I can’t understand why people with 4x4 trucks don’t use it in the snow. I watched a guy go 90 degrees sideways going up a hill. Another guy struggling to pull out from a side street. Why is did you pay extra to have 4x4 but refuse to use it?

If it's anything like around here, they may just be 2x4 trucks with leveling kits to give them the 4x4 "stance". (Apparently, the money they save on not springing for 4x4 just means they can spend more on lifts/levels, light bars, exhaust tips, trailer hitch covers, train horns and window decals.)

Or, they may be too cheap to invest in better tires.

Or they may just be such terrible winter drivers that even 4x4 won't save them in the snow.

I believe this occurs because lots of drivers aren’t good at gauging when to engage 4x4. It is the exact reason I bought my wife AWD. I could see her putting it into 4WD in anticipation of snow. The AWD takes all the guessing away.

4WD Auto on my RAM 1500 FTW!

Around here they don't seem to understand that 4 wheel go just ain't 4 wheel stop.

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Originally posted by Fredward:
Around here they don't seem to understand that 4 wheel go just ain't 4 wheel stop.

Same here. Back when I had a Honda Civic & commuted an 80 mile round trip to work; all the time I would be passed by people in 4WD to later pass them in the median or ditch when they spun out & got stuck.

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Originally posted by Pyker:
4WD Auto on my RAM 1500 FTW!

You got that right. That was one of the big features why I bought the ram

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Around here they don't seem to understand that 4 wheel go just ain't 4 wheel stop.

A friend at a previous job had a friend who was into mud bogging and such. Mr. Mud's lesson was, "4WD won't necessarily guarantee you'll get home. In most cases, however, it will guarantee you get farther from home before getting stuck."

Mmm... dunno... I was going 90º sideways in 4wd today.

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Same here. Back when I had a Honda Civic & commuted an 80 mile round trip to work; all the time I would be passed by people in 4WD to later pass them in the median or ditch when they spun out & got stuck

Yup, except the civics only had one front wheel working, so uphill you could get stuck. Coming off the local ski area in my Civic years back a 4 x 4 truck saw me heading down and although I had the right of way, he sped up and cut me off. I was only driving normal, I don't get upset over things like that, but in retrospect, fella might have thought I was crowding his ass. I wasn't, and in fact was simply following. I was telling my son, see that fella up there, he's going too fast and I start in discussing inertia vs weight etc etc and darned if moments later he missed the turn sliding straight ahead and hit the embankment straight on and I made the turn although I was slipping some. The whole front of his truck was trashed.

His version was that it was "the road was too slick", whereas my version and the one I hammered into my kids brain was: "fella was going too fast -simply bad driving".

Both my kids have mastered snow and ice more than me even, mostly from me droning on about such things, but also that I started them early. The boy was 8 when I got him driving...Honda Civic in fact. We got to the stick shifts later. In fact, I hate putting on chains and refuse to do it short of being in a ditch. The boy is great at it, and once he had stopped on the pass and successive women pulled over and asked him to putt theres one: which he gladly did for a while, but as the wind chill was -0 and the idiot was wearing basketball shorts, it got old soon enough.

I asked him about the wearing t shirts and shorts in the freezing weather once, he said he was "conditioning his body". Damn if he doesn't outperform me in that regards and I use to be a Mt Guide when I was his age. Lately he's been wearing Carhartts and down coats in the fridged Idaho winters though, so making progress it appears.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Around here they don't seem to understand that 4 wheel go just ain't 4 wheel stop.

My friends and I used say that laughingly to each other. On a ski trip. To the Colorado high country. In a ‘62 Chevy Bel Air. In the early 70s.

That’s why I got my daughter awd and dedicated snow tires. She’s in someone’s fwd car today with all season tires and actually called me to tell me that she definitely notices a difference.

I have awd and use dedicated snows as well.

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Originally posted by gpbst3:
I can’t understand why people with 4x4 trucks don’t use it in the snow. I watched a guy go 90 degrees sideways going up a hill. Another guy struggling to pull out from a side street. Why is did you pay extra to have 4x4 but refuse to use it?

Amen! I paid extra for it. I use it in snow.

Multiple guys in an office that I worked with years ago inevitably would come in and proudly state that they made it in without using 4WD on snowy mornings. I think to myself; DUMB A$$!!!!

I use 4wd very sparingly and under the following conditions:
* When needed to gain traction to get the vehicle moving across an intersection.
* When traveling up a slippery hill I couldn't otherwise get up through throttle management alone.
* When traveling through snow deep enough it prevents forward progress.

I never use 4wd under the following conditions:
*On a flat-ish road where the added stability is the only possible way I could drive faster than I could in 2wd.

Excessive use of 4wd is a great way to convince yourself it's ok to drive way too fast for the available traction. If you cannot maintain directional control in 2wd above a given speed, you've got no business using 4wd to drive any faster than that speed.

Yea, I’ve owned plenty of front wheel drive cars living in snow country. No real issues. Then I moved into hilly snow country. I don’t live in an area where dedicated snow tires each season make any sense. So I can tell you that all seasons, fwd, and hills don’t add up. I have come home passing all kinds of fwd cars either stuck in ditch in side of road or valiantly trying to fishtail up a hill. As my trusty(now sons trusty) little Subaru had zero issues. Best advice is stay home, next best is give yourself a bunch of extra time and take your time, snow tires, AWD, 4WD are nice to have.

Yep it won’t stop you faster. It certainly makes for a safer driving experience in the slick if you aren’t an idiot to begin with. If you are an idiot it doesn’t what you are driving.

The AWD system in my new Charger:
Temp below 38 degrees? AWD activated.
Windshield Wipers on? AWD activated.
Push the "Sport" button? AWD activated.
Use the Paddle Shifters? AWD activated.
And the switch to AWD is undetected. You cant feel it happen. Dashboard display can be set to monitor the process.
Does make your MPG drop, though. So far, works great and I am impressed with the system. Ground clearance and crappy, El Cheapo OEM tires are the only limiting factors. Chugs right along nicely in the snow!
But I would guess if something goes wrong with the AWD, everyone will be clueless on how to fix it.

quote:

Originally posted by the_sandman_454:
I use 4wd very sparingly and under the following conditions:
* When needed to gain traction to get the vehicle moving across an intersection.
* When traveling up a slippery hill I couldn't otherwise get up through throttle management alone.
* When traveling through snow deep enough it prevents forward progress.

I never use 4wd under the following conditions:
*On a flat-ish road where the added stability is the only possible way I could drive faster than I could in 2wd.

Excessive use of 4wd is a great way to convince yourself it's ok to drive way too fast for the available traction. If you cannot maintain directional control in 2wd above a given speed, you've got no business using 4wd to drive any faster than that speed.

If you had a full auto rifle would you only shoot it under a set specific circumstances? No you would shot it because you can.

Common sense goes a long way driving in snow. Why struggle and take the risk of losing traction when you safely travel in 4x4

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
If you had a full auto rifle would you only shoot it under a set specific circumstances? No you would shot it because you can.

Common sense goes a long way driving in snow. Why struggle and take the risk of losing traction when you safely travel in 4x4

Actually, I would shoot it in single shot, burst, or full rock and roll as the situation warranted, like a normal person not carrying video game type quantities of ammo.

If you're struggling or losing traction, that is entirely the point.

If you can't travel a given speed in 2wd, you have absolutely zero business driving faster simply because of the 4wd/awd crutch. Sure, you can drive faster in 4wd, however, stopping takes significantly longer (remember, your kinetic energy is 1/2 mass * velocity ^2). A slight increase in velocity results in a significant amount more kinetic energy for you to dissipate upon roads which are snowy enough to prevent you from using 2wd.

4wd/awd are tools you can use responsibly to keep yourself out of trouble / get yourself out of trouble OR to get yourself into a massive amount of trouble.

If you have the discipline to drive a reasonably slow pace, great, use 4wd, but using it to drive faster than you otherwise could is a great recipe for getting in a wreck.

quote:

If you had a full auto rifle would you only shoot it under a set specific circumstances? No you would shot it because you can.

Common sense goes a long way driving in snow. Why struggle and take the risk of losing traction when you safely travel in 4x4

Having shot full auto on the military, yes you only shoot in auto in certain circumstances. Full auto is not an excuse for poor accuracy, just like 4WD is not an excuse for poor driving ability.

I typically drive in 2WD, using 4WD for bad cases only (snow/slush buildup at intersections, poorly plowed road). If you get into trouble in 2WD, 4WD might help you out of it. If you get into trouble in 4WD, you're probably screwed.

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Excessive use of 4wd is a great way to convince yourself it's ok to drive way too fast for the available traction. If you cannot maintain directional control in 2wd above a given speed, you've got no business using 4wd to drive any faster than that speed.

Reminds me of the hillbilly with the jacked up 4wd that decided his ability to go uphill on an ice and snow covered road needed to be shown to us RWD cars creeping up a hill during a snow storm. He blew by us going up a residential road in his fo'byfo' what he negelcted to comprehend was that, right over the top was a right bend and full long down hill straight, covered in Ice, with a 4 way stop at the bottom. And cars, parked on each side.

Dude left a lot of dents in cars, made a pirouette move that would have gotten an 8 in the Olympics, and blew right through the 4 way. I'm guessing he shoulda wore his brown pants that day.

Just because you can go, doesn't mean you can woah.... LOL