who said 2x4 isnt enough

Go to the snow

 

Carolina red clay said it ate Prerunners for a mid-morning snack.

 

This is the only time I've wanted a 4x4 was when I got stuck in sand. Even then, locked the rear, air'd down, was out pretty quick.. 4x4 would of just let me creep out without having to mess around.

 

You could have picked better pictures to prove your point, but I do agree with you at some level.

 

You could ride a bicycle where you were.

I don't off road in my Tacoma in any serious way. It does amazing in the snow in 2 wheel drive as long as you have momentum. But at the camp in wv there is no 'road' to the cabin, just a dirt path and at the end there is an incline that goes up to the cabin. Dry its fine, but enough rain to soak the surface down you can't make it up it in 2 wheel drive. Maybe if you wheel spun the heck out of it, but who wants to do that to their truck?

 

I'm surprised you're as impressed as you are in 2wd. I've done a lot of direct comparisons this winter swapping between a 2004 WRX STI with snow tires and my truck with the stock rugged fails. I know a lot of this is probably because of the tire, but when I'm in 4wd with the truck it's still way behind in traction compared to the car. It feels just about impossible to beat having mechanical limited slips front and rear along with a mechanical limited slip center diff. It might be the light bed and the lack of a real limited slip in 4hi but it just doesn't bit the way I expect.

 

Is my prerunner more capable then a 4x4?

 

Meh... I've owned a 2wd pickup for 6 or 7 years driving in upstate NY and did just fine. On road, you can do fine up here in 2wd with common sense, good driving habits, good tires and some weight in the bed. There are plenty of 2wd trucks on the road up here year round.

 

I have a new 15 prerunner. I got stuck TWICE on wet grass!! (we have 40 acres in the ozarks). I had to get my son in his 4x Tundra to drag me the 15' to solid ground!! (I got the Prerunner cuz I already have a 4x 4runner!

 

Even most of the bare bones 1/2 and 3/4 ton work trucks here are 4x4s. If I go somewhere less rural, I do start to see many more 2WD pickups.

I think the combination of hills and the fact that many roads wait a while to get plowed prevent 2WD pickups from selling here.

Doable, sure, but with my 4x4 and snow tires I know I'm not going to get stuck as long as I don't drive it into a ditch or something. There have been a few times where I would have had to avoid some roads if I didn't have that switch to my right.

 

Need Moar 2x4.

 

I tried really hard to get stuck. And I'd appreciate it if you would stop shooting holes in my warehouse, it looks horrible.

 

I got it wet before I could get it in the tailpipe to stop the bleeding.

 

2 wheel drives are like a turtle on it's back when the going gets tough.

 

I remember driving out of a campsite one morning down a road/wash and suddenly getting stuck. I thought, "dang, this didn't look that bad, what the hell?" Gave it another quick try and was clearly digging in and making things worse. Sigh. Turn off the truck, get out to go dig the recovery gear out of the back. As I got out I looked down and thought, "why isn't the front wheel dug in too?". Looked back in the cab at the transfer. Doh. Popped it into 4WD, drove right out and continued on my merry way.

In general, on roads like those shown in the photo 2WD is just fine. Actually, before I had a truck I took a 1994 Civic down a lot of roads that look like that. Slowly of course.

 

This fall I was driving a back road at night and pulled over for a moment to get out and stand up since I'd been driving for a while. It was a big wide clear dirt area with bulldozers and logging trucks parked a little further down. The road itself was dirt and in good condition and it looked the same so I thought nothing of it. Got back in, hit the gas and just spun. Same thing in reverse. I was just digging. Flipped it into 4 HI with some concern that even that may not help me and it walked right out of there.

Times like that I've used it when I've least expected I'd have to and I'm very glad I have it.

 

My ram 1500 had better 4x4 snow traction. But the Tacoma exceeds my expectations in the snow. Nothing is perfect. Back when my grandmother was still alive she had a 6 cylinder outback. 96 I think. That thing was SUPERB in the snow. All seasons and it felt stable and solid everywhere we went in that thing. She wouldn't drive in the snow, so I usually had to get her and take her to her appointments.