On Oct 22, 8:54*pm, "Mike" wrote:
I've had 4wd vehicles for the last 20 years. Not once have I had to have the
transfer cases serviced. So no, they don't cost any more for repairs. 4wd
sure makes pulling a heavy boat up a slippery ramp, a piece of cake.

--Mike

wrote in message

...



Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. *I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. *When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. *We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. *My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. *Thoughts?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Besides, if you like manual trannys low range is nice on a steep ramp
with a heavy boat.

On Oct 23, 7:24*am, wrote:
On Oct 22, 8:54*pm, "Mike" wrote:





I've had 4wd vehicles for the last 20 years. Not once have I had to have the
transfer cases serviced. So no, they don't cost any more for repairs. 4wd
sure makes pulling a heavy boat up a slippery ramp, a piece of cake.

--Mike

wrote in message

....

Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. *I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. *When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. *We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. *My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. *Thoughts?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Besides, if you like manual trannys low range is nice on a steep ramp
with a heavy boat.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Agreed! But one should always make sure the parking brake is in good
shape and working throttle releasing parking brake and operating the
clutch can take a bit of getting used to. I've sen people at our local
ramp get their PU stuck onthe ramp. all because they let the parking
brake go to heck and it wouldn't release . And this always seems to
happen on the morning of a three day weekend with anxious people
lined up to launch.

wrote in message
...
Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?


Living in the northeast, I buy trucks with 4wd.

I think in the past 8 years, I've used 4wd about 4 or 5 times. Once to pull
my 4wd tractor out of a hole it had dug itself into, another time to haul a
tree stump out of the ground and a couple of other times when stuck in a
snowbank.
Oh .... 4wd low range is great for backing heavy trailers .... like a fifth
wheel .... into a tight spot.

Before that, I used it more often because I towed, launched and retrieved a
fairly heavy boat. The truck would probably pull the boat and trailer out
of the water fine in 2wd, but I always did it in 4wd to prevent putting on a
show for the launch ramp audiences.

I've never had any repair problems with 4wd systems, but my trucks aren't
usually very old when I replace them.

One thing about 4wd. The very few times you need it, you can't go without
it. I noticed though that the three winters we spent in Florida, you
rarely saw a 4wd truck.

Eisboch

wrote:
Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?
The 4 wheel drive and low range comes in handy with heavy boat/trailers
on slick and or steep ramps.
I've had to pull several 2 wheel drive p/us and their boats up ramps. I
ve watched 2 wheel drives spin and slip backwards at the same time.
I no longer have the boat or truck. We will, economy allowing, buy a
boat next year. I will have to give serious consideration to replacing
my current 2 wheel drive with another 4 wheel drive.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:24:41 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?

I have a 4wd Tundra. What repairs ?

I'll concede that 4wd gets used a lot less here in SWFL than it did up
north. It's nice to be able to pull a trailer up a steep ramp
however, or take the occasional off road excursion. The last time it
was seriously useful was to pull out a 2wd PU that was stuck in a sand
rut.

wrote in message
...
Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?

We can have a fair amount of wet heavy snow, but I've never owned a 4WD
vehicle in my life (probably will change March '09)
Heck...living in the city, I haven't bought snow tires in almost 25 years.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:24:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?

I wish I'd held out for two wheel drive. I've never used the four wheel
drive and don't plan to. It costs more,weighs more, uses more gas, is
another thing to fix, and reduces the towing capacity of the 4Runner.

When we bought Highlander for my wife we ordered the two wheel. They had to
hunt around, but they finally found it.
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"
[A Narcissistic Hypocrite]

"JohnH" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:24:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Question for me now is whether or not to get 4wd on my new(er) truck.
My old Nissan is 4wd and my old Dodge is not. I have never needed 4wd
here in FL and when I lived in AL I used it only a few times, a couple
times when it snowed and several times for caving. When we go to WY,
we may use it both winter and summer although that is a very small
fraction of our time. We also could do without it in WY even in
winter by being careful. My experience with 4wd is that it makes
repairs a lot more expensive. Thoughts?

I wish I'd held out for two wheel drive. I've never used the four wheel
drive and don't plan to. It costs more,weighs more, uses more gas, is
another thing to fix, and reduces the towing capacity of the 4Runner.

When we bought Highlander for my wife we ordered the two wheel. They had
to
hunt around, but they finally found it.
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"
[A Narcissistic Hypocrite]

With most of the new 4x4's and the auto disconnect to the front drive line,
other than the extra weight, the fuel mileage difference is negligible.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
m...



With most of the new 4x4's and the auto disconnect to the front drive
line, other than the extra weight, the fuel mileage difference is
negligible.


I just noticed something on my new truck. It has real, old fashioned
locking hubs on the front, the kind you get out and manually turn.

I never noticed them before. I have to read the owner's manual one of these
days, because I have the
electronic switch in the cab to select 2wd, 4wd high and 4wd low.

I don't know what the manual locking hubs are all about.

Eisboch

On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:25:36 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Calif Bill" wrote in message
om...



With most of the new 4x4's and the auto disconnect to the front drive
line, other than the extra weight, the fuel mileage difference is
negligible.


I just noticed something on my new truck. It has real, old fashioned
locking hubs on the front, the kind you get out and manually turn.

I never noticed them before. I have to read the owner's manual one of these
days, because I have the
electronic switch in the cab to select 2wd, 4wd high and 4wd low.

I don't know what the manual locking hubs are all about.

Sure they are manual hubs and not wheel covers?

I was fooled by that when I was looking at a new Ford last year.