4wd/AWD in Texas

[breakingcontact]

Why? First...yes i get that in 'Merica we can buy what we want whether we need it or not. Buy a Corvette and make your commute more fun, tear up the track on the weekend or whatever. Buy a 4wd and get crappy mileage, worse handling and come on...way more guys push their Corvettes abilities than 4wd owners do. So its all image and big boy toys if you arent using it for work or really taking it off road.

Even Subarus i dont get here. It doesnt snow. This isnt Colorado.

*anyone who needs it like in construction, oil or ranching and farming exempt.

**Yes i have owned trucks including a 4wd in the midwest where it you know...like actually snows.

Dont run me over in your lifted 4x4 with huge steel bumpers while im zipping around in my small car...K? Thanks!

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

What do you mean why? Have you never been in an open field that has been saturated after a rain? It does rain here in Texas. Good luck getting your 2WD vehicle out. Just a few days ago I drove off-road in to some shallow mud and I would have been calling a friend to get out if my Dodge didn't have it.

 

[codygjohnson]

Because i'd run up a huge tow truck bill? I use mine at least twice a week. My wife doesn't have or use it. That the category you fall into?

 

[breakingcontact]

So far you guys are 0/2. You are really using them.

Let me expand. I see lifted 4wds all the time around here without a scratch on the body or the fancy rims. Also...lots of rich women running all over from store to store in Suburbans and Lexus SUVs. Why?

This isnt a jealousy thing. If you got the money go buy a Ferrari or Mercedes.

 

[txbikerman]

Bigger is better. Bigger vehicles are much safer than small dinky cars of any type. Plus for some I'm sure it is a status symbol

 

[breakingcontact]

Bigger is better. Bigger vehicles are much safer than small dinky cars of any type. Plus for some I'm sure it is a status symbol

Trucks arent that safe. Especially after you lift them.

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

Trucks arent that safe. Especially after you lift them.

Trucks aren't safe? I sincerely hope you're not serious. I would much rather be in my Dodge 1500 than some dinky plastic toyota camry or chevy malibu. More mass = more momentum. Therefore, a small vehicle and a large vehicle colliding would result in the small car being destroyed with less damage to the truck. Also, why wouldn't you have 4x4 if you had the option, even if you never use it? My philosophy for these commodities is the same as the need for a firearm. I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

Notice the difference in the damage. The front end of the Ford has plenty of space between bumper and driver position. The civic's engine compartment is completely pressed in. You'd never catch me dead in a small car.

 

[txbikerman]

Lifting trucks can make them unsafe. I have never owned a lifted truck and probably never will. I have owned a 4wd dodge, loved it. Always wanted one and had the chance so i did. At the time i had a company truck so it sat most of the time. Didn't use the 4wd very often, but when i did i really needed it. I guess it comes down to preference. But also in a crash with another car, the bigger vehicle usually is safer .
I drive a truck (Toyota Tundra), i like driving trucks , they sit up higher and can see farther down the road, or over the little cars. Plus i keeptools in mine and also for haul whatever i need to when i need to .

 

[breakingcontact]

Ill have to post some crash ratings tomorrow. (perhaps im wrong, i havent shopped for a truck in a few years) Of course all other things being equal more mass wins. But even that is a gross enterprise. We should all drive F350 crew cabs to be safe? That doesnt seem very reasonable.

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

Lifting trucks can make them unsafe. I have never owned a lifted truck and probably never will. I have owned a 4wd dodge, loved it. Always wanted one and had the chance so i did. At the time i had a company truck so it sat most of the time. Didn't use the 4wd very often, but when i did i really needed it. I guess it comes down to preference. But also in a crash with another car, the bigger vehicle usually is safer .
I drive a truck (Toyota Tundra), i like driving trucks , they sit up higher and can see farther down the road, or over the little cars. Plus i keep tools in mine and also for haul whatever i need to when i need to .

This is exactly why I have a truck. Mine is four door so I can haul people, I can haul anything in the back or tow a trailer, and there's considerably more protection. I'm always the first person my friends call when they need something moved, usually furniture or wood. I never have to worry about asking for help.

 

[txbikerman]

This is exactly why I have a truck. Mine is four door so I can haul people, I can haul anything in the back or tow a trailer, and there's considerably more protection. I'm always the first person my friends call when they need something moved, usually furniture or wood. I never have to worry about asking for help.

mine is a four door also. can haul 5 comfortably . Also great on trips with kids.Plus i have a popup camper and a utility trailer. You can put a hitch on a Prius

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

Ill have to post some crash ratings tomorrow. (perhaps im wrong, i havent shopped for a truck in a few years) Of course all other things being equal more mass wins. But even that is a gross enterprise. We should all drive F350 crew cabs to be safe? That doesnt seem very reasonable.

Honestly, the only real argument people might have for owning a small vehicle over a large one would be mileage but even trucks these days get amazing mileage. Check out the Ford F-150 ecoboosts. Or even the Ford superduties because diesel trucks get great mileage as it is and are much more economical.

 

[SR9TEX]

I own a 4x4 but the t case motor is stuck in 4H So I removed the front shaft. Few weeks later it got stucks in a field of grass that was slightly underwater. I'm the kinda guy that rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it. Although if I found a 2WD truck I wanted it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[picasso]

It's not true at all you don't need a truck around Texas.

If you live in Amarillo it snows all the time and can be deep and icy. I don't live in Amarillo but DFW and there is so much construction you need a truck to cross from the highway to the service rd. to get out of traffic.

I was stuck in a blizzard driving from Texas to Oklahoma city a few years ago and had a Chevy Tahoe SUV and would have never made it to my in laws w/out that SUV. They were calling out the national guard to get people out of their cars. I would have been stuck.

It's like a gun. You may never need it but it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[breakingcontact]

Regarding safety...the crash tests look damning but the smaller more modern cares are meant to sacrifice the car so it absorbs the energy and not the occupants. Also trucks roll over MUCH more than cars. I looked up an F150 and a Civic. The Civic had slightly higher crash ratings.

Many of you use 4x4 and truck as the same thing. Very interesting. I drove 2wd trucks in the midwest snow and didnt have any issues but do admit the one 4x4 was a beast in the snow.

Perhaps thats what im trying to say, for most, trucks especially 4wds are luxuries, not necessities.

 

[sonuvaTXgun]

It's not true at all you don't need a truck around Texas.

If you live in Amarillo it snows all the time and can be deep and icy. I don't live in Amarillo but DFW and there is so much construction you need a truck to cross from the highway to the service rd. to get out of traffic.

I was stuck in a blizzard driving from Texas to Oklahoma city a few years ago and had a Chevy Tahoe SUV and would have never made it to my in laws w/out that SUV. They were calling out the national guard to get people out of their cars. I would have been stuck.

It's like a gun. You may never need it but it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I live in Borger, 45 minutes north of Amarillo and yes, we get an exceptional amount of snow and precipitation in the panhandle. Hell, it was snowing there yesterday and through the night. My dad and brother were having a hey day driving through the storm to get to OK city today.

Perhaps thats what im trying to say, for most, trucks especially 4wds are luxuries, not necessities.

Unless you actually need it of course which case makes it a necessity. We have a family owned company that specializes in industrial construction and field work, particularly pipeline and refineries. Every time it rains or snows I'll be damned if one of our employees doesn't sink one of the fleet trucks a foot into the mud. Owning a 2WD truck is like being a carpenter without a circular saw. It's damn handy in a pinch and will save a person some scratch and not require a tow truck or time wasted waiting on one.

 

[cbigclarke]

I need a lifted 4X4 to have a high vantage point when the zombies come

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[Mexican_Hippie]

All I can do is shake my head.

In Texas they should throw out black diesel smoke when you hit the gas and require some amount of hop to get into.

Weak sauce trucks are for Yankees and Oklahomans.

 

[Younggun]

I don't understand why you even ask the original question. That's like asking why someone buys a V6 when a 4 banger would make the car go and why have a corvette if you're not gonna race.


As far as AWD goes, it improves handling in all driving conditions. ESP heavy rain, sleet, and ice. Texas has more ice problems than snow problems. The 4WD can help and has helped me before when there was a lot of skeet on the ground but a lot of people forget that it won't help you stop.

And for those shiny jacked up trucks with oversized wheels and low pro mud tires (completely counterproductive) that never leave pavement. Well, that's all about the pussy.

In high school I was all about lifted trucks and looking for places to use them. Now I don't want the handling of a lifted truck. I didn't have a 4WD for a while and at the time would have fit that "don't need one" category but there were several times I really could have used it.