4x4 Required? (Kalispell: how much, home, live in)

[Traveler256]

Quick question for Montana residents. Do you feel like you need a 4x4 to get around in the winter? I am considering the Kalispell area for relocation.

I have a 4x4 Explorer right now (proper 4x4 with low range gears). I was considering trading it for a sedan but if it would benefit me to keep it presuming I do relocate I will hold off trading it in.

I am from Nor'IL so heavy snow is nothing new to me, I just don't know what to expect up in Montana. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[bigtrees]

I don't consider a 4x4 to be a requirement in Montana. Growing up, my family owned a number of front-wheel drive compact cars (Honda's primarily) and they worked darn good. Probably if a guy only had one vehicle you'd want a 4x4, but front-wheel drive vehicles work really good.

One caution I'll mention is you always have 4 wheel drive braking, so the 4 wheel drive doesn't help on ice. (I think you know this, but I'm mentioning it for the benefit of others who may read this.) The biggest truck slides just as easily as the smallest car on frictionless ice!

[elkslayin]

Originally Posted by Traveler256

Quick question for Montana residents. Do you feel like you need a 4x4 to get around in the winter? I am considering the Kalispell area for relocation.

I have a 4x4 Explorer right now (proper 4x4 with low range gears). I was considering trading it for a sedan but if it would benefit me to keep it presuming I do relocate I will hold off trading it in.

I am from Nor'IL so heavy snow is nothing new to me, I just don't know what to expect up in Montana. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

It depends on your lifestyle. If you live in town and jst tool around back and forth locally, no you don't need a 4wd. However, few people come to Montana to just hang out in the urban areas. I have 3 4wd trucks, andi use all three of them. I put mine in 4wd rather regularly, so each person is different. I would not want be here w/o 4wd. It falls in the classic saying: better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

[grannymontanny]

Depends on location too. we are in the hills of lakeside and many in our area would not get up their driveways in winter without 4x4's. around town,no problems.

[bigtrees]

What you want to be sure to avoid are 2WD if they are rear wheel drive, whether trucks or cars.

I was surprised many times in when I was in a Honda Prelude driving past a stuck F150 (rear wheel drive.) Those trucks just don't have any traction if there is no load in the back. The Prelude, though, had a lot of engine weight to keep it going and small tires, and it work real nice.

As elkslayin mentioned, you'll want a 4X4 for going up in the woods, plowing your driveway, etc. They're real nice to have for sure.

One other comment is the low range probably won't be necessary in the snow. Typically it's used when your engine won't have enough power to get up a steel hill. In snow or ice, you engine always has plenty of power but your tires don't have enough friction, so they simply spin and throw snow.

[rickers]

Keep it, you will want it for cruising the mountain truck trails and greasy mud prairie roads too. Unless you just want to go back and forth from home to work and for shopping in town. I wouldn't have anything but a 4x4 rig and/or a Subaru, they perform very well in snow and mud.

[NYMTman]

I only own a FWD Ford Taurus and you have no idea how much I would love to have a 4WD.

[Traveler256]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll hang on to the truck for now.

[grannymontanny]

Originally Posted by Traveler256

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll hang on to the truck for now.

I would if i were you. i have a jeep grand cherokee and i wouldnt trade it for anything.when it goes,ill get anotherIts great in the snow

[Traveler256]

Yup. My Explorer (or Ex'Sploder as my friends call it) is great in the snow. I have some nice A/T tires on it right now and in 2.5 years of ownership I haven't gotten it stuck yet in snow, mud or even shallow marshes.