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Old 02-28-2016, 07:45 PM   #61
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Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
The constant lack of snow is why I have no desire to live in Florida

Living in Wisconsin I have a great excuse for having a 4 wheel drive vehicle. .

Makes me wonder why I see so many vehicles with Wisconsin tags down here every winter. Apparently, not all Wisconsin residents share this sentiment. But as I implied in my previous post, to each their own! If I wanted a 4WD vehicle, I would have one......wouldn't need snow for an excuse.


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Old 02-28-2016, 08:00 PM   #62
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Makes me wonder why I see so many vehicles with Wisconsin tags down here every winter. Apparently, not all Wisconsin residents share this sentiment. But as I implied in my previous post, to each their own! If I wanted a 4WD vehicle, I would have one......wouldn't need snow for an excuse.


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They are probably lost . I admit that I am not a fan of hot humid weather . When my wife and I retired , we decided to try going South in the winter . We tried it for a couple of years but it just didn't work for us. Like you said "To each their own". We had 58 deg on Saturday , plenty warm for us . Ice fishing in a tee shirt is a lot of fun.
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Old 02-29-2016, 12:15 AM   #63
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4WD is the same. If you've never had it, and you listen to folks who tell you its too expensive, too heavy, too costly to maintain, and too complex... you'll never know how much better, safer, easier, and secure your driving and towing could have been if you'd had it and known how and when to use it properly.
Never had to buy my own, but got plenty of "readers" from employer and others, also lived 30 miles out in the country for twenty plus years in northern Illinois and never found it worth the cost or the inconvenience.
I did know how and when to use it, and had to know how and when to repair it as well.
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Old 02-29-2016, 07:13 AM   #64
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Seems to me there are two kinds of folks answering this question, and two very different mindsets.

One group insists on a vehicle that can go where they want, when they want, in any kind of weather: a no-limits approach to living. Of course they will want maximum capability, and AWD or 4WD does add capability. Most realize that no vehicle can really go everywhere, but they're about minimizing limitations. The added costs are secondary.

Another group is more accepting of limitations. They are okay watching others head out in a snowstorm or drive off down a back road that is beyond the capability of their vehicle. They value simplicity and economy more than maximum capability.

Know thyself.

If you upgrade vehicles often enough that resale is a significant factor in your decision, then perhaps we can add one more.

Know thy neighbor.
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Old 02-29-2016, 07:29 AM   #65
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Originally Posted by Jon in AZ View Post
Seems to me there are two kinds of folks answering this question, and two very different mindsets.

One group insists on a vehicle that can go where they want, when they want, in any kind of weather: a no-limits approach to living. Of course they will want maximum capability, and AWD or 4WD does that. Most realize that no vehicle can really go everywhere, but they're about minimizing limitations. The added costs are secondary.

Another group is more accepting of limitations. They are okay watching others head out in a snowstorm or drive off down a back road that is beyond the capability of their vehicle. They value simplicity and economy more than maximum capability.

Know thyself.

If you upgrade vehicles often enough that resale is a significant factor in your decision, then perhaps we can add one more.

Know thy neighbor.
And the Oracle has spoken. Well said, Jon.
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Old 02-29-2016, 07:51 AM   #66
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...I did know how and when to use it, and had to know how and when to repair it as well.
...and when to stay home. Every time I see one of the 50-vehicle pile-ups on the freeway, I can't help noticing that plenty of very capable AWD and 4WD vehicles got caught in the mayhem.

Of course, I'm sure a 2WD vehicle started it...

My three favorite vehicles were an '87 Toyota 4WD (4 cylinder with manual transmission, transfer case, and hubs), a '93 Subaru Legacy AWD wagon, and a '00 Toyota Sienna FWD minivan. Each was the right vehicle for the season of life. The older I get, the more accepting of limitations I have become, I guess.
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Old 02-29-2016, 08:26 AM   #67
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...and when to stay home. Every time I see one of the 50-vehicle pile-ups on the freeway, I can't help noticing that plenty of very capable AWD and 4WD vehicles got caught in the mayhem.
You just can't fix stupid, Jon. We have a stretch of I-80 that regularly has twenty-car/truck pileups when it snows. I've lived here now for fifteen years, and a dozen cars go off the interstate there every snow storm, with a pile-up about twice a year. It's straight and level, in the middle of nowhere, and there's absolutely NO reason for those crashes to happen except that people don't know how drive at a safe speed for conditions.

We've got a bunch of eight cylinder vehicles being driven by two-cylinder minds. On ice, it doesn't really make any difference how many drive wheels you have... once the momentum of the vehicle overcomes the coefficient of friction of the tires, it's all over. The key is to slow down to a speed that the tires maintain traction. 4WD does help keep forward momentum under reduced traction situations over 2WD though at a speed where you can maintain traction.

Sometimes I wish that they'd actually make folks take a driving test with decision gates and skidpan handling to get and renew their licenses rather than a parallel parking test. I can't recall anyone getting killed in their car while parallel parking.

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My three favorite vehicles were an '87 Toyota 4WD (4 cylinder with manual transmission, transfer case, and hubs)
I loved those old Toyota compact trucks. I had several of those, and four Land Cruisers over the years. They were bulletproof. At least until the body rusted off of them and/or the frame rusted through.
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Old 02-29-2016, 08:44 AM   #68
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I have a 4X4 Ford Ranger. I also live on top of a rocky knob and have a short stretch of bad road to negotiate. I'm too cheap to get it bladed right now. I can put the Ranger into 4 low and creep down when towing my trailer. My road is rocky, but it can get a little slick when the leaves fall so I can use the 4 wheel drive to get the trailer back up the road. I also use it to back my trailer uphill (nothing is level on my place) and into the shop. It's nice to go slow.

In my fair state, should we be driving on the mountain passes in our 4x4s or AWDs, we do not have to chain up when the CHAINS REQUIRED sign is put up. It has a little Except All Wheel Drive in smaller writing. We lazy people like that. Of course, they can require chains on all vehicles and that is when one does not want to be on the pass.

I went for years with a 2 wheel drive pickup, snow tires, and bales of hay in the back during winter. I didn't pull a trailer with it either, nor did I live on top of this ridge.
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Old 02-29-2016, 10:08 AM   #69
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Originally Posted by Jon in AZ View Post
...and when to stay home. Every time I see one of the 50-vehicle pile-ups on the freeway, I can't help noticing that plenty of very capable AWD and 4WD vehicles got caught in the mayhem.

Of course, I'm sure a 2WD vehicle started it...

My three favorite vehicles were an '87 Toyota 4WD (4 cylinder with manual transmission, transfer case, and hubs), a '93 Subaru Legacy AWD wagon, and a '00 Toyota Sienna minivan. Each was the right vehicle for the season of life. The older I get, the more accepting of limitations I have become, I guess.
Actually, It is at least as likely that an overconfident "driver" in a 4WD, trying to pass everything on a snow packed road started it.

There are still only four little patches of rubber which allow traction for acceleration, steering, and stopping. 4WD does help in the first endeavor, which can cause real trouble for those who expect the same for the other two functions.
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Old 02-29-2016, 10:33 AM   #70
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Actually, It is at least as likely that an overconfident "driver" in a 4WD, trying to pass everything on a snow packed road started it...
Exactly what the little wink was meant to convey...

Because of the other two functions, steering and braking, the right tires are more important than the drivetrain in winter highway driving. Both together (AWD and winter tires) give the best performance, but neither is much help if you have the misfortune or bad judgement to get caught in the midst of a sudden snow squall on a crowded interstate.

Perhaps a 20-year old RWD pickup with an open rear end and bald summer tires promotes better judgment...
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Old 02-29-2016, 12:55 PM   #71
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My tow vehicle (Nissan Frontier) is four wheel drive, because as stated before, that is what is available in Minnesota. My daily car is a Mazda MX5 Miata, rear wheel drive with proper tires for dealing with cold, snow and ice. The only issue ever is snow to deep for the 3 3/4" ground clearance. Prior to about 1955, 4 wheel drive vehicles were extremely rare. Jeeps, Land Rovers and Dodge Power Wagons are the only ones that come to mind. We all survived without the front axle pulling. I truly feel that AWD and 4WD are luxuries that are nice to have, but not a must have.
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Old 02-29-2016, 01:29 PM   #72
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I have a RAV4 with 4WD and when it snows ( infrequent here ) I stay home.
Insurance companies have a tendency to share the blame and there are a lot of lousy drivers out there.
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Old 02-29-2016, 02:23 PM   #73
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6 pages of replies...quite a topic.

My experience living in North Bay, Kapuskasing and regular visits to our hunting lodge south of Armstrong Station is that you're far better off having a good set of snow tires than 4 wheel drive.
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Old 02-29-2016, 04:54 PM   #74
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6 pages of replies...quite a topic.

My experience living in North Bay, Kapuskasing and regular visits to our hunting lodge south of Armstrong Station is that you're far better off having a good set of snow tires than 4 wheel drive.
I was once in the mountains of Montana, in the two wheel drive truck that I special ordered because none were available. Two feet of snow fell while we were hiking around. When it was time to leave, one of the trucks, a four wheel drive Dodge with wide street tires took the lead. He could not make it up the first hill, I pleaded with him to allow me with my two wheel drive truck and very narrow snow tires to break the path. I went around him and led him back to pavement!

Tires trump extra drive axles any time. That said, my old Land Rover, 4x4 with similarly narrow snow tires will go anywhere!
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Old 03-03-2016, 06:53 PM   #75
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6 pages of replies...quite a topic.
You know you can go to the User CP (control panel) > Edit Options > Thread Display Options > Number of Posts to Show Per Page, and set it to 100!

This thread might make it past 100 yet.
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Old 03-03-2016, 07:38 PM   #76
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What I found interesting… amusing… reflective of human nature?… is the thread had pretty much petered out after 4 pages (for those using the default settings). After several days' lapse, a post began, "One last thing…"

Nothing more certain to restart a dying thread than trying to get in the last word…
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Old 03-03-2016, 07:49 PM   #77
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What I found interesting… amusing… reflective of human nature?… is the thread had pretty much petered out after 4 pages (for those using the default settings). After several days' lapse, a post began, "One last thing…"

Nothing more certain to restart a dying thread than trying to get in the last word…
You almost got it too!
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Old 03-03-2016, 07:56 PM   #78
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Everything which can be said has been said. It's just so tempting to try to say it another way!

I'm currently in a place where you need 4wd, high clearance and chains to safely get around. 35 miles down a dirt road in March at 6,700ft in Montana. But wait...I would never bring my trailer down here this time of year..!
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Old 03-03-2016, 08:40 PM   #79
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You almost got it too!
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Old 03-03-2016, 09:07 PM   #80
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