2wd with locking diff or basic 4x4?

If you only occasionally need 4 wheel drive, then the locking differential is probably not necessary.

My '81 4x4 pickup did not have a locking differential and was a pretty bare bones vehicle, and the only time it ever got stuck was when I was in 2WD and got it buried in sand and high centered trying to pull someone else out. Once the tires no longer contact solid ground, even 4WD doesn't help.

I've taken a lot of vehicles off road, including FJ 40 and FJ 60 Land Cruisers, 4X4 Tercel, All-Trac Camry, 4X4 vans, All-Trac Previas, 4 Runners, pickups, and most lately, a Sequoia, and have never used the differential lock on those vehicles that had them.

DC,

I've done a lot of driving around the southeastern California deserts when I lived there and am very familiar with that sort of terrain. I'm going to concur with Ray; you likely don't need a locking differential for the driving you're contemplating.

The "4X4 recommended" roads are flagged that because of the sand, which 4WD will handle just fine especially driving as conservatively as you contemplate to the trailheads and back. If you were using your truck to "play" and were climbing steep rocky slopes you'd likely benefit from a locking differential; otherwise no.

You'd be better off spending the money on a decent (street legal) set of off road tires - I happen to prefer the FC II radials sold by Mickey Thompson (I wish they still made the bias ply in other than monster-truck sizes) and you can improve sand traction by letting air out until they're around 20 PSI (this widens the footprint.)

In fact, I'd venture to say that you can get about 95% of the places you want to go in a 2WD pickup with good tires as with a 4X4.

-- Mike Harris Austin TX