When to use four wheel drive?

[LouNY]

When talking about pickups, that rule also applies to deactivating the traction control. Don't ask me how I know that! :shocked:

Don't you just really like it when you almost get over the hard spot and all of sudden the truck decides it shouldn't spin a tire any more and cuts the power right off so you just stop right in the worst spot.

 

[Jstpssng]

Don't you just really like it when you almost get over the hard spot and all of sudden the truck decides it shouldn't spin a tire any more and cuts the power right off so you just stop right in the worst spot.

We haven't had snow in a week, and that was about 3 inches; there's less than a foot on the ground and I"ve been driving everywhere so never expected it to have drifted the way that it did. The worst part was that I was on the back side of a field, easily visible from the highway. If nobody had seen it, it never would have happened.

 

[spruce Deere]

Only use the 4wd when in good pulls and pushes or when such is eminent. When the spin catches you off-guard while in 2wd always stop, pull the lever, push the button. Stay calm, 4wd on...

 

[Jstpssng]

Only use the 4wd when in good pulls and pushes or when such is eminent. When the spin catches you off-guard while in 2wd always stop, pull the lever, push the button. Stay calm, 4wd on...

It really comes down to knowing the limitations of vehicle and driver. Most of us learn those limitations by digging ourselves out a few times...

 

[buck12]

When talking about pickups, that rule also applies to deactivating the traction control. Don't ask me how I know that! :shocked:

I still struggle to remember to deactivate the traction control even though I have had since 2009. I think it is because my 1993 which is the truck I usually take off road. The few times times the 09 is off pavement I just do not think about it. I really like my old school 93. I can back into anything, leave the seat belt off, etc and it never beeps at me.

 

[Reb954]

It usually best to engage four wheel drive before it is required.

That rule would fall into the same category as when to give your wife flowers, just before some other guy does.

 

[Jstpssng]

I still struggle to remember to deactivate the traction control even though I have had since 2009. I think it is because my 1993 which is the truck I usually take off road. The few times times the 09 is off pavement I just do not think about it. I really like my old school 93. I can back into anything, leave the seat belt off, etc and it never beeps at me.

Many trucks of '93 vintage had their own issues... namely the vacuum diaphragm system which replaced locking hubs. I got hung up on more than one occasion because the front end didn't engage when I needed it… I finally pulled one line, used my air compressor to lock the front end in then capped it off. A coworker spent the night in the woods after getting stuck because as he went from 4H to 4L the frontend disengaged and wouldn't go back in again.

 

[buck12]

Many trucks of '93 vintage had their own issues... namely the vacuum diaphragm system which replaced locking hubs. I got hung up on more than one occasion because the front end didn't engage when I needed it… I finally pulled one line, used my air compressor to lock the front end in then capped it off. A coworker spent the night in the woods after getting stuck because as he went from 4H to 4L the frontend disengaged and wouldn't go back in again.

I ordered my 1993 with a good old floor shifter for the four wheel drive. Last year I could not get it in four low. I removed the entire shifter assembly. A toothbrush and a little grease and she shifts like butter. Probably good for another 28 years.

 

[Jstpssng]

I ordered my 1993 with a good old floor shifter for the four wheel drive. Last year I could not get it in four low. I removed the entire shifter assembly. A toothbrush and a little grease and she shifts like butter. Probably good for another 28 years.

My 2018 company truck has the same floor shifter. Even those aren't foolproof. One of my previous company trucks got stuck in 4 low... it was a long ride out of the woods that day.

 

[buck12]

My 2018 company truck has the same floor shifter. Even those aren't foolproof. One of my previous company trucks got stuck in 4 low... it was a long ride out of the woods that day.

It took 27 years for mine to give me trouble. It was a pain to remove it. Almost 30 years of grit had all but frozen the shifter.