Damage? Highway in 4H

Spoken like someone who’s never driven an empty truck, on ice, in 2wd at 60mph…
There are different kinds of ice and snow conditions. Not all of them are skating rink PNW situations, but 4wd helps at speed in all of them.
I can see where you are coming from and how it makes sense to you as someone who doesn’t drive in the snow for months at a time. I’m not here to change your mind or explain acclimation to you, but let me ask you this:
When traveling at speed, on dry roads, do you leave one car length between you and the car in front of you for every 10mph you’re traveling? 6 car lengths at 60mph

 

And there ya go... When I was married, I wouldn't even let my wife drive my truck ...

 

That test is valid. I'd suggest doing that with every 4wd truck you are going to buy. If it can't handle that then it's a broken POS. Just imagine the loads on the truck when you go offroad or rockcrawling. doing some turns in a parking lot is childs play. If your truck breaks doing that then it's poorly maintained.

It's not a Delicate Flower, it's a truck, Be a man.

 

You don’t know anything about me. You dont know what ive driven, where I’ve driven, what conditions I’ve driven in or anything else. Your assumption are based on ignorance and of course they are inaccurate. I’ll just say I’ve driven many thousands of miles in winter, snow, blizzard and icy conditions in various vehicles. . In Northern California, the Sierras , Rocky’s, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and more. You don’t understand my queries nor can you answer them. Sounds like 4wd is the end all and be all for every driving condition and situation. You probably put your truck in 4H 24/7/365 and are then ready for everything and anything, snow, ice, blizzards, wind, 120 degree desert driving , exceeding speeds of 150 mph. 4wd, it does it all.

 

What I have noticed driving in Minnesota for 18 years is that when the freeway is 90% clear being in 4hi helps the truck deal with small slips when it hits a frozen patch that plow trucks miss.
4hi isn't really needed at all in these conditions, the slips the truck will experience won't even push you out of your lane but 4hi gives you more control.

The other time being in 4hi and going fast is handy is when road conditions are changing. One section of the freeway may be perfectly clear and you could have 4hi off but when traffic starts to slow because conditions are getting worse or you are about to cross a bridge (which usually tend to be slick in the winter) it's better to already be in 4hi and paying attention to the traffic than taking a hand off the wheel to turn it on while you are slowing down with traffic and then turning it off again once you start speeding up.

I've also had a few instances where it saved me because some other car makes a mistake and I have to maneuver into an unplowed section of the road.

What it comes down to is it doesn't hurt the truck going fast in 4hi so why bother turning it off and on a dozen times when driving on the freeway when you can leave it on so it's already working in case you suddenly need it.

 

Driven in 4hi from NYC to New Hampshire in a spring storm with conditions from dry to rain to freezing rain to snow. Truck is still fine. Your truck will be fine too. As for not lending it: just tell people not to do what you don't want them to when you hand them the keys.

 

Lol nice one…
I don’t know you or your experience but I do know that you are making the ignorant assumption that 4wd is only useful at low speeds. There are situations where 4wd with increased following distance is safer than 2wd at the same speed. It helps maintain control while changing lanes with enormous ruts dug into the road surface from studded tires, going over frost heaves and rounding corners on asphalt that is “dry” in sub zero temps.
I guarantee you I have more miles on winter highways than you do, and it’s not always a whacky slip’n’slide internet video situation like you seem to be implying. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles do what you cannot seem to fathom doing safely on a daily basis.
To say that if you need 4 it’s unsafe to go fast, simply shows inexperience.
I defer to my original comment: Travel at the speed you are comfortable with and where you are able to maintain control. I’ll do the same

 

That “test” is not valid.

 

This! I removed "loaning/borrowing" from my vocabulary. Just give him $50 bucks and send him to Enterprise or UHaul.

 

Sure...

I'm going to continue doing that. I have a firm understanding of how most 4wd systems work and their capability. Unless you are overloaded with weight you should not break or give undue wear to the truck.

 

Ha! I do this with rides "to the airport" since I live "just 10 minutes away".... what they don't consider is- they live 20-45 minutes from me/the airport, so I have to get up at 3-4:00 AM to drive pick them up, and turn around and drive back so they can make their 6-8:00 flight and avoid parking fees or an Uber ride? F that, I'd rather just pay for and send the Uber myself.

 

I drive at high speeds in 4WD frequently. All looks good - all of a sudden icy stretch where you want 4WD comes up. Can’t switch to 4WD at high speed so leave it on.

 

The ass end of these things are very light it is super easy to spin the wheels on slick surfaces. Unless you like to go sideways in slick weather use 4WD that what it's for. Hint I live in rural Maine. Even my older one's had the hubs locked all most all winter so I could shift on the fly.

 

There are reasons why borrower's don't already have their own... many times because they already broke their own.
Todays 4X4's (1front/1rear) are not the 4x4's of yesterday (WWII).

 

What a thing to say after starting off with "You don't know anything about me."

I'm also in the camp that 4wd is very useful in many highway speed, 50-60 mph scenarios, and is the preferable and safest way to drive in the intermittent slippery conditions that everyone has discussed.

I think everyone understands where you're coming from, but your principles don't match reality. We are probably talking about different roads at those speeds. In Wisconsin, I can comfortably drive most highways at 60 mph in 4wd when there's spotty sections of ice/hard packed snow, it just takes a gentle hand on the wheel and keeping your distance. If I drive 45 mph, there's a line of cars a mile long behind me, because everyone is comfortable going faster. Going through the mountains in Colorado? I've done 35 mph in 4wd and had my doors blown off by HD trucks pulling huge trailers in snow storms.

I don't think any of us fall into the category of thinking 4wd makes us unstoppable, although there are certainly those on the road like that. But if you think it's so black/white that slippery = 4wd + slow, and never 4wd + speed limit under any circumstance, then I don't know what to tell you besides we have different lived experiences.

 

False sir. Try driving mountain passes in winter in 2WD, good luck.

 

We have a lot of northern transplants here in Georgia that love to tell us natives that we don’t know how to drive in snow. They are the ones that usually end up in the ditch because they never learned the difference between snow and ice.

4WD is great for moving forward but it ain’t worth a damn stopping

 

Engine braking in 4WD is better than just braking.

 

Suggestion…..