Do I need 4x4?

[akpls]

I drove a 2WD Ford Ranger all over Fairbanks for many years. Studs all around and weight in the back was the way to go. I lived at the top of a big hill and got really good at putting the chains on when I couldn't get up......which was most of the time during the winter. I obviously didn't die and don't remember ever putting it in the ditch either. Just know what your limitations with a 2WD are.....and FWIW....all my daily driver vehicles are now AWD.

[Dakster]

I can see having issues with 2WD living in certain areas or commutes. And others where you'd never really need it... Chains are an equalizer for the 2WD crowd. Although yOu have limitations with chains on too. Like 30 MPH max speed and I wouldn't expect a smooth ride. Critical to know your and your vehicle limitations and not just in snow.

It seems like this is almost like having ABS. 99.9% of the time I don't need the ABS, but the one time you need it, you will be glad you had them. The past 7 years my work car didn't have them and I can count on one hand the number of times (in the rain) I skidded and kinda wished I did. Even though I never wrecked or ended up in the ditch...

riceme - I find it interesting that you say the small light trucks are not as squirrelly then the larger ones. I have found that to be the opposite in the rain. Since my 1-ton outweighs your Tacoma 2 to 1. And kinda curious that you think a Taco is a large truck. What do you consider a small truck? Unless I misunderstood your post, which is possible and why I am asking.

[riceme]

Dak, I was also surprised that the larger pickups were squirrellier than smaller ones... that was counterintuitive to me. I do not count the Taco as a large pickup by any definition, but I found that it behaved similarly to the half ton pickups in terms of how squirrelly it is on the ice in 2WD as opposed to the 3/4 tons. Sorry, I did not phrase that well in my above post.

The half tons I test drove were base model work trucks... regular cab, manual xfr case, etc. The pickup I bought is a Silverado 2500 Crew Cab long bed. Oh and I got the Allison transmission ... hey, if I have to have an automatic, I might as well do it right, right? Haha.

[Dakster]

Interesting... And a Long bed 2500 Crew Cab... Congrats on that find... Used to have to go to a 3500 SRW in Chevy to find that. And you are going to diesel as well? I know the ally is usually a diesel tranny - not sure if they offer in the gassers or not.

I don't what they *manufacturers" do to the work trucks, but they sure don't drive like the consumer model trucks. We have some work trucks at work - F250's XL and Chevy 2500 WT's and all I can say is there is a HUGE difference in the way they drive compared to an Chevy LT or a Ford XLT and above trim levels...

But - hey, it is why I have a 4WD truck.... And like you, I can engage it from INSIDE the truck using the air lockers.

Even though lately I have been a Ford guy (and notice that Ford are the most common large truck in Anchorage) - the Colorado diesel could be interesting.

[riceme]

Thanks, it is a pretty sweet pickup. After the Taco it seems like a luxury sedan even though it is technically also a "work truck"... vinyl floor boards, manual xfr case, manual window cranks, cloth seats. It's my Dirt Road Cadillac, "the caddy"... haha, my cousin in North Pole has exactly the same one.

I agree, the half ton work truck models I test drove were pretty much POS's, not due to abuse but because they were poorly manufactured. On every single one of them there was something or several things that did not work: the defroster, air vents, dash lights, stuff like that. It pissed me off. I mean, I could get things like that fixed, but if those sorts of things were already broken, how was the truck going to be running in another 10 years?? I knew the answer... it wasn't! I had my Tacoma for 16 years and over 220k miles (the odometer quit last year), for $10k. I got every penny and more out of it. I intend to keep the Silverado just as long... til the wheels fall off.

I was sort of looking for a Ford but I couldn't find one with low miles and that wasn't beat to hell and back. I am happy with what I got. Actually, I did find a fairly sweet one, but it was a '99... manual locking hubs, manual transmission w/a nice granny low, manual transfer case, 100k miles. I was looking for something a lot newer, plus the rear diff was leaking, but despite that it was a pretty nice pickup, and it was cheap.

[Dakster]

Nice thing about all of the manual stuff, that stuff rarely breaks. One of my first cars was a manual tranny, crank windows, manual door locks.. Nothing every broke. It was an upgrade from my first used and previously abused car, since this one had power steering and brakes. THey all did have A/C though. A must in South Florida, which is where I was living at the time. Obviously A/C isn't needed in AK, but a heater core sure is. That is the one thing we used to bypass down here when they went bad.

Even though autos have come a long way, I still get missed/delayed shifts. Even in brand new ones, especially in 1 ton trucks. I had a 3500 SRW Chevy wih the allison and it would still get its shifts confused, even though it is one of the best 1-ton automatic tranny's out there. Only exception is my wife's car - it has a one speed automatic. (tops out at over 100 mph though) so there isn't a way for it to get confused, its either moving the car forward or reverse.

[riceme]

I am a big fan of keeping it simple... I like manual stuff. To me a manual transmission means roughly 600 less things to go wrong, :]. ABS might take some getting used to. I engaged it on purpose when I was test driving and it scared the crap out of me, lol.

By "one speed automatic" do you mean one of those continuously variable trannies that use centrifugal force? Those are pretty cool. I would like to drive one sometime. Maybe I should have asked if they had one when I was at the dealership.