are all pick-up trucks 4x4 nowadays?

A 4x4 is an option. Since you pay in fuel mileage, If you don't need it, don't get it.

Depending on where you live, and the general common hobbies of your area you will see more 4x4's. In snow country, wherer i live 4x4 is so common its hard to find a 2x4 on ther road at the moment. Many have a newer 2x4 that they use in the summer and an old beater 4x4 that they use in the winter. In california you may see many more 2x4's then 4 by's. Its all personal choice and preferance.

Yes, and they all have CTD HOs with heated seats.

FMB

Hi!

I don't know the answer to that...and I'm not sure the individual companies release numbers like that. (Maybe the industry as a whole has an average?)

You will see both two and four wheel drive trucks being sold today, as always.

Traction in a 2WD truck can still be a problem...just the other day I got my

Putting sand in the back helps, but there is always the question of what to do with the sand bags in the summer time. I don't have the space to store them in the off season.

And truthfully put--traction in any truck or other vehicle can be a problem. No matter what it is, you can get it stuck under the right conditions...four wheel drive or not.

So far as I know some people do still load their vehicles down in the back end. People with cars might not have as much of a reason to do this as many cars today are front wheel drive, which does help in the winter time.

I think there have been some front wheel drive trucks marketed over time (not sure). I am not aware of anything making such a thing today.

William

I've driven trucks for years 4x4 and 2wd, if you actually spend a little bit of time learning how to drive then you don't need any weight in the rear. But to answer your question, they can be bought with just 2wd, 4x4, or even some kind of AWD. Honda even makes a front wheel drive minivan they call a truck so you could get one of them and pretend its a truck too if you beleive that front wheel drive is somhowe good.

A true 4x4 system (not AWD) doesn't make any significant difference in milage anymore. For example my 2004 4x4 silverado gets better city milage than a friends 2005 2wd F150.

Nobody makes a "true" 4x4 anyhow. The original 4x4 meant 4 wheels driven by 4 gears. That was either a Detroit locker or "real" posi-traction diffs at both ends and a serious 4 spd standard transmission. You might get 10 mpg going downhill on the hwy on a good day. Gone are the days....

The original Willies 4x4 was just a powered front axle no lockers or anything like that so the modern 4x4's are the same. The 4 wheels are driven by gears in the differentials. Besides I'm meaning as opposed to AWD and crap like that.

You lose fuel mileage due friction loses in the transfer case. Adding more gears, plus weight of the transfer case and front differential also contribute to less fuel mileage.

To see any 4WD difference between vehicles you need to compare identical vehicles. You are comparing Apples and Oranges.

: > A 4x4 is an option. Since you pay in fuel mileage, If you don't need : > it, don't get it. : >

: A true 4x4 system (not AWD) doesn't make any significant difference in : milage anymore. For example my 2004 4x4 silverado gets better city milage : than a friends 2005 2wd F150. :

Sand bags or whatever in the box is a bad idea, what happens to the frozen sand bags in case of a collision?? Yeah, that's right, you get the air bag in the face but hit with the frozen sand bag behind the head. In snow country, got winter tires are usually the best you can do. Not much sense in getting great traction to gather speed if you can stop......

"Eugene N>

Even the factory rating is only 1 mpg difference and I average .5 mpg higher then what they say my truck is supposed to be so I'm only .5mpg different from the 2wd version of my truck. There is very little friction in a modern transfer case, they have come a long way since the 70's

Just got a 2006 Silverado 2WD. Put 240 lb of sand bags in the bed but was driving it without on snow covered roads. Has a V6 so was not so powerful as to break traction without conscious effort on the gas pedal. I reasoned that the 4x4 with 3.73 diffs, larger tires and the extra weight couldn't get the same bang for the buck as the 2WD with 3.23 diffs. The insurance company wants more for the 4WD too and it was 3 grand more just to buy it. Maintenance costs more over the long run too.

Eugene you can really only compare your 2004 4x4 Silverado to another silverado with the same power plant and 2wd. For instance;

So yes 4WD still makes a difference in mpg. Weather 1mpg is significant depends more on how you plane to use the vehicle and how many miles you put on it.

You would be suprized how may 4X4s there are here in CA that will never be used....

There is a new invention to weight the bed of your truck. It is a plastic bag that you fill with water after placing it in the bed of the truck, strap it down and there you go. Sure it may turn to a block of ice in some places but it provides you with the added weight over the rear wheels that you are looking for. I have seen it in one of the catalogs that blitz my home this time of year. All that would do around here is bog you down even further in the mud (when it rains) in Arizona.

As all else have mentioned, 4X2's are still made and are easy to get, and yes, it depends on where you live as to what you need, but more often what you are going to be doing with it. I made the decision to get my '99 F150 Lariat fully loaded with all options, but as a 4x2, simply because although I live on Long Island and although you can drive on the ocean beach, I was not going to take a brand new 30K truck out by the salt water. We get snow here, but not enough to warrant 4WD and it's as flat as a pancake.

You would be surprised at how many 4 X 4 are used here in Canada :-)

Yes, if you look at my last post you will see that I said there is only one mpg difference between the factory rating and I'm getting average .5mpg higher then what they say so its possible they measured the 4x4 at 19.4mpg an 2wd at 19.6 mpg and rounded down and up. My friends f150 is as close to my solverado as you can get, mid level trim package, 5.3 and 5.4l v8's auto extended cab, etc. He does beat me in long trip highway milage, but it just wasn't worth it to gain .5 mpg to give up low range for when I'm on my parents farm. Its like making 100k per year and being too cheap to buy a $5 fire smoke detector for your house, there when if you needed but hopefully you never will.