With one exception all of the trucks I've owned have been 4x4's. The exception was a POS (reasons unrelated to lack of 4WD) that I got rid of after a couple of years. Over 40+ years and 8 or 9 trucks, I think I can count the number of times I've really needed 4WD on one hand. Dozens of other times I've used it "just in case" or to get me up slippery hills that I could as well have turned around and bypassed.

IMO, what 4WD does give you confidence. I'm a lot more inclined to go investigate a mountain road I haven't been on before if I have 4WD at my disposal. In town, in the (very) few occasions when we actually got snow back in Portland, it made getting home from the office or back and forth to the grocery store, on weather days, easier. Since I moved to Idaho a few months ago I've had more snow on the ground than I saw in probably 10 years in Portland, and that's down here on the flat, not in the mountains. So who knows, maybe I'll be using it more often going forward.

Since pretty much everyone wants a 4X4, I would get one just for possible resale value. And, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
I wont own a non 4X4 or AWD vehicle here in the Yoop.

I decided against a full size truck.
A mini van is a much better choice for my needs.
It's front wheel dive, so pretty ok in the snow.

Better gas mileage,.
More comfortable ride.

But I don't haul dirt, gravel, or sod.

I favor 2WD. I have one 4X4 that I use for towing the hay wagon and launching the 21 foot boat. All the other trucks are and have been 2WD. I was an accountant. The 4WD cost 10% more and got 10% less MPG.

I am lucky enough to live where it does not snow much. I had a 60+ mile commute, so I had a simple rule - if it is going to snow, I'm not going to work. That keeps the salt off and is much safer. I don't need to drive on the beach either - salt and sand will drive up your maintenance costs.

For driving on roads and highways where I live, there are TONS of LD and HD peronal and work trucks with 4WD, and for the life of me I can't understand why, except owners like to have the options, even though where I live you NEVER really need it, except during a snomageddon that occurs about once in 15 years. I don't get it.

When I watch youtube videos of guys working on their front suspensions of LD and HD FWD trucks, it makes me cringe if they don't actually need that ability because that drive train on the front wheels complicates lots of service you may want to perform on the front end. In my neck of the woods you don't for just driving to work and back, general hauling in suburbia etc. So no I still don't get it.

I’ve owned 2WD Suburbans and 1-ton pickups here in Wisconsin with no regrets.

Some 4 w.d. owners offer the
Better to have it an not need it, than not have it and really need it.
Clause.

Have you seen the Ford Mavericks ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

All trucks should with a limited slip differential at a minimum and even better, a locking differential. I've had trucks with the open kind kind get stuck in just loose dirt.
That said, after using a 4x4 to get out of situations that would have left a 2WD truck stranded, I would never voluntarily buy another 2WD truck.

Had 2001 F250 7.3 diesel 2wd. Don't live in snow country, Never needed 4wd. When it came time for new truck, (every 20 years). Ordered 2021 F250 7.3 gas 2wd with Locking Rear differential. Have engaged it once, did the job. Would order the same again.

Living in MN I will never be without a 4x4 truck as long as I drive. The number of times in the winter I use it to make it safer/easier to drive are numerous (especially to get back in our driveway). It even gets used occasionally in the summer at busy boat ramps (ones that are constantly wet/have algae on them). Non 4x4 vehicles spin and struggle to pull boats out - hit the 4x4 button and no issues. Well worth it for me.

Funny you ask. Two weeks ago I got a call from my hunting buddy. He has a truck that his company pays for and it's not 4WD. He got that truck stuck in the mud/wet weeds on our hunting land and I had to go pull him out (my truck is 4WD).

I use my 4WD many times throughout the year and will never have a truck without it. I use it when the roads are bad (unplowed) in winter and offroad all throughout hunting season. On average I use it about 3-4 times a year to pull vehicles out of the shizz. And a number of times to pull a log up the hill to flat ground to cut, etc. For me, it's worth it.

For you, it depends on what your use for it will be.

I have had 4x4 SUVs for a long time, and I would never buy a vehicle that didn’t at least have AWd- if nothing else, just for wet roads.

I probably have needed the 4x4 less than once a year, but as others have said, when you need it you need it.

And you might be surprised by what you can get through with bald tires and 4x4.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Since pretty much everyone wants a 4X4, I would get one just for possible resale value. And, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
I wont own a non 4X4 or AWD vehicle here in the Yoop.

Same here. I live along Lake Michigan and there's only one road out for the first two miles. I have only been stuck once with two different F-150 4x4 trucks in the last twenty years. That time, I hit a snow drift too slowly and got all four wheels off the pavement (still on the road but sitting on snow). Another 4x4 stopped and pulled me out.

Up here, nobody wants a used two wheel drive truck. Dealers won't order them into inventory and used ones go directly to downstate auctions. If I lived in Alabama I'd have a completely different outlook.