Four Wheel Drive versus Two Wheel with Posi Rear End - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 03-22-2010, 09:13 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Lyndon Laney's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1996 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel ('TOGETHERNEST' SLEEPS 8
Posts: 270

Click image for larger version

Name:	4_wheel_versus_2_wheel.jpg
Views:	75
Size:	333.6 KB
ID:	26914

When I bought my truck it was used primarily for towing our 5th wheel Scamp, so I put a lot of thought into the options and this is what I came up with: That a 2 wheel drive gave better gas mileage and a posi rear end would give me more traction in most cases.


Name:   4and_2.jpg
Views: 117
Size:  4.5 KB
Lyndon Laney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2010, 10:50 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Roy in TO's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1972 Boler American and 1979 Trillium 4500
Posts: 5,137
Theoretically I think you are right. Mathmatically, you are off. Hard to get 120% traction.

The first question is, what would you need 4 wheel drive for?
Second question, will you always be driving with the trailer on?

In any case, consider the trailer package.
Roy in TO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2010, 04:55 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Lyndon Laney's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1996 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel ('TOGETHERNEST' SLEEPS 8
Posts: 270
Quote:
Theoretically I think you are right. Mathmatically, you are off. Hard to get 120% traction.

The first question is, what would you need 4 wheel drive for?
Second question, will you always be driving with the trailer on?

In any case, consider the trailer package.
You are right, should have been 1/2 that. I don't need a 4wheel drive but it seems most think they do; Just my thoughts.
Lyndon Laney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2010, 09:33 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette Deluxe / 1997 Toyota T-100
Posts: 177
I tow without an equalizer hitch just an added sway bar so I like the extra weight the front diffential adds.
I have needed 4-wheel drive to get out of some of the back country spot we put our SCAMP into.
But my next rig may just be 2-wheel drive.
My wish is for a small Diesel pick-up like Toyota has in all other countries.
D Tharp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2010, 04:52 PM   #5
Member
 
Trailer: 73 Trillium 13 ft / Toyota Landcrusier HDJ81
Posts: 31
As a response to your weight question, when you usually need traction it's usually going up a hill in which case the center of gravity shifts to the rear of the vehicle. I think most places that I could take my little 13' without damaging it I could get into with 2 wheel drive and a good limited slip. I have all wheel drive and even going through a snowey pass it isn't much of an asset, because you can only drive as fast as you can stop. If you don't unkook and go 4x4ing there really is no need for it and you could benefit from better fuel economy.
E Dyck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2010, 08:23 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 17 ft 2001 Casita Freedom Deluxe (one eyed CatSita)
Posts: 134
for whatever it's worth,i'll add by 2 cents worth.

for 7 years we towed out 17' casita with a '01 tundra. covered the lower 48 with it. burned up one transmission.we also found ourselves in situations that more power and 4wd would have been nice.

for many years used a 2wd backhoe (tractor) and could'nt see why anyone would want 4wd.
it happened that we wound up with a 4wd.found out it was much more versital.

about a year ago, the tundra hiccupped and we decided to look at a new dodge. several of our neighbors have them. we wound up buying a r3500 4wd diesel. lot's of power and weight. the mileage is better than the tundra and far more comfortable.i find myself wanting to get back on the road. something i had been getting tired of. guess part of it is old age. (we are in our 70's now)
Lou & Lora E. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2010, 05:19 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 84 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 725
Quote:
for whatever it's worth,i'll add by 2 cents worth.

for 7 years we towed out 17' casita with a '01 tundra. covered the lower 48 with it. burned up one transmission.we also found ourselves in situations that more power and 4wd would have been nice.

for many years used a 2wd backhoe (tractor) and could'nt see why anyone would want 4wd.
it happened that we wound up with a 4wd.found out it was much more versital.

about a year ago, the tundra hiccupped and we decided to look at a new dodge. several of our neighbors have them. we wound up buying a r3500 4wd diesel. lot's of power and weight. the mileage is better than the tundra and far more comfortable.i find myself wanting to get back on the road. something i had been getting tired of. guess part of it is old age. (we are in our 70's now)

A Dodge series 3500 4WD with a Cummins pulling a Casita?

I'm pretty confident in thinking you will newer experience a episode of the tail wagging the dog!

We pull a 16 ft Scamp with an older full size 4WD diesel Chevy Blazer. We get better fuel economy than in our younger days towing a Compact Jr. with a Peugeot 404.

One significant advantage of the 4WD is the 2:1 reduction in the transfer case. For backing slowly into a tight spot, especially up hill that low range 4WD setting makes things go so much more smoothly. I wouldn't want to be without it!

Loren G. Hedahl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2010, 05:53 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Radar1's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2020 Escape 19 (was 2005 16 ft Scamp Side Dinette and 2005 Fleetwood (Coleman) Taos pop-up)
Posts: 1,227
Registry
I had to tow my trailer down a wet rainy yucky clay road in FL last year that was crowned in the middle, so if another car approached you ended up being on one side of the road that slopes down to the ditch. I was sure glad I was driving my AWD Subaru instead of my 2WD non-posi truck, because the AWD helps the front wheels climb back up the slippery slope instead of sliding downhill with 2WD due to gravity as the rear wheels push you forward. Having good traction in the rear is great, but it's so much nicer when conditions call for it to also have traction on the wheels that steer you.

John
__________________
Dave (and Marilyn who is now watching from above)
Sharpsburg, GA
04 Dodge Dakota V-8, 17 Dodge Durango V-6, 19 Ford Ranger 2.3 Ecoboost
radar1-scamping.blogspot.com
Radar1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2010, 09:38 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Roy in TO's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1972 Boler American and 1979 Trillium 4500
Posts: 5,137
Quote:
experience an episode of the tail wagging the dog!
Been there done that, grateful you gave me a way of describing what it felt like.

I now know you have to give the tow vehicle some more gas (if you can) to get out of it.

Letting up on the gas to concentrate on steering only made us suffer through the experience longer. Perhaps even made it worse.
Roy in TO is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Toyota Tacoma, 2-wheel drive with 4 cyl engine tows fine lonlawrence Towing, Hitching, Axles and Running Gear 9 11-18-2008 12:05 PM
Scamp Trailer Crank Wheel/No Wheel Mitchell Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 6 08-25-2008 11:36 AM
Posi-Lock Connectors david duboe Modifications, Alterations and Updates 2 02-16-2008 11:23 AM
5th wheel Richard L Paquette Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 15 09-22-2007 03:43 PM
What do you tow your 5th wheel with? Lizbeth General Chat 8 02-18-2006 05:24 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.