When to use 4WD and when not? Need to know..

[erty176]

I try and stay in 2wd as much as I can, but I do the ol jump the gas and if the rear end gets uncontrollably sideways or traction control goes full lit light I’ll engage 4wd high. If in 4 high I wouldn’t go over 55mph. If you do it’s 2wd weather anyway.
Just a friendly reminder:
4wd go does not equal 4wd stop.

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[LaBalbe]

I see you are in NC. I am in TN, so we have similar winter weather. The issue for us is that often as the snow is occurring the temp is dropping fast, so what looks like a wet road under the snow is actually ice. For me, if I begin to feel some slippage then I hit the magic 4x4 button. Just today I used mine for the first time since I bought the truck in March of this year. I used 4x4 low to get down my very steep driveway, then 4x4 high to get out of my neighborhood. Once I got to some main roads I turrned it off for a few miles, but then hit a surprise stretch of icy road that did cause some slip, so 4x4 high was back on. I only needed it for about a 6 mile or so stretch, but it was nice to have. Ironically, one stretch of the road is a nice "S" curve, and as I was clearing the curve I passed a flatbed towtruck that had just pulled a jacked up Chevy 4x4 truck out of a ditch. Point is, 4x4 will definintely help you get where you are going, but it can't fix careless driving...

@Justin says... Greg is absolutely right in this. I'm primarily in Ontario, where it's flat and when winter hits, it sticks around for a while, so the weather and roads are somewhat predictable. But, I spend a lot of time in the summer and around Christmas visiting family in the NC mountains, near Boone (I'm here now). The rapid rise and fall in temperatures means that there's a lot more potential for black ice conditions in Western NC than I'll ever encounter in Ontario. That's exactly the type of conditions that I've always had AWD or 4WD on every vehicle that I've owned, and probably always will as long as I live in areas with wintery conditions.

I spent a fair portion of today in 4H because even the main roads aren't totally cleared (not as bad as down in the Low Country, but still....) and with those hairpin turns in the mountain, I don't want the truck to be sliding around. The road you showed looks like it could be driven in 2H, but that's only a snapshot; how many twists and turns are there. Is it flat, or are there inclines? What kind of traffic are you dealing with?

I was driving up the mountain this evening following someone who had snow chains on, but I suspect that they had them on the wrong set of wheels (they had them on the front, and from the way they were slipping and sliding, I think they might have had a RWD; near white-out conditions, so I don't know the make and model). Being behind this character, it gave me some sense of comfort to have the 4H engaged in case I had to move the Ranger in a hurry to avoid their backslide; definitely not the moment to have the RWD fishtail on me.

All of this factors into it. At the end of the day, like many have said, it's a gut-call.

 

[Highlander]

@Justin says... all of the info given is great. Just remember that a 4x4 is a tool you paid for. Use it correctly, and when needed. I've never heard a tradesperson brag about not using their tools, but I've heard lots of truck owners bragging about not using 4x4 mode, when they could or should have.

Frank

 

[Jhbryaniv]

In case anyone has missed the obvious....

The road conditions OP shows are not bad for 4x4, and as you become more comfortable with your truck you will begin to learn how the truck reacts to certain situations.

Just stay within the limits of what the manual says, don't drive 4x4 on dry pavement etc and you'll be fine.

As some have mentioned, take the truck to an empty parking lot and play. Start, stop, turn etc. Learn the limits of what 2wd can do in the slippery conditions. Than turn on 4x4 and see the differences. Before long you'll learn when you need 4x4,when it is helpful and when it makes little to no difference.

It also helps if there are no parking bumpers or light poles in the parking lot.... Ask me how I know... LOL

 

[JohnnyO]

What about roads like this? If you have 4WD on, is it ok to make turns? I think the front diff is open, so I dont see how it would harm anything.

The front diff is open but the transfer case is locked, therefore there will still be a speed differential between the front and rear axles on turns. That said, a road with long sweeping turns won't hurt it. On the road pictured I would probably not use 4wd. If I did, I would do the same thing you are doing and switch back to 2wd occasionally to let everything free up.

 

[majorv]

One thing I do because we obviously don't have bad whether here is engage my 4wd every few month. I'll go to an open parking lot (keeping it straight) and run it a few hundred feet in 4wd. I know they use to recommend doing this years ago to make sure things don't get bound up and the newer ones might not need to do this but old habits die hard. I've done this with every truck I've owned and have never had any problems with them so it must work. lol

Now I’m a little concerned. I’ve had my FX4 for almost 3 years and only had it in 4WD once by accident. If I start doing the above should I keep it in 4 Low or 4 High? I live where it’s flat and none (if any) snow, so have very little opportunity to use it unless I can find a field somewhere that isn’t fenced.

 

[AzScorpion]

Now I’m a little concerned. I’ve had my FX4 for almost 3 years and only had it in 4WD once by accident. If I start doing the above should I keep it in 4 Low or 4 High? I live where it’s flat and none (if any) snow, so have very little opportunity to use it unless I can find a field somewhere that isn’t fenced.

I just use 4H. I'll just go to an open parking lot either a business or a school when no ones around. Yours should be fine but I always try to so this a couple times a year if I'm not off road much.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Now I’m a little concerned. I’ve had my FX4 for almost 3 years and only had it in 4WD once by accident. If I start doing the above should I keep it in 4 Low or 4 High? I live where it’s flat and none (if any) snow, so have very little opportunity to use it unless I can find a field somewhere that isn’t fenced.

Meh, it's fine, probably.

It won't hurt to kick it into 4x4 and drive around as Dave does...

If it doesn't work spray some 303 graphene under there and try again... ?

 

[awd.nv]

Hey guys,

I have never found the need to do this but we are taking a trip where we will be driving in possible snow fall and wet conditions.

I found a lot of videos on this where people recommend it on wet or snow even at hwy speed but specifically curious what our Rangers can handle.

Thanks!

 

[IdahoRanger]

Hey guys,

I have never found the need to do this but we are taking a trip where we will be driving in possible snow fall and wet conditions.

I found a lot of videos on this where people recommend it on wet or snow even at hwy speed but specifically curious what our Rangers can handle.

Thanks!

Anthony, I drive highway speeds often in 4H and pretty sure you can shift on the fly up to 65mph.

Can be driving and conditions change from wet pavement to snow,, just turn 4H knob while letting up on the gas to allow 4H to engage.

A thread on it here:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/engaged-4hi-while-on-highway.10965/#post-206820

 

[pbethel]

Just keep in mind there is no central differential and what the wheels on one axle do the wheels on the other axle must also do. WAY different than all wheel drive.

 

[AzScorpion]

Hey guys,

I have never found the need to do this but we are taking a trip where we will be driving in possible snow fall and wet conditions.

I found a lot of videos on this where people recommend it on wet or snow even at hwy speed but specifically curious what our Rangers can handle.

Thanks!

Anthony, I just merged this with an older thread so you can see the posts which have some good info in them. Especially the ones from that guy who use to live in AZ. ?

 

[awd.nv]

Thanks for the recent comments and this thread in general. We ended up only having light snowfall in Park City, UT where it really just wet the road. I have driven through actual snow fall in our AWD 2016 Pilot which was a great experience in that vehicle (Toyo AT3) but was not sure what to expect with RWD and when I could engage 4H if things felt slippery. Actually the only time I did turn 4H on was to get out of our parking spot as the right rear tire was on ice and a vehicle right behind me.

What I can say, the K03 tires exceeded expectations coming from K02 in the same size. BFG really did improve wet road handling which was really my only issue with the K02. The K02 just did not give me confidence at all once it got wet. The K03 always felt in full control, even when trying to test the limits a little (in safe areas).

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