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bobodean
Dodge Dakota
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1/19/2005
19:16:42
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 Subject: 4wheel driving in the snow
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hi..
Just got our first snow here in Md today. Not much...2 inches...but its my first time with snow in my dakota. Whats the protocol? Do you just use the 4WD only when you need it? Like when you are starting off in the snow, or thru an obvious pile, or can you use it on a slush-covered road. Up to what MPH? Wifes car is a Saturn Vue AWD and its idiot(me) proof. Just drive it. Used it in Ohio over the weekend picking up my new mastiff pup and had zero problems.
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.boB
Dodge Dakota
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1/19/2005
19:18:55
| RE: 4wheel driving in the snow
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Message:
I just click it in to 4Hi and leave it there, don't worry about it. If suddenly you are make sharp turns on dry pavement, you'll know it's on.
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GraphiteDak
GenIII
1/19/2005
20:11:35
| RE: 4wheel driving in the snow
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Message:
Exactly what boB said.
The truck will drive really well in the slush and snow with it in 4HI. I drive it up to 55MPH in 4HI as long as there's snow or ice on the road.
If you DO get onto a cleanly plowed road you may THEN want to turn it back to 2WD.
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Hammerdak
Dodge Dakota
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1/19/2005
21:55:15
| RE: 4wheel driving in the snow
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Message:
As long as the tires are allowed to slip enough to release any binding pressure during tight turns ,you're fine.
I often forget to turn it off until I pull into an underground(ie:dry) garage at work.
At that point it behaves like the power steering just died. Trust me,you'll know.
Then just flip 4 Hi off.
When driving in 2wd and switching to 4Hi , do so under 50mph and not while accelerating hard.
You'll be fine.
Basically if you could pull a toboggan with a 4 year old on it , then the conditions are slippery enough.
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btomcik
Dodge Dakota
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1/20/2005
08:38:07
| RE: 4wheel driving in the snow
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You can use your 4wd on wet roads too. Just don't use on on dry pavement. As a rule of thumb, whenever I feel my *sshole start to pucker 'cause of the road conditions, I flip it into 4wd.
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Crow318
Dodge Dakota
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1/20/2005
09:28:07
| RE: 4wheel driving in the snow
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Message:
4x4 on dry pavement in anything other than a straight line is bad, and no one will disagree with that. Also AWD is a lot different that 4x4.
That being said, here is my opinion about 4x4 on the road.
In rain, using 4x4 will only hurt the truck when you turn hard because the rain doesn’t make good roads slippery enough the let the slip. However, if you “need” 4x4 in the rain, you should look into new tires.
In the snow, I have had my truck up to 90mph in 4x4. Some people will say that’s unsafe, but I mostly did it to test it. I wouldn’t ever drive distance at that speed. If the roads are bad enough to need 4x4, you shouldn’t do 90 anyways.
I am a big advocate of only using the 4x4 if you absolutely need it. If you can’t go well in light snow conditions (2” – 4”) get new tires (people with bad tires in the snow are stupid and cheap, and in my opinion should put their vehicle in a ditch and leave it there all winter!!)
Another reason for driving in 2 wheel is that you lose some of your road reading ability in 4x4. You can get going better cause you have a second set of wheels , but you don’t stop any better cause you always have 4 wheel braking. If you notice, there are as many SUV’s in the ditch as there are cars for that same reason.
And a final point, if you get stuck in 4x4, you will need help. You get stuck in 2 wheel, you already have the help you need (most of the time)
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