To buy or not to buy, for daily usage.

[Terlingueno]

There was also a bi-annual procedure of putting on the studded snow tires in late September and then removing them come spring. We always had a set of snow tires on wheels for each car to make that happen...

 

[PrairieDrifter]

my RWD 1986 is in a storage barn for winter. ... if it were a 4WD it would be rusted and gone . (previous owners seemed to have just parked it in winter, as there was a 4WD AWD to beat on). its almost 40 years old, and RWD so a nice stable mate for a square back corvette.

I have driven work one ton RWD work vans in winter, fleet owned. aggressive snow/off road tires. (those were 1990s Fords and Dodges).
just plain heavy beasts that were rarely shut off,...but were rusted junk in 4 -6 years. ...and if I were a fleet buyer today I would round up "some" AWD vans instead.

everything I have a plate on has 4 studded snows/ in AWD or 4WD. ...its like cheating death,...and its not all about snow. ...ice is zero fun in states that lack dry snow fall....every winter day in addition to what falls from the sky: bridges / river fronts/ drifts/ clogged ditches.

It was 70 the other day(in November) and is supposed to snow in a few days and be cold again. ND is hard one to deal with lol.

 

[Radiohead]

And this kids is why you should pay attention in physics class. RWD automatics with a one pegger and highway tires was the worst. Hate it when people’s stupid causes you to lose momentum and now you're part of the problem too.

Grandpa used to tell me that 4x4 just got you more stuck.

In certain hands, oh hell yeah. With today's AWD cars, some people easily out drive their skill sets by engaging the Dunning Kruger drive.

As far as getting the truck at the beginning of all this, if it passes muster as a good quality truck, get it. Outfit it properly with the traction and accoutrements necessary for the location and be cool guy with the square. It won't be all flashy new with the headlights from hell but I don't think that is what you were after.

Do you have a picture of this one we can enjoy?

 

[ali_c20]

I only have driven 2wd cars in winter ( K5 is only used during no road salt season ) and we have snow, ice and mountains in Austria. Get good winter tires and chains for deep snow. Real winter tires, not all year tires or offroad tires.
Adjust your speed to match road conditions. Driving too fast on snow and ice is easy, cornering and stopping is the hard part.
In Austria it's mandatory to have winer tires on your car from November till April.

 

[Grit dog]

@goldpack….Huh?? That was weird.

 

[Worktruck]

Okay, so as someone who is still inexperienced in driving generally, I did decide to opt out of the deal. And, for that matter, snow has appeared in all months of the year here in ND--though I haven't been able to see it all the time, luckily.

 

[Worktruck]

But here's a picture of the truck for your enjoyment anyway.

 

[nb96z]

Winter tires, sand bags in the back and chains just in case and you’ll be good to go. As mentioned before, winter tires are amazing in snow.

 

[Long Rider]

I live in a snow belt and my daily driver in an 86 C20 with a 700R4 trans. I use snow tires and carry tire chains' as well as weight in the back. I would do the same with a 4wd. I will probably jinks myself but here goes, I drive my rig everyday year around and haven't been stuck on a paved road for longer than I can remember. You have to remember the 4wd doesn't stop any better than a 2wd and that gets folks in trouble.

 

[Grit dog]

Okay, so as someone who is still inexperienced in driving generally, I did decide to opt out of the deal. And, for that matter, snow has appeared in all months of the year here in ND--though I haven't been able to see it all the time, luckily.

In which case your best first car is that truck.
Learn how to drive in snow. Have fun driving in snow. Have a car that isn’t a $3000 bill if you bump something.
Gutless enough with worse enough traction that it’s pretty much only fun the drive power sliding sideways in the snow.
And it’s cool. And you got one of the cheapest easiest vehicles to work on or get fixed.
This would be a good car for you.

 

[ali_c20]

Okay, so as someone who is still inexperienced in driving generally, I did decide to opt out of the deal. And, for that matter, snow has appeared in all months of the year here in ND--though I haven't been able to see it all the time, luckily.

Don't worry bout that. We all started as inexperienced drivers. Drive a lot in all conditions with your brain turned on and enjoy the rides and gain experience.

 

[Grit dog]

I live in a snow belt and my daily driver in an 86 C20 with a 700R4 trans. I use snow tires and carry tire chains' as well as weight in the back. I would do the same with a 4wd. I will probably jinks myself but here goes, I drive my rig everyday year around and haven't been stuck on a paved road for longer than I can remember. You have to remember the 4wd doesn't stop any better than a 2wd and that gets folks in trouble.

Can we please stop the old wives tail that 4wd does not stop better than 2wd? My dad used to say that when I was a kid. Wasn’t true then and still ain’t. Pretty sure he just wished he had a 4x4.
ESPECIALLY for old vehicles without ABS. ABS levels the playing field quite a bit, newer ABS, not the old original versions from the 80s-90s.

Yes, your tires only get so much traction for whatever weight and pressure. But when in 4wd and you have to lock up all 4 before losing controlled braking, that will win every time compared to a 1 or 2 wheeler peeler locking up quicker and less predictably. Period.
If one doesn’t believe this it’s because one either hasn’t experienced both or one is making excuses why “4wd isn’t better.”

 

[BigT]

I totally get why you passed on it, you do you. I would just agree with many other posters that good tires, some weight in the back, and forget you even have a brake pedal, and you'd probably be fine. I drove nothing but manual 2wd cars and trucks for my teens and 20s in MANY terrible winters, and managed to keep it on the road most of the time . It's just something you learn as you go. I still run my 4wd K20 with traction sand tubes in the bed in winter, because as others have said, you only use 4wd when you need it. Good luck!!

 

[Keith Seymore]

....

 

[Keith Seymore]

Can we please stop the old wives tail that 4wd does not stop better than 2wd? My dad used to say that when I was a kid. Wasn’t true then and still ain’t. Pretty sure he just wished he had a 4x4.
ESPECIALLY for old vehicles without ABS. ABS levels the playing field quite a bit, newer ABS, not the old original versions from the 80s-90s.

Yes, your tires only get so much traction for whatever weight and pressure. But when in 4wd and you have to lock up all 4 before losing controlled braking, that will win every time compared to a 1 or 2 wheeler peeler locking up quicker and less predictably. Period.
If one doesn’t believe this it’s because one either hasn’t experienced both or one is making excuses why “4wd isn’t better.”

In order to validate vehicles for FMVSS105 and 208 (so that we could sell them to the public) we had to run tests in both 2wd and 4wd.

There was no measureable difference in terms of stopping distance.

K