2wd trucks

[Carmel Clown]

If you are pulling a 5.0 with a 2WD drive truck I'd like to hear your experiences.

Please 4x4 owners, I know the advantages/disadvantages of 4x4, I just want to hear real life experiences from 2WD drivers.

Thanks.

[davidmurphy02]

Towed our 5.0 for 4 years and another small 5th wheel for 15 years with 2WD trucks. We boondock some but usually don't travel far on rough dirt roads. I've never been in a situation where I felt I really needed 4WD, never got stuck without it. We live in Texas so winter snow is not a factor for us.

[Centex]

I towed my 5.0 with my 2005 F150 2WD with limited-slip differential, had many years towing other trailers and carrying high payloads before the 5.0 with that truck, never any issues with that even on gravel and somewhat soft ground. The times I did get 'stuck' with that truck were always unladen or lightly laden on hard but slick (wet) clay soil or wet grass (nothing to do with "towing" per se).

At that time I also had a Ridgeline AWD for my daily driver, obviously not capable of pulling the 5.0 but I did appreciate the AWD on the Honda occasionally for other-than-towing. Deciding to sell the Honda and get a more modern truck for both towing and daily driving I did get 4WD with full-time capability on my new 2022 F150, but I don't really expect that to come into play while towing.

Having had both (in fact still have both the 2WD and 4WD F150s) I personally wouldn't hesitate to tow the 5.0 with 2WD as long as it has a limited-slip or elective locking differential. IMO ....

• 2WD will take me 99.9% of the places I want to go
• The other 0.1% are probably places I shouldn't go anyway, I think I can identify those to avoid problems, and there's a good chance that 4WD might not help in those places anyway

So why did I pay for 4WD on my new F150? .....

• The added cost was not a financial burden in any respect for me (if it had been I'd have been happy to get a new 2WD truck for my towing needs)
• The 4WD on my 2022 Lariat allows full-time operation at any speed on any surface (it is Ford's "TOD / Torque On Demand" system; note that F150 trims lower than Lariat have the "ESOF / Electronic Shift On the Fly" 4WD system which cannot be used full-time at any speed on any surface)
• I do use the TOD in full-time 4WD mode when daily driving on wet or poor traction surfaces
• I would not have paid for a 4WD system that could not be used full-time at any speed on any surface

So in summary, for me the 4WD decision had nothing to do with my towing per se, had everything to do the getting a system that provides improved stability when daily driving on slick streets. YMMV as always.

[Eggscape]

Centex said exactly what I would have.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Carmel Clown

If you are pulling a 5.0 with a 2WD drive truck I'd like to hear your experiences.

Please 4x4 owners, I know the advantages/disadvantages of 4x4, I just want to hear real life experiences from 2WD drivers.

Thanks.

I’ve had both, two wheel drive is great, until you need the 4 wheel.

[Tosh]

Centex hit the nail straight on


I also have a Lariat, FX4, with the "4A" drive mode option, 3:73 rear gear, limited slip. I have only needed it when roads were snowed over, and not when towing.


All of my towing miles have been in 2H. Haven't had any problems yet ;-}

[CarolynStride]

I pull a 5.0 with a Powerboost F150 2wd. I primarily boondock but have not had a problem on dirt roads. Navigating washes is a bit scary but more because everything falls out of the cupboards.
For a 5.0 2wd frees up 300 lbs of payload. My truck has 1933 so I am safe loading up the bed and rear of truck. So that is another advantage. I do have the hybrid engine so no generator will be needed. And locking differential which I have not used in 36000 miles.

[Perry Butler]

I've had:

• 2wd with no locking rear end, and you get stuck all the time
  
  
• 2wd with locking/limited slip rear end, and very rarely get stuck and those few times were my fault
  
  
• 4wd with no AWD, so the 4wd is really only for emergencies, and 4wd in 2wd mode gets stuck more often than just pure 2wd, with poorer gas mileage
  
  
• 4wd with AWD and locking rear end, we occasionally use AWD, but don't go mudding anymore where the locking rear end with 4wd is needed, also poorer gas mileage.

If I were to purchase another truck it would be 2wd WITH the locking rear end and 3.73 rear end, unless a 4.11 is available from Ford in 2wd, with better gas mileage, slighly lower truck, cheaper at purchase, and more payload. However, we love our 2019 Lariat F150, 4 wd, Locking rear end, 3.5 EB, and at only 53,000 miles it's got a lot of miles left before replacement.

___________________________________________

In another light, found out that the 400 watt inverter in my past two F150's is able to power our Victron 30a lithium charger and when set to 25 amps will charge our batteries. It does shut down at 30 amps, but the Victron allows the output to be set anywhere from 1-30 amps, so at 25 we're golden if we ever need additional power. However, by the end of September we'll have 600 watts on our roof, so Amp Hour Anxiety will be effectively eliminated.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Jim Bennett]

I never knew they still made 2WD pickups.

Of course I kid, but almost every pickup sold around Calgary is 4WD. I have needed that so many times, from rainy days at the dump towing a dump trailer, to driving in soft sand with the Escape, to snow and ice, to muddy fields, and so on. I would never buy a pickup without being a 4x4. Heck, quite a few of the cars around here are AWD.

Of course, those of you well south of the border and some who don't use a pickup for work related stuff can easily survive without. Kinda the different stokes thing.

[Selkirk]

I drove nothing but 2wd vehicles in the Calgary-area for the first 17 years after receiving my license. At the time, I firmly believed that 4wd was not worth the expense or extra maintenance. I then acquired my first 4wd truck in 2009. After the first the winter of ownership, I wondered why I waited so long...and swore that I would never again use a 2wd as a winter daily driver .

Having said that, I am amazed how well my current 4wd truck handles winter conditions in 2wd, with the latest traction control technology and premium winter tires. However, when you need 4wd, you need 4wd.

If I owned a dedicated tow vehicle and knew with certainty that I would only travelling on roads in fair weather where traction would not be a concern, then 2wd would be fine. That's not my situation though.

[brroberts]

Lived in Alaska for 25 years. Have never owned a 4wd truck. Maybe someday I’ll need 4wd, but in 45 years of driving, I haven’t yet.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Lived in Alaska for 25 years. Have never owned a 4wd truck. Maybe someday I’ll need 4wd, but in 45 years of driving, I haven’t yet.

I've lived in Canada for my entire life, starting in high-snowfall areas of Ontario and for the past few decades in Alberta (where winter is half of the year). I passed on AWD in our van - the one that towed the trailer - because it would have added 15% to the purchase price and eliminated the spare (getting run-flat tires instead); the van doesn't even have traction control. I would certainly appreciate 4WD at times, but I've never owned one and have only driven one briefly in the Northwest Territories (where I disengaged the part-time 4WD because on the packed snow it was just causing understeer). I haven't really needed it yet... but I'm only at 44 years of driving.

If I were buying a pickup, I would probably choose FWD/AWD (and specifically a full-time system, not just part-time 4WD), with the expectation that the truck should have traction to tow a trailer in challenging conditions and would be our bad-weather vehicle.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Lived in Alaska for 25 years. Have never owned a 4wd truck. Maybe someday I’ll need 4wd, but in 45 years of driving, I haven’t yet.

This is my first 4x4 truck in almost 30 years. They only time I use 4wd is getting up my driveway on the very few snow storms we have here in St. Louis.

Ford's locking differential is awesome! I've used that many many times.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Lived in Alaska for 25 years. Have never owned a 4wd truck. Maybe someday I’ll need 4wd, but in 45 years of driving, I haven’t yet.

I suspect that's a testament to your good skills and judgment in choosing exactly where and how you drive more than a comment on the pros and cons of drivetrains in general.

[mfschu]

I just retired my 2004 2WD F150 with 345K miles and replaced it with a 2022 4WD F150. There are Pro's and Con's to each. The main reason I got the 4WD this time is for resale. Not too many people want 2WD's in Missouri and probably many other places as well.

[Fender]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Lived in Alaska for 25 years. Have never owned a 4wd truck. Maybe someday I’ll need 4wd, but in 45 years of driving, I haven’t yet.

I didn't realize that a 2WD Ranger is available in the US. 4WD only in Canada.

[brroberts]

Yes. My ‘98 C2500 was bought in Anchorage, AK 2WD, and my ‘21 Ranger was bought in NE Kansas 2WD.

[kstock11]

Although not towing a 5.0, the other challenge of 2 wheel drive vs. 4 is resale. I towed my 19 for 5 years with 2 wheel drive (SUV with locking diff) and had zero challenges. But when selling, not many people wanted to buy it. So, I guess it’s best to just bite the bullet and buy 4 wheel drive!

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by mfschu

I just retired my 2004 2WD F150 with 345K miles and replaced it with a 2022 4WD F150. There are Pro's and Con's to each. The main reason I got the 4WD this time is for resale. Not too many people want 2WD's in Missouri and probably many other places as well.

Wow! 345,000 Miles, 555,000 kilometers for our Canadian friends, is one for record books! I'm assuming you changed the oil a lot.

Did it have the 5.4 or the 4.6 Triton motor?

[splitting_lanes]

If I could have ordered our GMC Canyon Crew Cab Long Bed Diesel as a 2wd, I probably would have.

We don’t use 4wd towing, even on gravel. But, when the streets get wet here in California, which is normally rare, we sometimes put the truck into 4wd auto.