Thoughts on 4WD vehicles and winter weather...

[TBCobra]

i didn't read every post so this may have been said already but 4wd PULLS the front tires. Therefore, when you are making a turn your front tire(s) is(are) pulling which helps from sliding off the road.

 

[FastNick01]

4wd PULLS the front tires. Therefore, when you are making a turn your front tire(s) is(are) pulling which help from sliding off the road.

I couldn't agree more

4x4 is far superior in the snow than 2wd

When I was younger I had a 97 base ranger, that thing was a nightmare in snow even with weight in the bed. Driving, turning, traction made me worry. I wouldn't even drive when it was snowing, it was that bad

I now have a FX4 Ranger and it is a whole lot better. Better traction, better turning while in 4x4 in the snow, and virtually no traction problems at all. The best vehicle Ive ever driven in the snow

 

[svtcop]

I drive both in the winter. 4x4 to work, rwd at work. I'll take 4x4 anyday.

 

[Riddla]

16v>32v

/thread

 

[TBCobra]

16v>32v

/thread

Now i see how you have 11k posts. Diducwatididthere?

 

[benulis55]

if you slide/spin out in 4wd you can hit the gas and straighten back out while turning your wheels. 2wd you cannot...you just hangon for the ride...if its pure 100% slick ice, yeah it doesnt matter what you are driving, youre screwed

 

[virginiafiveo]

4wd is better in the snow any day. or AWD. I've been in some thick stuff with my silverado that I would have sworn would require I switch it to 4wd, but it has the lsd and traction control. truck went right over about 20 inches of snow like it wasn't there. 4wd was better about not slipping a little, but 2wd was fine.

most important thing is having some tread on your tires, I just have highway on my silverado. works fine for me.

 

[got merc?]

i didn't read every post so this may have been said already but 4wd PULLS the front tires. Therefore, when you are making a turn your front tire(s) is(are) pulling which helps from sliding off the road.

what in the royal hell are you talking about? where is the pulling coming from?

 

[Darren5.0L]

I'd personally say proper tire choice has a much bigger impact than the drive layout when it comes to winter conditions.

Here's my winter driver:

No weight in the back or fancy tricks, just proper tire and proper mindset. Before the L I daily drove a 2.3L Mustang for years during the winter, same game plan same results.

In many cases, if you aren't traveling on unimproved roads 4WD is hardly necessary, nice to have, but not required.

 

[black92]

4wd is much better in ANY condition than a 2wd, period! As far as stopping, 4x4's can have a slight advantage because you can go to a lower gear and let the engine slow you down because you have 4 tires providing resistance instead of just FWD or RWD.

And the reason you see people in the ditch that have 4x4 is because as mentioned, they get too confident. I will say that I see more 2wd vehicles in the ditch than 4x4 because 4x4's usually have a chance to drive out.

It's currently snowing and I'm excited to try my new tires out on the Explorer

 

[king nothing]

4wd shifts the brake bias because the front brakes that do most of the stopping are now stopping the rear at the same time, since the 4wd ties them together.

The brakes are acting independently at all 4 wheels. The rear tires are not seeing any braking force from the front brakes due to most 4wd vehicles having open or limited slip differentials. and all 4 wheels arent "locked together" in 4wd. if that were the case, you wouldnt be able to get anywhere in the ice and snow. I dont know if 4x4 vehicles are "better". My 97 thunderbird wasnt bad at all in the snow/ice. If I lost traction, i let off the gas and the car almost always straightened itself out with very little steering/brake input. my ram mega cab 4wd does the same

 

[Catfood]

I'd personally say proper tire choice has a much bigger impact than the drive layout when it comes to winter conditions.

Here's my winter driver:

No weight in the back or fancy tricks, just proper tire and proper mindset. Before the L I daily drove a 2.3L Mustang for years during the winter, same game plan same results.

In many cases, if you aren't traveling on unimproved roads 4WD is hardly necessary, nice to have, but not required.

^What he said!^

 

[TBCobra]

what in the royal hell are you talking about? where is the pulling coming from?

The pulling is from the front tires. What is difficult about this? Your front tires pull using your front axle. I don't know how else to explain it. How did you think FWD cars worked?oke:

 

[92z28]

My 400 dollar FWD beater seems to outperform a lot of 4wd vehicles if you go by how many of them I see in the ditch as I drive by.

If you are driving on the highway or city streets it doesn't matter if you have power to all 4 wheels, its all about proper driving techniques and lots of patience and planning when things get bad and you have somewhere to be.

 

[FORD4U]

yes and no?

4wd shifts the brake bias because the front brakes that do most of the stopping are now stopping the rear at the same time, since the 4wd ties them together.

4wd doesn't handle any better in the snow. If it did, I wouldn't see more trucks and SUV's in the ditch compared to cars. 4wd is good for getting retards going too fast for conditions. When you hit ice, it doesn't matter if you have 4wd or 2, physics will over ride it all.

i agree with what you are explaining, while it might not make a huge braking difference there is a little to be gained.

i wont however agree that 4x4 dont havdle better, not to say you are wrong but there are some things that cross my mind. first i think people with 4x4 have a false sense of security when driving a 4x4 instead of a 2wd. second this false sense of security leads to a more wreckless behavior when driving because "hey im in a 4x4, i can do it" mentality. third when describing a 2wd i think there is a large difference between a 2wd mustang and a 2wd focus. anyways not hatin i still agree that 4x4's are better when snow is there, i ce is a whole different story lol. thanks for the read guys

oh and just so its known i have a two 4x4's and 3 2wd's plus many more owned prior lol

 

[Mach1USMC]

Not sure how 4wd helps with braking. I've been driving 4wd/awd vehicles since I started driving and it never helped me with braking. Definitely helped with traction and getting out of jams though.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

4WD is defanently better in the snow than 2WD, but AWD is better than 4WD for bad weather conditions. This is because a AWD system is made to be driven on pavement where as a 4WD system is designed to provide better off-road capabilities, and shouldn't be used in situation where wheel slip isn't available. Of course in bad conditions its usually pretty easy to make the wheels slip, but its not good to run 4WD on pavement unless you are pointed straight because both wheels always turn at the same speed, and that can damage the 4WD system if the tires can't slip.

Not in todays world unless you put spools in front and rear diffs.

4WDs come with limited slip diffs to allow for turning and have for years.

 

[FORD4U]

i may be wrong?

Not in todays world unless you put spools in front and rear diffs.

4WDs come with limited slip diffs to allow for turning and have for years.

i thought it was the other way around?
i know that older straight axles have open diff fronts with only spider gears from the factory, as i have had many appart. but i was under the impression that the new IFS was set up with clutch packs from the factory, which is why they often bind when turning and whick is also why they ask not to drive them on dry surfaces. i know that the newer solid fronts under most superduties still have open diffs like my dana 50 under my PSD and i have a dana 60 that was under a 97 F350.and yes any spooled front end is just a mess unless going stright. i built a few BB jeeps for people that race in mud. i just thought the IFS have a better "posi" front end that delivers better traction in nasty weather, please dont think im saying you are wrong, or trying to be a **** to you, i may just be missed informed and need some slight clearing up.

 

[jfsram]

Snow tires will make ANY car/truck perform better in the snow.

It's funny how everyone focuses on accelerating in snow. Without a doubt 4x4 will take the trophy there but snow tires will give you that much more along with cornering and braking.

 

[Tractorman]

4WD/AWD is most definitely safer than 2WD in the winter. It's the morons who think it helps with every aspect of the car that get themselves into trouble. They think that just because the vehicle acts mostly normal while accelerating on ice and snow, it will act mostly normal when turning and braking. It's this carelessness that puts people in the ditch or on the sidewalk 4WD is more stable when accelerating, and more stable when maintaining speed, and that's it.

4WD has absolutely NO bearing on brake bias. How exactly do you think it affects brake bias? Do you think when the transfer case/center diff is activated, that some module or solenoid is told to determine how much fluid is sent to the front and rear brakes? That's not the case at all. 4WD systems simply determine how much driving power is sent to the wheels and when, which is why it's called 4 wheel drive.

Also, ABS does not give or distribute force to whatever wheel has the most traction, it simply takes away and gives back the force quickly. It does this by comparing a wheel's speed to the other 3 wheels (or other wheel in front only ABS systems) and if the speeds are too far apart, the ABS module will kick in, which simply pulses the brakes (either individual brakes or both on that axle) to whatever wheel is locked. This allows you to keep steering while braking, not stop in a shorter distance.

Also, Tractor, the link you provided states the following:



This disproves your point that 4WD affects brake bias.

-ford_racer

That doesn't disprove that it affects the braking bias. I should clarify.

There's what brake pads are applying, and that doesn't change with switching to 4wd. But now the braking force is getting distributed to all 4 wheels in an even fashion, in the same way that acceleration is spread among all 4 wheels.

So the front pads are applying more force than the rear, but now the 4wd system locks it in so that all braking is shared. I feel this is more important in slick conditions, because there is less need for front bias, as there is less ability to cause weight transfer.

Try driving a truck in 2wd in snow, and hit the brakes. In my experience, the ABS kicks on fast because the front bias is too strong. By switching to 4wd, the front braking is now shared along with the back tires. I've found it allows much better stopping.

I hope I explained it better.