is actually NOT recommended. Want further proof? Try driving a locked rear end in the winter...
AWD doesn't have this problem because it lets the fronts spin faster then the rears without binding the drive train.
There is still a differential, no modern 4x4 system is a locked axle unless a locker was installed for rock crawling or something similar. It may not be happy cranking 90 degree turns in a parking lot, but no turn on the highway in wet or icy conditions will cause a skid due to dissimilar wheel speeds. I have driven many many miles in crappy conditions in a 1998 F-150 (Not cutting edge by any means) and can assure you that on an icy highway there is nothing better than a true 4x4. My buddy has an AWD Yukon (full-time awd) and it doesn't feel nearly as hooked up to the road, but could also be a result of dissimilar tires or a crappy power distribution ratio.
The issue is with wheel speeds left to right, not front to back. How to your front tires spin at a different speed than your rears? Physically impossible. Your front left will alway be travelling the same speed as your rear left and vice versa, unless the alignment is SERIOUSLY messed, then you likely couldnt keep it on the road anyways.
Your statement may have been true many years ago, but with a modern 4x4 system that simply isn't the case.
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As a test of my statement above, drive your vehicle on untouched snow. And see how sharp you actually have to turn the wheels to bring the rears out of line with the fronts.
You will quickly see that that level of steering input would never be used on the highway unless you are looking to visit the ditch.
Ok, I see what you are saying that the wheel speed could be different front to back in a sharp turn. That being said such a turn would not be attempted on the highway at high speed.
If you own a 4x4 pickup truck and don't have 800lbs of sandbags in the back for the love of god use 4x4 on the highway. Advice contrary is down right dangerous. There is little to no weight in the back of an empty half ton, and if the ass end starts dancing around you will have little or no ability to regain control.
There is still a differential, no modern 4x4 system is a locked axle unless a locker was installed for rock crawling or something similar. It may not be happy cranking 90 degree turns in a parking lot, but no turn on the highway in wet or icy conditions will cause a skid due to dissimilar wheel speeds. I have driven many many miles in crappy conditions in a 1998 F-150 (Not cutting edge by any means) and can assure you that on an icy highway there is nothing better than a true 4x4. My buddy has an AWD Yukon (full-time awd) and it doesn't feel nearly as hooked up to the road, but could also be a result of dissimilar tires or a crappy power distribution ratio.
The issue is with wheel speeds left to right, not front to back. How to your front tires spin at a different speed than your rears? Physically impossible. Your front left will alway be travelling the same speed as your rear left and vice versa, unless the alignment is SERIOUSLY messed, then you likely couldnt keep it on the road anyways.
Your statement may have been true many years ago, but with a modern 4x4 system that simply isn't the case.
I never said locked axle, I said locked front to rear. Of course they're open in the front and rear (assuming you don't have a locker installed).
However, the front left and rear left do not always spin the same speed! Don't believe me? Drive your truck in circles on the snow, do you make 2 tracks or 4? Obviously this is more pronounced in tight corners but at high speeds your tires are rotating much faster and it only takes a split second of lost traction to lose control of the vehicle.
If 4x4 was better in slippery conditions why do rally cars run AWD systems?
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Ok, I see what you are saying that the wheel speed could be different front to back in a sharp turn. That being said such a turn would not be attempted on the highway at high speed.
Yes, but a 45 degree turn on the highway can happen over the length of several hundred meters. It may be subtle but you've only got a degree or two of slop in your drive line before it catches up with you and causes your tires to lose traction.
edit: Want further proof? Read your instruction manual for your Ford. Why does the manufacturer only rate the part time 4wd system up to 80km/hr? Surely if there was no chance of your drive line binding there is no way you could do damage to your vehicle by running the 4wd system faster then that and such a silly restriction wouldn't be required...
I never said locked axle, I said locked front to rear. Of course they're open in the front and rear (assuming you don't have a locker installed).
However, the front left and rear left do not always spin the same speed! Don't believe me? Drive your truck in circles on the snow, do you make 2 tracks or 4? Obviously this is more pronounced in tight corners but at high speeds your tires are rotating much faster and it only takes a split second of lost traction to lose control of the vehicle.
If 4x4 was better in slippery conditions why do rally cars run AWD systems?
I am quite aware of the benefits of AWD with electronic traction control. We all can't drive a subaru/audi/volvo etc. and the small tires on said vehicles would be less than ideal with large drifts or ruts. I saw a nice front spoiler on the highway back from Drayton Valley this week where someone had piled through a drift and smashed off the nice shiny plastic.
My main point is I tend not to do circles on the highway, and a slow arching curve that would be on the highway would only result in minute (and certainly unnoticeable) slipping of one tire which won't cause a skid as you still have three tires rolling.
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