Here's my cut on 4x4s...
I have now owned three of them. My first was a 1964 International
Harvester Corporation Scout, second was a 1991 Chevy S10 extended cab,
and third is my Dakota V8 SLE club cab. I still have the Scout but
it rarely gets driven, the chevy I sold for $8000 when it had 120,000
miles on it and was 5 years old(actually 6 due to model years). I drive
my 96 Dakota every day now.
I purchased my Scout for $650 because I needed a four wheeler to
pull my boat out of the launch at my favorite fishing spot. I had little
money it was cheep, and kind of a classic... It was easy to work on, and
it needed some work. I got it road ready, and soon found out this beast
really wasn't meant to be driven on the road(at least not the way I
like to drive on the road). I drove it a handfull of times, but it was
so dam loud, even with a newly installed muffler that you'd go deaf,
and it was extreemly hot in the summer, and the heater don't work
very well so it's cold in the winter... I took this beast out four
wheeling and got it stuck in a swamp, I was sitting on the frame, and
all 4 tires were spining... The differentials in this thing are pretty
good and apparently limited slip... In two wheel drive this thing is
neary impossible to keep straight on snowy surfaces... I retired the
beast and some day hope to fully restore this vehicle.
My Chevy S10 I purchased becasue I still needed 4 wheel drive for
my fishing spot, and I had some money at that time. The Chevy did pretty
well, it had a 4.3L motor, manual trans, limited slip diff in the rear.
My buddy bought a Jeep Wrangler shortly after I got my S10, and we had
went four wheeling in some sandy terain in the middle of lower michigan.
My stock S10 could keep up or surpass his stock Wrangler in most of the
terain we encounterd. My S10 would not however turn as sharp, or go
over large mounds where high spots would leave me hanging on the frame.
My buddy has since decked out his Jeep with locking differentials
front and rear, and I purchased my 1996 Dakota. I have no direct
comparison between my Dakota and my old S10, but I did go wheeling
once with my buddy and his highly modified Wrangler. I can no longer
surpass my buddys Jeep, except in a drag race. He was extreemly impressed
with what I could do with my stock Dakota, he told me it climed hills
much better then a stock Jeep would do(he has seen many other Jeeps
in action now). He took me for a ride in his Jeep, and he can go
nearly anywhere you'd want to go... (if he gets stuck, his 5000 lb.
cappacity winch can help him out too). My Dakota does well off road
but like the Chevy or any long wheel base vehicle, has difficulties
in many tight situations....
If your looking to 4 wheel, buy a Jeep wrangler and be ready to
make modifications.(maybe start with a older one and add about $4000
worth of additions, insted of my buddys he bought new and added about
$5000) Shorter wheel bases, locking differntial(air lockers) front
and rear, full floating axels, ect... are what you need to do major
off roading.
For driving every day on the road and a ocasional off road
experiance, my Dakota does very well for 4x4... My S10 did pretty
well too, but not nearly the power and performance that my Dakota
is capable of. Slipery roads? Well I put my tranfer case in 4 high
at any sign of slipery roads... In two wheel drive it is OK in snow
but far from great(I'd take a front wheel drive car over a rear
wheel drive car or truck if I only had 2 wheel drive). Just keep
in mind that you can often drive much faster then you should be
driving in a 4x4 on slipery roads... 4x4s don't do much in the
way of slowing you down fast on slipery surfaces...(even with
anti lock brakes(which my Dakota has).
In parting... I would never own a 2 wheel drive truck as a daily
driver. On pickups and most other serious 4x4s(as aposed to "all wheel
drive" vehicles) the 4x4 option while hold it's value as good or better
then any other option you can get. So the extra cost of the 4x4 option
is ussualy well worth what you paided for it, even if you rarely use it.
On Tue, 24 Dec 1996, Jon N. Steiger wrote:
>
> >After listening to various members toll the virtures of a 4wd Dakota for the
> >past few months, I eagerly awaited Victoria's first major snowfall after
> >gettting my new Dakota (sometimes this takes three or four years to occur).
> >
> Yep. I remember that discussion. :) In fact, I thought a lot about
> it while driving in 2+ feet of snow last week. I didn't get 4wd for
> a few reasons, but mostly because it was a lot of money, and I figured I'd
> only want it a few of months out of the year.
>
> But during those few months, boy do I wish I had ordered it! :)
> My brother was driving his Blazer across our front lawn, up a
> 20-30% grade, while I'm hoping I can make it out of the driveway. :P
> Pretty darn impressive, if just a wee bit embarrassing. :)
>
> I'll have to see how the next few winters go, but I'm seriously
> considering making my next Dakota a 4x4. Speaking of which, how
> does the 4x4 Dakota compare to a Blazer? I was just reading an
> article in some off-roading magazine where the new Dakota 4x4 trashed
> the full size Chevy and Ford trucks. No mention of the Blazer though.
> I'm comparing it to the Blazer because its the only 4x4 I have
> any experience with.
>
> I really hate this weather. :P IMHO, its only reedeeming value is
> that its really fun to do stuff like drive sideways, skid around
> corners, spin the rear tires and see how long you can maintain
> a straight path, etc... Just tell people you're honing your skills
> so you can handle emergency situations. :) Actually, "screwing around"
> like this has saved my butt a couple of times because it has given
> me excellent "instincts" about how certain control inputs will
> affect the truck, much more so than someone who drives 20mph,
> both hands clamped on the wheel, sitting frozen in fear anytime
> there's a little snow on the road... When winter comes, I usually
> find an empty parking lot somewhere and work the cobwebs out. Even if
> I had a 4x4, it'd be in 2wd most of the time. :)
>
> I sure could have used it last week though. Maybe a plow too. :)
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