Val-
You've come to the right place. You'll get more
information and opinions here than you ever imagined.
Here's mine:
Definitely get the four-wheel ABS. Better brakes on
any vehicle are always a good idea. Rear ABS is
standard because it is a much bigger engineering
problem to get front and rear ABS to work perfectly on
a pickup under all conditions from empty bed,
front-heavy to fully loaded with most of the weight on
the rear axle. So Dodge offers rear ABS standard and
asks you to pay the extra bucks if you want a complete
front-and-rear ABS system. I think it's worth the
extra money.
Get the limited-slip rear diff if you can. Without it,
you will have one-wheel drive on ice and snow.
I strongly recommend the full-time four wheel drive.
Any two-wheel drive pickup will be a bit squirrely in
the snow -- especially if you are used to driving
all-wheel drive. If you get part-time 4wd you will
only use it a miniscule percentage of the time. You
cannot use it on dry, hard pavement. So the half-dozen
times a year that you engage the 4wd for snow or ice
will be expensive. That is, you paid a lot of money
for something you only use very, very rarely. And you
may forget to engage it the one time you need it.
Full-time four-wheel drive is always on, always
working. (Your all-wheel drive van is actually
two-wheel drive most of the time.) If you are going to
pay for the advantages of 4wd drive why get a system
you almost never use?
My 2000 Club Cab is amazing in the snow. I've got
full-time 4wd, limited slip, the 4.7 liter engine, and
an automatic. I get about 15.5 miles to the gallon on
a typical tank.
The power and convenience options are well worth
having. I didn't think I wanted most of that stuff
before I got the truck. But I got them because that's
what was available and I didn't want to wait. Now I'm
very happy with all the stuff I didn't think I wanted.
Best of luck in your decision. Please let us know what
you decide.
cheers,
-J.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:01:33 EDT