<<(1) For you 4x4 owners out there - do any of you wish you had opted for the
4x2 instead? If so - why? I am concerned about a couple things - namely, the
added effort for maintenance such as fluid changes, clutch replacement, oil
pan gasket, CV boots & joints (I assume the 4x4 dak has these?), stuff like that
. How much extra maintenance work is necessary with 4x4? And does this affect
the procedure for replacing front brake discs?>>
I live in New England, hunt up north in VT and enjoy driving on the beach in the
summer so 2wd was never an option in my book... I've got around 39,000 miles on
mine and there is no major increase in maintenance at this point (diff. fluid
and such is all). Ultimately there will be more maintenance just because there
are more wear items/parts than on a 4x2. You may also be more inclined to body
dings and accelerated wear if ya' do get the urge to go off-road, but those are
beauty marks and labors of love to me... ;-)
<<My other concern is whether or not I can even justify having 4 wheel drive.
Any time it rains out, all I do is sit and spin in my current dak (2 wheel), and
for the entire winter I haul around close to 500lbs of sand. This becomes a ver
y tedious thing to deal with. I won't be doing any hardcore offroading, but I
will be driving in people's wet soggy backyards (got stuck once...) occasionally
and also towing a 14' boat. I know that whenever I have to do something extra
(like dealing with sandbags all winter... or getting stuck in a FLAT yard!!!)
because I have 2 wheel drive, I end up cussing myself for not getting 4x4 when I
bought my97.
Any input?>>
Hmmm... If this is strictly street, a locker or limited slip diff. may be more
of what you are looking for. With my locker I get around just fine in the rain
and *most* backroads in 2wd mode... Just something to consider.
Can't help with the stick questions... I am happy with my 5.2L V8 and auto
combination so far (except for gas mileage) and have had no problems to speak
of.
Tom
<<snip>>
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