Why 4X4 vs 4X2?

[Andy B]

This goes with the above picture.

There are times, May of 2017, when you just have to see where that nicely paved road goes. Even if the sign says open in June.
We turned around after 11 miles of looking for a spot on the road up to the Hell Canyon lookout in Oregon. I am still married. but, it was in doubt. We need our All Wheel Drive full sized Chevy Express van to get in and out our 1000 foot long uphill driveway. It also tows our 21 nicely and has huge cubic volume / low bed height.

Bad news is they are no longer in production.
Andy and Mary D.

[azjack]

When I needed to tow a larger camp trailer and Carry two large Harleys I had to build my own tow vehicle. With a mid-engine built 460+ and a 350 chassis it worked well.
Jack

[cpaharley2008]

Classic set up there, Jack

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by azjack

When I needed to tow a larger camp trailer and Carry two large Harleys I had to build my own tow vehicle. With a mid-engine built 460+ and a 350 chassis it worked well.
Jack

Mad skills Jack, that rig is as I visualized it when you described it in Colorado. Love those hood pulls on the mid century Fords, had one on my 1950 F-1. Heading out again next week, 21 is doing fine. Say Hi to Nancy and Chico from all of us.
Iowa Dave

[azjack]

Dave Rita and all,
Bad news I'm afraid, Chico passed on last week. We shared over 15 years with him on motorcycles and bicycles and he was always with us on every trip all RV's. We'll
be looking for another companion like Chico.
Jack and Nancy

[cpaharley2008]

So sorry about Chico crossing the rainbow bridge, we are waiting patiently for Franklin who is 14 to make that decision, we treat each week like it is his last, but he has not given up yet. He sleeps most of the time, but is not in pain.

[Doug2000]

15 years ago I learned a lesson.

The local RV dealer convinced me my minivan could tow a tent trailer. So I bought a tent trailer, my first camp site in Algonquin Park was at the bottom of a hill with loose gravel, my neighbor with the 4X4 pulled me out after I buried the front end.

Now I only buy 4x4’s.

[RB Donath]

Solution for Tahoe 22” Wheels. Even though we live in Arizona, I realized that in other parts of the Country people have 2 sets of wheels - Summer & Winter.
Thinking of adding / ordering 5ea. 17” Tahoe Steel wheels used on Police Interceptors. With a higher aspect ratio LT tire, for towing our New E19RFP.

[Steve Clark]

I deleted my post as I miss read the comment.

[yardsale]

Late to this conversation. We have 4wd as we often tow in ski country. For less extreme conditions, I wouldn't underestimate the value of good snow tires for winter driving.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by RB Donath

Solution for Tahoe 22” Wheels. Even though we live in Arizona, I realized that in other parts of the Country people have 2 sets of wheels - Summer & Winter.
Thinking of adding / ordering 5ea. 17” Tahoe Steel wheels used on Police Interceptors. With a higher aspect ratio LT tire, for towing our New E19RFP.

That would work, but it's an extreme solution. You could just use the base 18" size (265/65R18), which is the same width as the normal 17" setup (265/70R17). Even if you do use the 17" wheel size, the pursuit package tire is almost certainly not suitable for towing, as it appears from GM's brochure to be a smaller-diameter tire with short sidewalls (P265/60R17), at least in the 2WD version... but it sounds like you have already covered that. Police departments are more concerned with high-speed stability and tire replacement cost than they are with load capacity.

Since the tire size is the same as for GM's full-size pickups (Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra) and the chassis components are mostly the same, any 17" wheel for a current GM pickup would work, too... I don't see anything special about the police pursuit package wheels.

[RB Donath]

Was only considering the 17” Steel Wheels & adding Mitchelin LT Tires. Thought was to have 5 matching wheels & Tires, and the current Spare is a 17” steel wheel with a 265/70R17 tire. Appreciate your advice as I want to get it right the second time around.

[IMJ in FLA]

Originally Posted by Ronn

Thanks for your reply guys, I was wondering if I am missing something besides winter and I should have addressed the snow / winter. I ran a business where we used multiple rear wheel drive sedans (Lincoln Towncars), while my competitors did not use "snow" tires and had many incidents, our experience was great. In our 13 years of use we only needed a tow once (the driver tried to go through snow deeper that the undercarriage of the vehicle). Blizzak's Winter Tires, hard to believe the traction these tires provided.

A 4x4 is nice to have when pulling a heavily loaded boat out of the water on a steep, wet boat ramp - or for driving on a wet, sandy beach. There are a lot of 4x4s in Florida.

[War Eagle]

Another advantage of a 4x4 that I don't recall being posted before is how slick fallen leaves and dead pine needles can be in the Fall. We have a piece of property where the dirt driveway has a steep incline up to the county road. Under normal conditions, it's not a problem in 2-wheel drive. But after rain, or in the Fall with fallen leaves and dead pine needles covering the driveway, we had better get a good run at it and hope there's no oncoming traffic when we bolt out into the county road, or just slip the truck into 4-wheel drive. No problem.

[John in Santa Cruz]

good all terrain tires are real important with 2x4 or 4x4 if you drive on dirt. 4x4's are more likely to have them, and when they do, they need 4x4 less often