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  1. #1
    SKWrapper started this thread.
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    Anyone else here scrap with RWD in a climate were there is snow? Check in.

    I originally didn't buy my pickup with the intent to collect scrap metal, I got it a few years ago because I kept needing to borrow my friends' trucks and I needed to haul off tree branches and bushes at my old house basically I kept needing a truck etc... So I paid cash for a used good running pickup and I put about 300$ worth of new suspension into it - I work on my own vehicles.

    Turns out RWD pickups all else equal - (same truck 4x2 vs same truck 4x4) have more towing capability and payload capacity because of less curb weight and they get better fuel economy - BUT far less traction when things get ugly and cold, but I grew up driving RWD vehicles - although not trucks.

    My car is AWD.



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    I live in southern AZ but I can only imagine having a heavy load in your truck driving on snow. Maybe tie a bale of hay to the front bumper to help with traction and braking? Or better yet a big bumper with winch! Charge 20 bucks to winch people out of ditches.

  3. #3
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    I live in Maine and have been working with 2WD & 4WD for over 30 years. I would agree that you're at a distinct disadvantage with a 2WD truck but you have to keep it in perspective. There are only certain times that you really need that 4WD. If you use your noggin, and don't put yourself into bad situations, you can get along just fine with a 2WD.

    The main problem with 2WD is that the weight distribution is all wrong. An empty truck is heavy on the front and quite light on the back over the driven wheels. What you need is a fair amount of weight in the back. That shifts the weight distribution backward and puts more weight over your driven wheels.

    A case in point: The six wheel dump trucks that i plowed the roads with here were only 2WD. They had a ten foot plow on the front and an eight foot wing plow on the side. That's a whole lotta pushing ! The reason they worked so well was because there was about five yards of sand ( 15 thousand pounds ) sitting in the dump body directly over the rear wheels. Those tires had all kinds of traction even in the middle of a blizzard. The main thing you had to be careful of was not getting off the tar or gravel road. It's easy to bury your truck all the way up to the X once you get into loose soil because those tires really dig in.

    Bottom line: Winter driving is 90% good judgement. Four wheel drive is better, but it's a common thing for people here to get their four wheel drive pickup trucks stuck in the winter. It's battlefield conditions at times with all of the snow and ice we get in this part of the country.

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  5. #4
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    To me 4WD is more useful off the actual road. I see my fair share of snow and ice in the mountains of NC, but for the most part, I can putz around in 2wd just fine. Its when I'm trying to get to a scrap pile in the woods or on the other side of the field or where ever it is that it really shines, especially on steeper ground or if the grass is wet, and especially pulling a trailer.

    I wouldn't buy a 2WD on the premise of better economy or payload, only because I got it at a smoking good price.

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  7. #5
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    I put far more faith in good semi aggresive tires than 4 wheel drive for winter driving.
    There ain't nothing wrong with an honest days work. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.- Old Man

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  9. #6
    SKWrapper started this thread.
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    I suppose if I scrapped where I have to go off the road most of the time I would consider a 4x4 truck when I replace this one. It snows here alot and we get blizzards etc... but it never sticks around long like out east where it's around all winter.

    I might just have to stick with 2WD cause they cost less but still hold their value better than cars cause you can make $$ with them and the other benefits - fuel economy etc... I'll see how it does this winter, I do have a set of snows I am going to have put on soon. I also have 4 60lb bags of sand in the garage, although I cut one open - dropped a cast iron tub on it. Fortunately that was the only thing that had damage, better that than my foot or the wall etc...
    Last edited by SKWrapper; 10-15-2018 at 11:53 AM.

  10. #7
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    I use my Ford E150 RWD van for service calls and with a good set of all terrain tires I'm usually fine. All of my tools are behind the front seats for the most part so that there is room in the back for equipment we might be installing. I also have tubes of sand that you mentioned if need be. For really bad days the F250 4x4 is used.
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  12. #8
    SKWrapper started this thread.
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    Quote Originally Posted by KzScrapper View Post
    For really bad days the F250 4x4 is used.
    Now that I think of it, I probably won't look for scrap when it's that bad anyway - like when the trash people don't show up cause the side streets are so bad etc...

    I've been stuck 2 times in my life, once with bald tires in a snowstorm with my first car 76' Olds Regency 98 and back in 2015 in my own driveway for about 15 minutes because I mistook my AWD car for a Jeep.
    Last edited by SKWrapper; 10-15-2018 at 04:09 PM.

  13. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 520 View Post
    Maybe tie a bale of hay to the front bumper to help with traction and braking?
    No need.

    Quote Originally Posted by hills View Post
    The main problem with 2WD is that the weight distribution is all wrong. An empty truck is heavy on the front and quite light on the back over the driven wheels. What you need is a fair amount of weight in the back. That shifts the weight distribution backward and puts more weight over your driven wheels.
    Bingo.

    My current scrap buggy: '96 Ram 2500 Club Cab, Cummins, RWD, limited slip diff, Wrangler MT/R rubber on the rear.

    These work quite well in the winter slop.



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  15. #10
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    Good tires on a rear wheel drive truck will get you where you need to go most of the time. I've had to be pulled out one time in all the miles I've put on rear wheel drive trucks. I'd just keep a chain with you in the truck just in case, but I doubt you'll need it. A $20 chain is cheap insurance if something does go wrong and you need a little yank
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  17. #11
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    In the metropolitan areas I think a two wheel drive with weight in the box would work most of the time. A 4 x 4 out here is good insurance as long as your ego does not get involved.
    Give back more to this world than we take.

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  19. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by matador View Post
    Good tires on a rear wheel drive truck will get you where you need to go most of the time. I've had to be pulled out one time in all the miles I've put on rear wheel drive trucks. I'd just keep a chain with you in the truck just in case, but I doubt you'll need it. A $20 chain is cheap insurance if something does go wrong and you need a little yank
    Great advice.
    Just threw the chains in the cab today, So far it has only served to help others, but my day may come. Best use for them so far is to put under a tractor trailer who couldn't get going parked way off the road in the soft snow.
    I'm also driving in storms to work, to start moving the storms mess during the storm.so most of my winter driving is worst possible conditions. I really enjoy it...imagine that?!?!
    Last edited by NHscrapman; 10-22-2018 at 06:19 PM. Reason: Words are hard

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  21. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by EDC76 View Post
    No need.



    Bingo.

    My current scrap buggy: '96 Ram 2500 Club Cab, Cummins, RWD, limited slip diff, Wrangler MT/R rubber on the rear.

    These work quite well in the winter slop.


    I agree with your choice of tires and have them on two 4x4's and run them at 80 psi.

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