OK, let's just say that there are two main fanatical groups of
Dakota owners. There are those who drive their trucks on the
street and like them to go really fast, like Jon here. And there are
those who like to take their vehicles as far off road as possible
and want lots of traction and ground clearance (which implies tall
tires but absolutely no ground effects) so they can climb over
things, like me. The first group seems to enjoy pulling away from
other vehicles on the road. The second group enjoys getting the
truck covered in mud. Personally, if I even *see* another vehicle
I'm obviously not far enough into the wilds yet. I don't care if I can
drive faster than they can, just further away from civilization.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 4x4 is an absolute
necessity for the dirt group but not for the speed group.
Can we live with that? (please?)
BTW, we do get a lot of snow here, and 4x4 helps, but not really
as much as you would think. Many 4x4 owners think themselves
invincible, which explains why most of the vehicles you see
turned on their backs by the side of the road after the first few
storms of the year have four wheel drive. The front wheel drive
cars do almost just as well unless the snow is more than about
twelve inches deep on the roads. If it were just for snow, I would
have gotten, say, a Subaru. (That's just an example, and let's
please not start a flame war about favorite or least favorite
non-Dakota vehicles, at least not on the mailing list, thanks.)
>>> Jon N. Steiger <stei0302@penny.cs.fredonia.edu> 11/07/96
04:23pm >>>
--------snip-------
I didn't get 4wd for a few reasons:
- Cost. Way, way too much money!!
- Complexity. Yet another thing to have break.
- Need. I live in western New York (state), and we do
usually
get a decent amount of snow, but I never (well, hardly
ever) go off-road. The truck was a tad hairy in the
winter until I threw 600lbs of sand into the back.
After that, it handled the snow just fine on the stock
(garbage) Invictas. A set of snow tires would give me
a bunch more traction, but so far, I haven't needed it.
Now that I have 235/70's that may have changed, but
I'm not anticipating much of a problem.
- Weight. I don't know what it adds, but its must add extra
weight.
- Purpose. I don't particularly care for what most people call
sport trucks (slammed, tires practically rubbing on the
tops of the wheelwells, bizzare colors), and I don't
really go for the 4x4 look either. I like a truck
that sits fairly low to the ground (for a truck),
with big fat tires that makes deep rumbling noises
when its running, and goes like a banshee when I
put my foot down. (Along with a bit of exterior work
such as window tint, ground effects, bed rails, etc.
Just enough to warn the guy in the next lane that he's
about to get a (fleeting) glimpse of your tailgate, and
there's nothing he can do about it. :) I haven't
done all the modifications nescessary to achieve this
with my truck yet, but with the 2x4, I have a platform
I can build on. A 4x4 just doesn't fit the mold.
All IMHO, of course. :)
-Jon-
.------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Jon Steiger: DoD# 1038, EAA #518210, USUA# A46209, NMA#
117376, KotWitDoDFAQ |
| stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu &&
http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ |
| '96 Dakota SLT V-8 Club Cab, '91 FZR600R /* Just another
mangy hacker */ |
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