User Panel
Posted: 1/1/2003 11:35:30 PM EDT
Every vehicle I own is a 4X4, but I am not sure if that is a driving force behind my purchase of a vehicle. What do you think?
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Hell yes.
A 2WD SUV is just a car with a lift kit. I have owned 5 SUV's in my life and everyone had 4WD. You may not always need it, but when you do. Your sure glad its there! |
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Quoted: Hell yes. A 2WD SUV is just a car with a lift kit. I have owned 5 SUV's in my life and everyone had 4WD. You may not always need it, but when you do. Your sure glad its there! View Quote There is no way I ould buy an SUV without 4x4, I used to own a 2 wheel drive pickup, and it was alright I guess. I just tend to lean toward 4X4 for some reaon. The only cars I have bought were intended for racing. |
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I know I' probably odd man out here, BUT.
If 2...yes, two...wheel drive were a $1000 option, I would pay the $1000. Economy, durability and simplicity are what I ask for in a vehicle. If I have no 4WD, it can't break and doesn't need repairing. I buy my vehicles stripped and add just what I need. Some time I'll post a truly funny thread telling you guys about fighting with car dealers..... |
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Quoted: my next vehicle will be 4x4 View Quote Any ideas as to what you plan on buying? |
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3/5 of my vehicles are 4wd, the two that aren't are just cars. A truck's just not quite right around here without 4wd. Never will I be without a 4x4, even if we're down to 1 veh, it'll be 4wd.
[;)] |
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I think it's very important, but with the huge price increase to get it, I can understand why some people buy 2 wheel-drive trucks and SUV's. I recently went to look at a Toyota 4Runner with my great-niece and the 4x4 was $2,200 more. The Chevy truck her brother recently bought was $3,100 more with four-wheel drive. For $3,100, you could go out to eat-out once a week for two years and have a very nice meal each time! Both of them bought the 4x4, but that's a lot of money.z
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I would like 4WD but without the automatic hubs or on-demand systems. Manual hubs & a lever for the transfer case are the way to go for me.
I like stuff I can work on. Oh, and bench seats front & back. How do you sleep on a pair of bucket seats? BTW, often I would have the back seat folded & so much gear in the back that a reclining bucket seat wouldn't. I agree with Piccolo - get the stripped down model & go from there. Especially if you're going off-road. That fancy trim package and pretty carpet are to me a liability. I like rubber mats door to door that are easy to 'clean', and figure if it doesn't have scratches from trees on the sides, it's not an SUV. However these days there are a lot of tall station wagons on the road . The 4WD has never been a maintenance issue for me. However a friend's family NEVER used their 4WD and consequently when they finally did, after several years of inactivity the front diff. or shafts were not up for the work. BTW, my neighbor has a Honda CRV. I'm amazed at the (non)thickness of the rear axle shafts, I've seen thicker hot dogs. If you're going to get on, get a REAL one. |
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My jeep is bare bones, but sleeping is a little hard to do seeing it is so small. As long as you have duct tape, and some form of light you can normally do a temp fix for anything!
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Wife drive a Subaru Legacy Limited and I drive a Suburban although I must say that the Subaru goes better in the snow.
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Quoted: Wife drive a Subaru Legacy Limited and I drive a Suburban although I must say that the Subaru goes better in the snow. View Quote Last time it snowed, I followed a Subaru that was outdriving most SUV's. They are nice. |
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Subarus are hands-down one of the best cars for winter weather.
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I have had 4x4 for 10 years now. It is kinda like having a gun for self-defense: If you need it, nothing else will do.
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Quoted: I have had 4x4 for 10 years now. It is kinda like having a gun for self-defense: If you need it, nothing else will do. View Quote So true. I bought a winch, and there are many times that I have been very thankful for it as well. |
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Two 4X4 trucks, his and hers. [img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=857[/img] I put some dead deer in the back of a Grand Cherokee once, that was a mess. [rolleyes] |
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For simply driving in NORMAL winter weather... few inches of snow, etc... my Accord is fine. I sold my 2WD full size Chevy when I moved to KY. All I can say is, I will NEVER buy another truck that doesn't have 4WD.
I have horses and goats and... well, I have an ark. ::sheepish grin:: I would get that f*&)^ing truck stuck in the back pasture or in the snow several times a year. I was fortunate in having two vehicles because anytime the truck would get stuck in the pasture, I'd just leave it there and use it as a hay manger until the ground dried up enough to get it out. |
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i live pretty far out in the sticks...in a township that does next to nothing to keep the roads clear of snow.
i drive a 2-wheel drive s-10 with carbide studded, lugged tires. as long as common sense is used, no problems. never been stuck. the 4x4 cherokee hasn't left the garage since i bought it. |
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Quoted: as long as common sense is used, no problems. never been stuck. View Quote You've never taken your truck to the bottom lot at KCR [%|] |
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Live in PA...lots of hills.
I've had a 4x since 1980 and have never been without one since. Great fun on the logging trails and the snow. |
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Quoted: i live pretty far out in the sticks...in a township that does next to nothing to keep the roads clear of snow. i drive a 2-wheel drive s-10 with carbide studded, lugged tires. as long as common sense is used, no problems. never been stuck. the 4x4 cherokee hasn't left the garage since i bought it. View Quote For some reason I don't think studs are legal here. |
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I have a 2 wheel drive, 2 door Blazer.
Since I usually move computers or other equipment in my truck, I wanted something a bit nicer looking that a minivan. 4 wheel drive was not really a needed option, and it would added 2K to the cost of the truck. I drive careful, and have never gotten stuck in the snow, nor do I have any desire to off-road. Av. |
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I have never owned a 4wd, if I buy something and it has it, great, but I am not going to buy anything just because it has 4wd.
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My first 4x4 was an 81 Toyota, I used to do alot of surf fishing and that little beast got me out of many jams.
I now use my 96 Bronco mainly for towing my skiff and the yearly trip to the outer banks in the fall. I sold the Toyota to my uncle who still uses it for dear hunting in PA. |
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"You've never taken your truck to the bottom lot at KCR"
and after watching all the 4x4's get hauled out by the tractors, i have no intention of doing so. besides, if they saw my truck, the attendants would try directing me to park it out on the berm! |
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Quoted: My first 4x4 was an 81 Toyota, I used to do alot of surf fishing and that little beast got me out of many jams. I now use my 96 Bronco mainly for towing my skiff and the yearly trip to the outer banks in the fall. I sold the Toyota to my uncle who still uses it for dear hunting in PA. View Quote OT...How do you like the outer banks? O am thinking of going there this summer for a vacation, probably to pirates cove. |
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venom_inc
I really like the outer banks. The fishing is better in the fall but its a hoppin place in the summer. |
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Quoted: venom_inc I really like the outer banks. The fishing is better in the fall but its a hoppin place in the summer. View Quote I appreciate it...I am probably going to rent a house for the family, and just relax! first time in 7 years! |
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Let me put it this way:
When I was filling out the order form for my '99 Ranger, I discovered that the only way to get bucket seats was to check the "4 Wheel Drive" option. Good enough reason for me![:D] |
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My whimpy little Honda SUV is 4x4 and I routinely take it off road or onto unimproved roads.
I wish I could afford a nice big 4x4 like I see the ladies driving their kids to school with. I'm off road a couple times a month in California's desert or along Washington's logging roads. Figures I saw were that 1 out of 20 four by fours actually see off road use ONCE during their life ... in California it would be closer to one in a hundred. |
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I am one of the 2% that uses the 4 wd Hard.
I plow and off road (rockcrawl) with mine, and the wife has 4wd so I don't have to worry about her getting stuck. (she slows down like you should with bad conditions so she can still stop, a fact that most don't grasp) So yes I buy them for the 4wd. |
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Quoted: Does anyone buy 4X4 for the pure enjoyment of off roading? View Quote Nope. [:D] [img]http://a4.cpimg.com/image/0E/53/2264334-86af-02000180-.jpg[/img] |
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[size=3][b]Most people who buy 4x4 are foolishly wasting their money[/b]
Around here in San Jose, I routinely see jacked-up Ford, Chevy 4x4 with after market suspension that cost mucho dinero. They have so much money tied up into that truck, they will never take it off-road. What is worse is "Californa Concepts" enhanced trucks the dealers around here sale. What fools. The ones that do go off-road, hunt and shoot, and those that plow snow, those that use the 4wd in all-weather situations are excluded. For 99.9% percent of the time, 2wd with a locking differential in the back will get you everywhere the 4x4 goes. It just comes down to driver skill. My last two trucks are 99 GMC C1500 w/locking diff., 92 GMC C1500 w/locking diff. My wife's car was a 02 4wd Jeep until some WTPT woman rear-ended her on 87 in a brand new Ford Expedition 4wd (one week old). The all wheel drive option was great in the rain.[size=3] |
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because of a construction accident and bad arthritis in my knees and ankle I can't walk very far at all, if I were to get stuck I would have to stay with my vehicle until help arrived, I couldn't walk for help.
For me I figure it makes good sense to own one, I also like a 4X4s extra height and the way a short chassis handles, quick and nimble. YEEEE HAW Here's my baby, please stay back, I don't want any scratches on her. hehehe [:D] [img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid45/pdacd12d26adeee6f5f51c2d412ba02b6/fcd8c7b7.jpg[/img] |
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I agree with stator,
It all depends on the drivers skills. Every time we get snow or ice most of the accidents invole some idiot with a 4x4 who thinks they can drive the way they alway do. When the roads are bad you need to SLOW down, plain and simple. |
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Heck yes! MM, that is a funny story!
Last winter was pretty mild here, but the winter before that, we had a LOT of snow. There were a couple storms overnight, that I had to come home on about 4 miles of roads that had over a foot of snow on them with ice under it. The last one had a fierce north wind blowing the whole time, and when I came by my nieghbors house on top of the last hill, the snow had drifted completely across the road as high as his snowbank from plowing his driveway.....it was on the far side of the hill a bit and up to somewhere around my windshield. Doh! I was making about 30mph and never would have stopped in time, so I said a quick prayer nobody was stuck in there, dropped into 2nd and floored it, 4WD was already engaged. My poor 4.3L powered full size Chevy inhaled a crapload of snow, but I blasted through and limped it the 3/4 mile home with a nice miss in the engine. Let it idle until all the water burned through and evaporated in the engine compartment. I just put what I figure will be the last new exhaust on this thing, at 244,000 miles, I dunno how much longer it is gonna run...especially the way I drive it on my commute! Edited to add: that 30mph is on a straight and DESERTED road! I allow an extra 40 minutes when it snows for my 55 mile commute and use every minute of it! I agree that 4WD is not a license to drive like an a-hole. P.S. Anybody else HATE the truckers blasting by you in the snow on the freeway! Here I am going 30 or so on the freeway with trucks bombing me at like 50, in the more or less shut down passing lane. Jerks! |
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