foxtrapper

Funny thread trying to rationalize using a 2wd truck. Having gone the 2wd locker & winch route with one of my 86 1-tons I finally gave up and went 4wd. I'm pleased with the vastly superior performance of a bone stock 86 4wd IFS in comparison. The 4x4 walks up the slopes of my fields where the 2wd required winching almost every time.

I suppose if you like spending your life being towed, winching a 2x4 is fine (if you can find a good anchor point, if you've got long enough cable, if all you've got is time, if, if).

And before you jump up and down about tire differences between the trucks, my 4x4 can't come up the hills either unless I enage the hubs and 4wd.

jimbo74

a locked 4x2 is almost as capable as an open 4x4

X-AWDriver

"almost" is the key word;I still would rather have the 4wd with open diffs than a 2wd.

jimbo74

driver skill also makes up for what equipment doesnt....

i went wheeling with my one legger, did some pretty hairy stuff... got stuck several times, but because i know how to drive, never needed to be strapped out of anywhere...

X-AWDriver

I also live where snow is a factor and there's no way skill will beat 4wd in a foot of snow;off road I can see where things would be a little closer,I just don't think I'll ever be that skilled.

jimbo74

actually, i bet you would be quite surprised.... skill will beat 4wd in snow.. i love 4wd, im just saying with proper skill, that it isnt a must... i probably would not be the driver i am today if i hadnt learned the tricks i know in a 4x4...

who is better at driving the baja 1000? jeff gordon or ivan stewart? 2 awesome drivers in their element; however put them in the other's guys shoes, and its a whole new ballpark

flecker

Sorry to say, but no way Jose. I have had both, a lifted toy 2x4 w/ 32's, locker, all the goodies. And I have owned nothing but toy 4x4's for years.
Any stock toy 4x4 would chew you up... My little prerunner went alot of places and I had alot of fun with it, but in the end it's still far more limited.
With all the money you plan on spending, why not just sell your truck and take the money you planned on spruceing up your 2x with and get a stock 4x4??? Makes more sense to me to go that route... then you won't have to post here with "I bet my 2wd w/ a big ol' lift and a winch could beat your stock 4x4" stuff. Ain't gonna happen.
I'm not trying to knock you... You can still have plenty fun in a 2wd.


Have a good night

jimbo74

i honestly dont care to boost. my truck very is capable.. i bet it would out do your truck offroad, not just on its own, but the driver too... meet me on the trail.... talk is talk and frankly doenst mean much.... the point is, it doenst matter if you beat me or not, my truck and me can have jsut as much if not more than you and your im better mentality.. so honestly whatever.....

flecker

So now your gonna get pissy? Why? I was just answering your question... not bashing your ride! I'm sure your truck is probably very nice and your a good driver with some skill, you'd have to be to even contemplate what your trying. Didn't you read that I had almost the exact set up your getting at? And it was fun, even surprising at times where I could get it.
The front end is far weaker and not designed for what you want to do with it. You need upper a arms and ball joints to help beef it up, and a 4x4 steering box for the larger tires. The rear end is also far weaker, being a 7.5" as opposed to the 8" wich also limits your locker selection. You'll want new gears because your stock 3.7?'s won't cut it, probably 4.56's or even 4.88s. You won't have any low gears from the lack of a transfer case so you'll constantly being riding the brakes on the steep stuff. You'll need longer leafs to compensate for the cruddy flex you will get out of the back too.

You can spend all you want trying to make your 2wd perform like a 4wd rig, I don't care. Just don't be a about it when someone w/ more experience than you tells you it ain't worth it.

jimbo74

my truck has a 8" and im going to swap in a 4x4 rear and swith the shafts on it... tossin a locker too... can do all that for $500 i need an soa anyways

BruceTS

Considering I've been wheelin with both, the Liberty will go more places. Up in Big Bear, there are some pretty tough trails that a locked 4x2 would never make it. Lance's unlocked 4x4 4th Gen 4Runner actually did quite well and the weekend before the jeep Liberty club was out on the trails doing ok. Casey recently converted his 4x2 to a 4x4, I'm sure he can chime in on which is more capable, even though I've seen him do some crazy stuff, it was still lacking. Gearing is the biggest factor and the low range of 4WD will always outperform 2WD.

Los Gatos? , your idea to sell both rigs and getting an 85 4Runner is a good one, you'll be happier, then you can honestly say it'll smoke that Liberty!



I remember someone saying something similar to me once....... A word of advice don't boast about your abilities, you'll have to eat those words someday.... BTW, I'll take that bet

platform389

Yeah, good idea. That way you can experience all the problems us 4x4 folks do with our power steering. I am on my third PS pump now.

A Tacoma would be the very last rig I would try to run a hydro winch off of. Reman PS pump was $250 with me doing the install.

Remember the famous line:

"Four wheel drive is good for 50 more feet before you get stuck"

Pretacopower

I do some fairly rough wheeling in my 2wd....but it is a Prerunner and I think they have a few stock advantages over normal 2wd trucks....for instance its built on the 4x4 frame and comes stock with 4x4 ground clearance. I dont have a locker though, wasnt smart enough to look for it when I went truck shopping But, I agree with most, you can have alot of fun with a modified 2wd, especially if thats all you've got to work with. My parents pay my insurance (as long as I'm in school anyway) and a 4x4 would've cost ALOT more for a guy my age. So the 2wd Prerunner seemed like a logical choice to me, and while sometimes I do wish I had gone 4x4 (like the time I got stuck for 3 hours in the wash ) I still have alot of fun in my truck. Just last night I went wheeling and climbed some pretty steep hills with my spiffy new Revo's
Just have fun

Flygtenstein

You kidding yourself saying you can "wheel" with a 2wd.

I also think that it is not wheeling if it is open diffs.

Get a 4wd, lock it and wheel it. All this phalus comparison about what this truck could do with this driver or that is all a wash. Same driver, two trucks, one 2wd, one 4wd, I know where my money is.

That one time my brother's cousin's sister's aunt's Mom's husband's step son went two feet in the snow drifts that were over the cows in the back 40 does not constitute a "great 2wd."

jimbo74

actually, wheeling is anything that involves any type of wheeled activity, doesnt necessarily aplly to vehicles....

wit hte same driver, a 4x4 is different from a 4x2 yes, however, given a 4x2 with a great driver and a 4x4 with a moron, that 4x2 will run circles around the 4x4....

superjoe83

boy, you sure want to get your point across don't ya. Ive owned both a 2wd and 4wd ifs, and just recently 4wd solid axle, the 2wd was a '84 Mazda b2000 that had been in the family since '85, i received it with a blown head gasket, lucky me, anyway back to the story, i put those coil twist in spacer things in the front and monster shackles in the rear, to get about 2" of lift, i wheeled that thing probably more than i should have, and was surprised of its abilities, but it was still missing another shifter in the floor, and locking hubs, Ive had it down at the beach and having front wheel spin would have helped out greatly, because all they did was plow the sand, Ive had the same experience in the snow also, yes a modified 2wd will get you a lot of places, but a 4wd will get you a lot more, and this is all based on not having a winch on either truck, and Ive seen some "moron" drivers do some amazing things just because all that they know is to plant the skinny pedal, I'm not trying to flame or put you down in any way, but i would just let this thread go, its starting to resemble pirate, not yotatech

OneTrickToy

My IQ just dropped reading all this talk back and forth about the 4x2 and 4x4 superiorty. It's really sad. Yes the 4x2 with a good driver will be better than a moron behind the wheel of a 4x4. But most of the people on here that wheel.... they aren't morons. So saying that you will outwheel them isn't a smart assumption to make. I've gone wheeling with some of these guys and that is a ridiculous statement to make.

jimbo74

im not saying i will outwheel a 4x4.... im jsut saying that MOST people with a 4x4 bash on the 4x2... im saying exactly that a 4x2 can still be capable... would 4x4 be better? yes and no.. there are far less no answers but still some... 4x4s do kick ass and i love them, but i have a 4x2, with no plans on making it a 4x4 anytime soon, especially with a baby on the way... so little things at a time..... my 4x2 is very capable and will be more capable as $ allows....

NCSU-4runner

i havent read everyones post, but in my experience (with everythign else being equal) a locked 2wd will smoke a 4x4 with open diffs every day of the week.

SLC Punk

Guys, do you realize that this thread was started over a year ago, by a member that has since been banned?

Anyways, I can't speak for off-road performance, but my 1978 F-250 is 2wd and is scary in the snow. I have never been in a vehicle that performs worse in the snow than that truck. That's why I will never buy a 2wd truck again! But my dad bought it for camping/towing and it does great at that.