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Old 08-14-2007, 08:25 PM   #1
Dixielou
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Default 4x4 or a 4x2 for camping?

If you were to buy a new tow vehicle (a truck) with camping and traveling in mind, but also wanting to use it as a daily driver, would you buy a 4x4 or a 4x2? Is a 4-wheel drive really necessary for camping and traveling in this great USA?

Would like to hear from you all. Thanks.
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Old 08-14-2007, 09:40 PM   #2
B_and_D
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We bought our 4x4 because part of our property is in a slough, and we need it sometimes to get around during the wet season. We've had enough stuck vehicles to say "enough is enough; the next truck is going to be 4WD".

However, while driving (not towing) through Lassen Natl Park this past trip, it sure was nice to have the 4WD to slip into on a fairly steep hill on a gravel road. It does seem to give you a lot more control.

I think it depends on where you want to go in your travels.
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Old 08-14-2007, 10:36 PM   #3
BobRederick
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Lou

I bought my first 4x4 about 15 or 20 years ago and hope to never be without one again. I love it. We do dry camping a lot and putting it into 4-Low is awesome. You can creep into the site with the engine at an idle. The tranny seems to lock in and doesn't stall. This lets you go slowly into the site while watching all the corners to not bump into trees or rocks or tree stumps. It also lets me pull out of sand when we go to the Great Sand Dunes where that last bit of the trip is out onto the loose sand to park.

Interestingly, last week, we went over Sonora Pass in the Sierras of California. We were loaded pretty heavy after 4 months working in Ca. I had my GMC Envoy at 10,000 feet, down to 10 MPH in low, floored, and loosing speed on some of the slopes. Bonnie kept reminding me that I could go into 4-Low (which gives a 3:1 gear reduction) if I had to as she kept marveling at the scenery and shooting pictures. I was sweating bullets and will never forget that bit of road.

Then after you park and unhook, you are free to go just about anywhere you want and Bonnie and I find that getting off the highway is pretty interesting.

I hope this helps. JUst be aware that you may find entirely different things make you happy.
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Old 08-14-2007, 10:50 PM   #4
Paul_Heuvelhorst
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Default 4x4 or a 4x2 for camping?

Lou,
What the others have said is absolutely true, IMHO. However, please note that all of the answers and opinions are based on what they like to do and/or where they like to go. So, you need to determine what works best for you in the places you live and travel.

When we moved to the mountains, where we can have snow on the ground 6 months of the year (and we don't tow in that stuff), we need our 4x4's (a truck and a small SUV) with studded tires just to go to the grocery store and church!

There have been a couple of instances in the past 7 years since we bought our 4x4's that they have gotten us out of difficulty in tall, wet grass as we were backing into a campsite, and another instance when the gravel was not well packed down and the rear tires started to spin as I was backing the trailer into a site that was elevated above the roadway. If those were the only instances for using 4x4 in 7 years, I would not recommend spending the extra money.

However, I have other needs for a 4x4 6 months of the year, so it was money well spent.
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Old 08-15-2007, 06:09 AM   #5
Joseph
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Default Depends on what you do . . .

I have towed only with full size pickups. Two and Four wheel drive. I got the 4x4 while living in Santa Fe NM. I wanted to get off in the National Forests and do what is sometimes call dispersed camping. I pulled a pop up all over Carson National Forest " two trackin " and used the four wheel drive. The truck was also used in the snow while there. It was not purchased as a " status symbol " but as a work truck. Since moving back east I have learned that the four wheel drive part is not needed. The National Forests here are not conducive to rambling around as there is not much open space as compared to the National Forests out west. Since the vehicle is paid for and sits a great deal of the time I am keeping it. I am sort of attached to it! On my last trip out west I used the four wheel drive only once. Pulling the TM out of a terraced gravel campsite that had a sharp curve that needed to be completed to get out. In a KOA in Kentucky! I have used it pulling the TM out of some state park campsites here in Georgia so as not to " sling gravel " on the TM should the rear tire (on the inside part of any curve) break loose. But since returning to the east that is about it! I could manage just fine without it. I like having that extra layer of traction available at the touch of a button should I need it. When I think about a replacement tow vehicle I do not look at the 4x4's But I do think about some type of automatic positive traction rear axle though.... Did I say that? Quick Honey, take the check book and hide it from me!
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Old 08-15-2007, 07:23 AM   #6
Freedom
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I agree with most of the above - as long as you live where there isn't a lot of snow. We have a 4X4 GMC Jimmy because we use the 4 wheel drive a lot in the winter. It has a button labeled "Automatic 4WD" and that button is on most of the winter. 4WD engages when needed. I have engaged 4WD a few times in getting out of areas that are graveled in order to not spray the TM with gravel. One place in particular, I would not have made it out without 4WD. I tried and had to go into 4WD LOW. I for one would not be without it - been there done that and didn't like the consequences. Another thing, in this area, 2WD pickups and SUVs have no resale value.
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Old 08-15-2007, 08:39 AM   #7
Joseph
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Default Gas milage on a 4x4

Last trip from Griffin GA to Moab UT my rig averaged 13.6 MPG. See signature below. Tow speed ( flat lands )was 65 mph most of the time. Truck was loaded some. TM carried clothes, linens, a few food staples. Only water was in the hot water tank. The truck is powered by a 5.7 liter V8. Pretty standard fair. It was not built for speed. I have no two wheel drive data to compare it with.
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Old 08-15-2007, 09:00 AM   #8
PopBeavers
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I use 4wd when I go skiing at Tahoe in the winter. I could get by with chains, but since I have 4wd I use it.

About once a year I use it when towing. In one campground I stayed at the gravel road is on a hill and the parking space for the campsites are gravel and terraced into the hillside. Without it the campground management would have to move my TM in and out of the campsite.

If you rarely drive in snow and never drive off of paved roads then you don't need it.

Once you have it there are many more places that you can go that would otherwise be unavailable to you. If you don't want to go to these places then you have no use for 4wd.

When dad was still alive we did a lot of hunting in the fall. We drove perhaps 20 miles down a forest service dirt road. Then we drove another 3 miles down a jeep trail. 4wd is a must for that environment.

If you take a trailer down a forest service road in the fall and wake up in the morning to discover the first snowfall of the season, you may need 4wd to get back to a paved road.

I have been driving 4wd since 1970. I only use it sometimes. I certainly don't need it in my daily driver. It has only snowed twice in my lifetime in San Jose/San Francisco.
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Old 08-15-2007, 09:13 AM   #9
jcjim4
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Default 4x4 is good to have available

My locale is hilly and grassy and my Tundra does not have enough traction to even pull itself up the hill without going to 4x4 drive,
unless I have room to get a running start. I agree that it is not often required, but is good insurance. I'm still getting over 16 mpg.
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Old 08-15-2007, 08:01 PM   #10
lnussbau
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As mentioned many times above, so much depends on where you live and where you haul the trailer. Here in Colorado, there are times in the winter when a 4WD is a blessing. And it's often needed if you're going on back roads in the mountains, even without the trailer.

So far, though, I've not used 4WD when towing, but there are places I may go where it would help, if not actually be required. Still, I have 4WD mainly for other uses (off road, etc.).

I've noticed that, on the new Ford F-150s, the 2WD is EPA rated at 15/19 and the 4WD at 14/18, all else being equal. And you don't lose much mileage over a 2WD when 4WD is not engaged -- mostly a weight difference (not large), as the front hubs are generally free wheeling.

But if you're in the eastern US and don't get off paved roads (except perhaps New England winters), you probably don't need 4WD. So unless you plan to tow into areas where 4WD is needed (or spend a lot of time in the western US), I'd base the decision on your use for the vehicle other than towing.
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