Pre-runners ?

I was pondering this yesterday while watching the weather channel and all the snow around now.

First, snow is foreign to me. I never go in snow. Second when I was in my teens and 20's I would go into everything that looked like a mess, the more challenging the better. I had lots of 4X4's and beat the hell out of them all. I don't do that anymore because it costs a lot to replace and repair.

I do go camping a lot but nothing where I can't get myself out of. I have a popup camper.

I would definitely have gotten a 4X4 if I lived up north or bogged at all. But there was no reason to pay the extra for me. Even if I went offroad once in a year would it be worth it...nah.

 

the only off-roading i do is picking my nose and building booger castles, if that counts...

 

My beamer had a badass limited slip diff and it was hard as hell to drive in the snow. On dry pavement it wouldnt leave the road but in the snow it was the worst thing ever!

 

My experience has shown me that tires mean much more in the snow than drivetrain. My 2WD Suburban did mountain interstates in Colorado all winter long. One winter with cheap studded snow tires (Perfect). One winter with Destination A/Ts (very good). One week with BFGs on it (crap).

 

i agree, especially if you are alone. If you and a buddy are going out somewhere in two seperate vehicles, you dont need 4x4. But if you're on some back country dirt road in the middle of nowhere hunting by yourself (which my dad does alot) i'd hate to have to hoof it 5 miles back to a road just to flag someone down and hope they have a truck that can get you out.

 

i was out in the country at my buddy's farm one night with my cobra, it started snowing and when i left there was about a half inch of snow on the road, which you know the first half inch is the worst for driving. anyway, i could do about 20mph, and it took me a good 2-3 minutes to accelerate up to that with spinning out, but if i went 22mph i started sliding back and forth took me an hour and a half to get home instead of a half hour

 

Everyone has their reasons for a 4x4 vrs 4x2...In my opinion....I live in So Cal...I don't know why anyone here has a 4x4....This is gonna open a big pandora's box...I have lived from Cal-Fl and all over in between. I think in Cali its mostly a status symbol to them in their brains!...Yes some go skiing/snow boarding and feel the need for the 4x4...but 98.7% of the year or more their is no need. Now I have lived in Utah/Idaho/Texas/Oklahoma/Ohio/etc..and I see the need for the 4x4....Oh hell I'm gonna quit...This question will be argued till the end of time along with the wind noise in my truck!....Its a TRUCK dammit!....Not a Lincoln Town car!

 

i see MPG listed as a mian reason... so why not get the normal mini truck that gets better mpg? the prerunner sits up like a 4wd and has all the same suspension but just no front axle... I can tell you that even without hardcore wheeling or snow I would never own a 2wd... one time it was perfectly dry weather...buddy wasnt paying attention and turned to sharp netting him in a ditch...i had a suzuki samurai (60hp) put it in 4lo...tug on chain he was out...2wd no way would have happened even 4 hi probably wouldnt have had the power to pull an f250 2wd out.... thing with pre runner is its a nice truck but if you ever get into a spot 4x4 will get you out of...but you dont have it....

 

007! how you planning on getting that limited slip differential? and where at! I'm trying to get that as well before college so I can be ready for washington!

 

well..honestly i bought my 2wd over a 4wd only because the dealer didnt have anymore 4wds. so because i know the guy who sold it too me and he could only hold the price for one day i went ahead and bought a 2wd instead.

 

I bought the prerunner because the xrunner only comes in a stick. I drive my prerunner 162 miles per day in and out of NYC. The gas mileage is good and the truck is nice cause I sit high in traffic which now makes me happy I ended up with it. I have no need for 4wd. My explorer is 4wd and I used it once in 5 years including snowy days.

 

BTW, a vehicle without a front axle would be a unitruck.

 

growin up in KY everyone had 4x4's.... once i moved down to TX i did not see the need. i think it would only come in handy going off road...... here's the thing.... i know i'm making my truck look off road, but i just like that look, i would never take a $20K+ off roading (never meaning until i win the lotto) if i'm going off roading, it's gonna be in a 4wheeler, dirt bike, or a truck with some miles and age on it... not the only new vehicle i have ever owned....

but that is just me, to each his own.

 

eh I'm just so sick of mall cruiser's in my area... lifts tires/winch/rollbar...never seen dirt you know the type...and wilson there is alot of trucks with no front axle...its called 2wd..unless you have like old van or jeep and it has the solid beam axle but thats a different animal LOL

 

I wanted to get a mini-truck or an X-Runner, but my wife had a valid point. I need the height to see and be seen. Besides, I end up doing light off-road (I hauled a trailer through the woods in Mississippi on Sunday.). Nothing that requires 4WD.

I would still like to have it, but I am going to go the locker route instead.

I have been told by several shops that the only manufacturer that has one to drop right in is Toyota. Detroit does not even make one. I am looking at putting in an ARB air locker instead.

 

I live In Oahu (Honolulu) and there is no reason to 4x here unless you fish. I don't and I saved roughly 2.5k on my purchase buying the Pre Runner.

NOW, that being said, in 5 years when my loan is up, this will most likely become my project truck! I'll look for a similar wrecked 4x4 truck, buy it and swap out the parts to convert mines to 4x4. Not becuase I need it, but just because it would be fun to do! Also, once I get the used parts I need, and sell off the parts I do not need along with the parts I removed from my truck, I'm willing to bet that I'll pay WAY less then the 2.5k it would have costed my at purchase...

 

I need 4wd to get out of my driveway sometimes. To turn around I have to cross a grassy section, and sometimes roll off the edge of the pavement backing around to leave. Sure, I could leave it in 2wd and tear up the lawn trying to get out, but then I have to fix that in the spring. It throws gravel in the yard for the mower to hit and break windows, or leaves huge ruts to fill in later. One section I'll spin the tires for the hell of if cuz it pisses me off they didn't pave the 10ft in front of the 2nd barn door (but did the rest of the driveway, turn around AND to the other door), and we plan on paving it. So I don't care if it looks like crap. It has a load of gravel there now to help cuz it turns into 3"-4" of mud during the spring.

To me, it's just better to put it 4wd and pull out without tearing shit up. "Tread lightly" and all that.

Also, I put it in 4wd to drive on the lawns of my parents' and in-laws. Because it's not MY property, they want it to look nice, and I don't want to tear up on them. Not that 2wd wouldn't get me there, but 4wd means I don't have to clean up later. At my parents' it's usually in 4LO so I can just idle up the hill without hitting the gas and risking wheel spin. Maybe I'm just more considerate than others.

But I only do that since I have it. I would avoid it if I had a 2wd, but since this is NY and it snow I required 4wd before buying. Also new I wanted to offroad so I got all the helpful options I could: OR, Locker, tow.

 

I only do mild offroad stuff and since I plan on keeping the truck way past it's warranty, I don't want something that will cost me a load of $$$ if it breaks.

 

Now, that i bought, I can finally give you two pennies.

I never do the type of off-roading that required 4X4. The reality is that my truck is my main transport and I drive on the street, to the freeway, to the street.

When I'm off doing something in the country, like camp and shoot guns. I'm on hard packed and gravel Calif roads. The standard open diff can handle it with AT tires.

If I do get stuck, I will use the locker. I have heard over and over again that this is all that's needed for most situations. Especially in my case of just traveling a mile or two down a country road. I got what I need and with the locker am prepared for what I don't really think I'll experience.

I don't feel like going out in the rain anyway. I like to stay warm and dry on those days.

Besides this, additional cost to buy, insure and maintain validate even more the reason I don't need or want it.

I did want 4X, but when I took a look at the reasons why, the answer was just because I wanted it for my ego. I have always enacted the practices of subdueing the ego as it acts irrationally and need monitoring. Like a litte kid that must be corrected and guided constantly.

 

words of the wise were just spoken, don't get 4wd if you don't really need it...it IS nice to have but you have to look at the pros and cons of it depending on your situation and what you'll be using the truck for