Who needs 4 wheel drive?

[LONDONER]

Astonishing footage from the 1920s. They don’t make them like they used to! As this video dramatically demonstrates, our roads have come a long way in 94 years.

[jimcrackcorn]

Yep,, our modern cars (which set low to the ground) wouldn't be able to traverse those muddy roads.. Several years ago I lived in rural Vermont where most of the country roads are still dirt,, and in the spring those country roads would turn into mud a foot deep in certain spots. It was impossible to get a regular car thru, but my trusty old 4 wheel drive Chevy truck would make it thru.

[LJay]

The real answer to the the OP is that a lot fewer people need 4WD than have it, at least in American suburbia. Every time I see a housewife or some lardassed redneck barreling down the road in a huge vehicle with 4WD and overmuch everything, I lament the acting out of inadequacy. Just how much horsepower does it take to retrieve the groceries from the store and the kids from the pool?

[Virge]

hahahahaha!

THAT video shows exactly why I like the older things I drive rather than all the newer cars and trucks. Modern technology is great on everything except things you drive. It's gotten to the point where most average people and even mechanically inclined people can't repair or maintain whatever they're driving. And the more complicated you make something and the more parts there is to it the most things there are that can go wrong and the harder they are to repair.

Besides my roommate's prissy little convertible, everything in my driveway is antique in automotive terms and four wheel drive. I've worked on just about everything there is to repair or rebuild on them and can just about do everything to keep them running myself. I have an old jeep and a 4WD Chevy diesel truck older than me that are more reliable and less money to keep up than any modern car. For Xmas I gave my guy a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser I restored, pimped out.

On the roads up here with snow and ice they come in handy. Back the night before school started back right after new years we had a nasty snow and ice storm. When school traffic started up there were five puny newer cars that went off the slick roads and couldn't get out. My roommate and I got dressed, took the jeep or the truck and winched them all back up on the roads. Year round hardly a month goes by that we don't have to stop and help someone somewhere that's gotten in trouble like that or even getting trees off roads.

They do get pampered. hahahaha! They get run through the car washes in the winter more than summers to keep the road salt off them.

[lonley]

I have agree the older cars are better for sure , I hate to see when there guys take a perfectly good truck and jack it up way in the air so you need a ladder to get into it !! No need for it for sure lol .To be honest I have had 3 different 4 wheel drives before and never not once need to use it , I have take them out and played but did not have to use it to get some where .

[ShiftyNJ]

I have 4WD but my ride also gets about 30MPG at cruise, so I'm not apologizing. And it gets used for hauling inside and on top. Next up is a little box trailer for some upcoming yard projects.

Saving up for a used Wrangler for a tow & plow vehicle.

[Virge]

I have 4WD but my ride also gets about 30MPG at cruise, so I'm not apologizing. And it gets used for hauling inside and on top. Next up is a little box trailer for some upcoming yard projects.

Saving up for a used Wrangler for a tow & plow vehicle.

Yeah. what good is any vehicle without a trailer hitch and room inside to carry a month's supply of groceries and the bodies of the people who pissed you off last night? hahahaha! Last weekend when I was on the road in the truck Jay took my jeep to pick up an antique wardrobe he bought. It fit inside with room to spare. And Like you Shifty, a trailer is a necessity.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Get a horse!

[mindgarden]

We used to get along pretty well with 2wd and tire chains. (Or hitching a ride with someone who had 4WD.) But getting out to put on and take off the chains was a royal PITA. So nice to just flick a lever from inside the warm cab.
Another odd thing is that 40, 50 years ago, far fewer roads were paved around here. If it was icy out, we could usually take a route that was all gravel roads - much better traction than pavement. Now, all the routes to town are paved, except a couple of goat trails that go way up in the mountains and aren't passable in the winter anyway.

[CellarDweller]

lmao! Damn!!!