Four Wheel Drive ?

T

toyman

New member
How many have four wheel drive ? How many times have you NEEDED it if you didn't have it ? How many have HAD to use it ?

Looking at buying a tow vehicle for my 25', my present is a 4x4 pickup. I've used the 4 wheel drive low range, mainly to ease up ramps, never felt that I had to have it though. Buttttt - my feeling have always been that it's better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
 
I have all wheel on my Honda Pilot, at low gear ratio, but only have used it on some local all sand launching sites (no concrete or tarmac at all ). I have trailered boats since 1954, and this is the only 4 wheel drive vehicle I have owned. No problems with the C Dory 25 or Tom Cat (but I do pick my ramps with the bigger boats) with 2x drive.
 
I have four wheel drive pickups and like them. But with that said, I have never had to put the truck in four wheel drive to get any boat up a ramp in a season other than winter. Even my 26 foot motorhome yanks the CD 22 out easily in Seward which is often a slick algae covered launch. Certainly a 25 is heavier, but I doubt that the total weight being moved is less in my motorhome scenario. I would think that unless you frequent a really crummy launch, that 2 wheel drive would be just fine.
 
I can't back my boat up a gravel driveway without 4WD. There is enough of a rise near the top that I'll spin the rear wheels.
 
Same here on the gravel driveway. We have a lower storage driveway that is sloped and gravel and without 4wd on the tow vehicle, I would be out of luck for safely powering it up. We don't tow our boat but have been in a similar place with heavy travel trailers. We have also pulled over onto shoulders and dirt roads where a softer than expected surface would have gotten us stuck without 4wd.
 
toyman":2ywczgta said:
How many have four wheel drive ? How many times have you NEEDED it if you didn't have it ? How many have HAD to use it ?
Click to expand...

When we had the 16' C-Dory I often towed/launched with a two wheel drive vehicle. I was also very selective of the launch ramp conditions when doing so and experienced no problems. However, prior to moving to a 22' Cruiser we purchased a four wheel drive truck. Having that vehicle has given plenty of assurance that we can pull the boat up a "less than ideal conditioned" ramp that previously I would not have attempted. Normally, I don't bother engaging the four wheel drive, however there have been several times where it has been a necessity to do so because I was not getting any traction in 2 WD. (Examples include at times of extremely low tide when mounds of mud were present on the lower portions of the ramp, sand covered steep ramps where 2 WD traction was not adequate and of course a few times on ice slickened ramps). Since, we never winterize our boat and utilize it year round and do receive some snow fall during the winter time, having a 4 WD is definitely reassuring should we get caught in less than ideal driving conditions.
 
I have to use 4WD every time when pulling at low tide.

I see people trying to pull with 2WD and they sometimes end up sliding into the side of the ramp or docks. If you have to dunk deep you are likely to be in some kind of slime. We have an 8-11' tidal swing up here so at low tide we have a lot of slime (you will slip on your feet). 2X2 is not sufficient.
 
My Durango is the first vehicle I've had with 4WD, and although I usually don't have to use 4WD to launch the C-Dory, it's there when there's ice or loose sand on the ramp. So is the extra low range gearing, which I always use combined with the 4WD when I switch from the CD-22 at 4400 lbs to launch or retrieve my 8600 lb Sea Ray 265.

We get a lot of questions about how small a tow vehicle one can use for a given C-Dory. If you're going to tow with a marginal vehicle, adding somewhat oversize tires and 4WD would be a nice addition, although the real limiting factor is stopping power, not forward towing power.

We went somewhere between 20 and 40 miles the other day over a 6500+ steep and twisting mountain pass on a one lane non-winter maintained road in 10-12 inches of snow without ever seeing another car. Although we didn't tow a boat and slipped around a bit occasionally in 4WD, I'm sure we could have made it with chains on both the vehicle and a boat, though I would not have been a wise trip. I wouldn't even attempt the trip alone with a vehicle with 2WD and chains. That kind of confidence is reassuring when using the tow vehicle on the road or ramp in other situations that are similar.

Too bad 4WD vehicles cost you some gas mileage when the 4WD is not in use, consuming fuel when just freewheeling and accelerating the mass of the drive units involved.

I'll bet when you're pushing a trailer back up a hill, there are times the trailer tongue lifts on the back of the vehicle, decreasing the traction available, particularly with an irregular surface, a crown on the hill, and/or tandem axles.

I think I'll be sticking with 4WD until my towing days are over.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I have owned one truck with out 4x4 in 25 years. I loved that truck but would have had more fun if it had 4x4.
If you have it you will find a excuse to use it and thats the fun. susan and I have always loved to explore whether in the boat or in a truck. if we did not have the 4 wheel drive we would not have seen half of the things or gone to 1/3 of the places we have.

and for those of you that think, "oh yeah susan justs "loves" it tom :wink: " she lifted her own toyota at 18 and is the only friend I have that did not flip her rig on the Rubcan, which she has 4 times the time on then me.

now as for tarilering the boat. I have used the four wheel drive several times around here at ramps and in the snow to get home while towing. But more often I use the 4x4 LOW range every time I pull the boat out. Much better for your tranny and converter, just dont lock the hubs.
 
Every time I back my boat up the driveway I need my 4 wheel drive, and its and F250 super duty diesel. The truck itself weights over 6k, but my driveway is steep and I need to cut-err hard about half way up, and the last 6 feet are gravel.
 
I have a Silverado with 4-wheel drive. I wouldn't be without it for retrieving my boats from the water. The concrete ramp gets sand on it; the wheels slip in 2-wheel drive, but the 4-wheel always hauls her out with not a trace of hesitation.
Kent
 
I too have always had 4x4. I always carry a tow strap in it. At least 4 times I have assisted other vehicles who could not get up a ramp without it, but none of them were C-Dory's. (One was just a 2 seater pwc though, so it's not always just a weight issue). At low tide it is nice to have the front wheels hooking up with better traction.
 
I have Ford Explorer 6-cyl. I've only used the 4wd in low-low once, and even then I don't think I really needed it. But like most of the other posts on this thread, I'm sure glad it's there if I really do need it.
 
Originating from northern MN we have a 4x4 Z71 Avalanche for a tow vehicle. It has gotten us out of a number of bad situations.

If for no other reason the low range aspect of 4x4 is worth having in a tow rig. Those of you with 2 wheel know what I mean when you have to gun your engine to get it to move on a steep slope launch. With low range you can idle out. Gotta be easier on the rig. I'm talkin about vastly increased longevity of the transmission in particular.

Go 4 wheel if you can.

My $0.02

Dan
 
Dave W wrote: How many have four wheel drive ? How many times have you NEEDED it if you didn't have it ? How many have HAD to use it ?

Dave, where you are, in the land of small tidal range and generally good ramps, probably not needed. Where I am, the tidal range runs to 10 feet, some of the less-used ramps are skaggy with mud, seaweed, and other detritus, and if you blow it, could be the boat and trailer will drap you back into the drink ... a salty drink.

Mine is 2WD (purchased before I owned a power boat), and twice I have needed help from others to get out. Not an issue if there are typically others around. On a sharply rising tide in a lonely place, I could be faced with choosing to lose the trailer or the pickup.
 
This is certainly a touchy subject. 14 posts in an afternoon.

OK, here's another view. I've been going to the desert for 60 years, and towing and launching boats for 30 years. I also live in SoCal, where it doesn't snow or ice (at least where I go.)

Out in the desert, I've gotten stuck twice, and someone towed me out. I think 4 wheel would of gotten me stuck deeper and probably quicker. I finally learned where and how to drive on sand. Just don't lift until you're on solid ground.

I've launched boats in Mexico, the western USA and Canada, all on paved ramps. Some of them have been small, steep and broken. The boats have weighed from 3000# to 9000# (the C-Dory 25.) Never had any trouble. A lot of anxiety, but no real trouble. I load the boat, and Judy drives the truck up the ramp.

So I've never bought 4-wheel. Saved the money on the original purchase, on the gas and on the maintenance. I do love positraction, but my last two trucks didn't/doesen't have it, just don't jam the gas, and use 2nd gear to start.

Now my brother lives at the end of 4 miles of adobe road and doesn't have 4-wheel. And needs it.

No argument with anyone else, just my experience. I understand people love their 4 wheelers. I love 1X2 wheelers. Those I could push.

Boris
 
We have 4x4 on Big Red and have had to use it a couple times on ramps. Keep in mind that we came from the frozen northland, where 4wd was a necessity; so, we've almost always owned a 4x4. With the Allison transmission on the Duramax, I'm not sure there's much of a fuel penalty for the 4x4... but I feel better about having it.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
A couple of observations to add to those already posted:

1. Pickups are nose-heavy. When it gets slick, the wheels spin on wet pavement unless the bed is loaded down and even then it is not as good as 4WD.

2. Resale value. I would say very few people go looking for a 2WD pickup unless it is a heavy hauler for a 5th wheel or camper.

3. I use my 4WD frequently to avoid tearing up the landscaping (easy to do on grass in 2WD.)

Warren
 
We have been towing boats for many yrs One of my first tow vehicles was a 86 Astro van then a 92 aerostar both had 2whl drive with posi traction and really didnt need anything else . Although now we have the Honda Pilot that along with thehonda ridgeline I think are one of the better tow vehicles that you can have The Honda has all wheel drive its Great on sand and slimy ramps I love it . The Honda towed the c-22 with no problem .
 
Launching a heavy boat up north in BC with really big tides, I wouldn't want to be without 4x4. Lots of slippery ramps at lower tides, and some quite steep as well.

At Lake Powell a few years ago, when the water level was at its lowest, we had to go beyond the concrete of the ramp to launch in sand and rocks. We watched as a full-size diesel truck used for launching big boats spun all 8 of its rear wheels back and forth for quite some time before it was able to get moving again.

4x4 and tires in good condition also let us tow our travel trailer reliably in snowy conditions in northern Arizona that had many others slid off the road or unable to move up an incline. It was a huge traffic jam, and as soon as a lane cleared we were waved on by, as we were clearly not slipping and sliding.

An interesting feature: in 4-low, I can let the clutch out without touching the accelerator, and haul the 12,000 lb trailer up a ramp with the Cummins at idle.
 
Back
Top