Is 4WD Auto any good?

[FLINTaVa]

I dunno....I just can't see the use of 4WD in many situations that have popped up in this thread.

We didn't say it was needed, it's just that 4W Auto does work as it was intended to. It works like 2WD until a wheel slips and then another wheel grabs. If you have the locking rear differential and power around a corner on a slippery surface you will feel a front wheel grab in 4W Auto.

I can get around in snow just fine with a 2WD but 6 years in Avalanche has me spoiled, I stay in 2WD for the most part but 4W auto is handy when conditions are uncertain. If you know ahead of time then use 4WH or 4WL

 

[yakmar]

I can get around in snow just fine with a 2WD but 6 years in Avalanche has me spoiled, I stay in 2WD for the most part but 4W auto is handy when conditions are uncertain. If you know ahead of time then use 4WH or 4WL

2WD (rear system) would not get you far up here, especially after the near 40cm of snow we had saturday night!! 

 

[FLINTaVa]

2WD (rear system) would not get you far up here, especially after the near 40cm of snow we had saturday night!!?

We are getting snow right now, maybe an inch. If you know what 10" melt off and then freezing temps are like,
oh yeah you do 
anyway it's starting to get white out there and looks slippery

My '94 S10 ext cab 4 cyl with matching fiberglass topper gets around in the snow quite well, weight from the topper and I have been known to add 100+ lbs of kitty litter or salt above rear axle. It has tow hooks in front and I have a 40' tow rope, I've pulled people out with the 'lil guy truck. 

 

[CodeBlueEMT]

4WD Auto is great during heavy rain with standing water on the roads. I use mine on our gravel road when it gets wet and muddy. I think it's great.

Shayne

 

[FLINTaVa]

4WD Auto is great during heavy rain with standing water on the roads. I use mine on our gravel road when it gets wet and muddy. I think it's great.

I hate to agree with you, MSU Spartans recruit heavily from Flint you know 

 

[CodeBlueEMT]

LOL. The wife got really quiet Saturday night. She was wearing her MSU hat on Sunday though. She has a UNC hat too. Covers all her bases.

Shayne

 

[Clutter_Boy]

Auto = garbage.

By the time it engages (no matter what vehicle) it is often too late.  So, if in the snow I feel a bit worried that I will hit the rhubarb, I use 4H. 

Maybe I'm old, but driving in auto 4 is just silly.  Wear out your TC for what exactly?

 

[yakmar]

Auto = garbage. 

By the time it engages (no matter what vehicle) it is often too late.?

Then maybe you drive too fast for road conditions!!  ?

Maybe I'm old, but driving in auto 4 is just silly.

BINGO!!!!   

?

Wear out your TC for what exactly?

its called WARRANTY!!! 


... and thats my distribution of altercations today!! 

 

[aediaz]

Auto 4WD is like having a AWD( all wheel drive) vehicle. The 4WD kick in when need it. I use mine for light snow, it works.

 

[DaytonaZ71]

I'm pro choice.
If i think i might need 4WD, I'd rather drive around with it engaged than wait for the truck to decide for me.

 

[bionicflite]

First snow fall and in AUTO I heard it working and hooking up....there did seem to be a few seconds of loss of traction.
Backed out of drive way headed up hill and slide back down in my surprise I was in 4 Hi but did get off gas when I started to loose traction...was more concerned about hitting concrete wall behind be and just backed down the hill......will take another run at the hill today..

 

[TLB]

is 4WD Auto any good

used it last night, we had about 5" on fresh snow with ice under it

 

[Woodsrider]

I think the 4WD auto is great.  If the roads are well cleared I'll leave it in 2WD but if it has snowed I'll put it in auto.  It is great for my wife, she doesn't have any experience with 4WD and wouldn't know when to put it in or take it out so in the winter she can just put it in auto and let the truck decide for her.  She says she loves it.

 

[MS03 2500]

I used the Auto 4wd this week we had a 10 inches of snow last weekend and had lots a mounds where the plows had come through and you had to drive though them. The rear drive would push the front through them then the front would grab and pull the back through.
It works great

 

[FLINTaVa]

Some people don't get it, 4Wauto is for variable conditions. For instance ice at every stop sign but bare pavement in between, I can pull out into a gap in traffic without spinning and drop to 2WD later. I don't want 4WHi on dry pavement but auto does the trick when I'm on & off both surfaces and 2WD just isn't cutting it.

 

[eeaton5]

I dunno....I just can't see the use of 4WD in many situations that have popped up in this thread.

I find with the AVA with its stock Goodyear tires and my Suburban with the BFG's, that 4WD is unnesseary in most urban and off road situations.

Up here in the Catskills, there has to be some good snowfall on unplowed roads to throw it into 4WD. All the dirt road and "unimproved roads" around here, PA, MD and WV that I do (forest muck and abandoned rail lines) never needed it.

Rain, a definate no. Its like ice...if your going to hydroplane....its already too late. Perhaps its that I grew up in snow and dirt road county, but 9 out of 10 times 4WD isn't nessesary if you know how to properly drive in the conditions that you are subjecting yourself and your vehicle too. Too many people use 4WD as the "if I have it, I won't get stuck" solution.

At least it beats the "4-way flasher traction control system" that people in NY/NJ seem to think works better than having a 4WD vehicle.

I figure if you bought the truck with 4WD why not use it if you think you might need it. thats why we got it right? Why take the chance of loosing control of the truck because of a little gas or self pride? Now as for the rain part it DOES MAKE SENSE in a lot of areas. For example down here in AZ we may go 2-3 months without rain. now after that long without any water on the roads the oil and grease really builds up on the streets. This makes for a bad situation when the rain finally does come. All that oil comes up and causes a lot of mess. Now I have personally felt the difference in stopping and overall control of the truck in 4WD in that situation. So that is one good use for rain. also it is good to get the gears all lubed up once and a while .

 

[Pj]

Greese and oil work just like ice...no amount of 4WD is going to help you there as the traction is compromised already.

I never said that 4WD is not nessesary, however many people out in the world, and some here...think that as soon as there is an inch of snow on the ground, or its raining heavy, that you need it...when you really don't. If you practice safe driving habits, have proper and safe tires on the vehicle, 4WD is usually unnessesary and is a waste of tread life and gas milage.

Now, back to the orginal topic, 4WD Auto is a nice feature, but I tend to find that it kicks on too late in many cases...are at least on the roads I must drive on here in winter. Its either 2WD or 4WD for long distances, and with the winter we have had here...its been 4WD to/from work (at 20miles each way). I can't begin  to tell you how many accidents I have been to this winter (and its only Jan) that people say "well, I had 4WD on so I don't know what happned".

 

[Potts]

If it is just me I am almost always in 2hi? However, if my wife and/or son are with me and if there is a chance of some intermittent snow or small ice patches I will use 4 auto and it works great.? I figure that if there is any small thing I can do to protect my loved ones then I am going to do it even if it does mean that my transfer case is engaged.? Granted there will be a split second before it engages, but it will engage alot faster than it would take me to push the 4hi button.? BTW it shouldn't affect your tire wear at all as the auto function leaves it in 2wd unless it feels slip at the rear tires

Also, I know how to drive in the snow as I survived a couple of winters in a 1990 supercharged Cougar with full time posi traction and performance tires (I couldn't afford a whole new set of tires and rims at the time).

 

[Trafficman]

I put it in Auto when My wife drives it or when they call me in to get into my Snowplow because the snow is usually pristine with few vehicles before me. Or when the roads are really bad with Ice and snow.

Driving your vehicle in a parking lot is alot different then driving at 35 - 50 MPH on a regular snow covered, Icy or patchy road.

 

[eeaton5]

Greese and oil work just like ice...no amount of 4WD is going to help you there as the traction is compromised already.

Sorry to say but I disagree. Ice can cover a large or small area and it pretty to loose control with or without 4WD. But oil and H2O on the road is a much different animal. the coverage can be intermittent. by having the truck in auto mode in this situation can be the difference between keeping control or ending up in a ditch on the side of the road, or in another car. this is something I have a great deal of experience with. and with more than one 4X4. and the result is the same every time. I have tried it with and without and in Auto. and you can really tell the difference.

 

[Alaska_AV.]

I love the Blond Mode. It's awesome for intermittent conditions. I hate running in full 4X when you don't need it.

Works great on ice. Try Driving the Luge [ Wasilla to Anchorage]in Bad weather @70+ bumper to bumper for 40 miles. Never felt good with locked 4x at speed. When hitting hills in blond and the rears slip, in a tranny down shift or something, the fronts hook up and keep you strait.

4x blond or not, can save your butt on ice!  If you don't think so , Stay in the banana belt! If you Belive you will crash, You will!

 

[TIETANIC]

I live in New England.  I use 4WD on straightaways when the snow is really bad or when I drive it on the beach.

I use 4WD AUTO any time it rains because it sometimes helps from a takeoff on wet pavement.  I also use it around town and on the highway in snow because there are parts that have snow and patches of pavement where the snow has melted.  More importantly, I also don't want to worry about snapping the drivetrain taking a corner if it is in 4WD HI and it hits pavement.  I find it works well in AUTO.

If I am only driving straight and it is all snow and ice I use 4WD HI, everything else 4AUTO and dry pavement I use 2HI.  I also turn off 4AUTO and put it in 2HI if I am at highway speed for any length of time wet or not.

I use 4LO to get out of my driveway when I am too lazy to shovel, and it goes through it without touching the gas pedal like a hot knife through butter 

 

[FLINTaVa]

We had rain to ice to snow yesterday, 4WD Auto won't help you stop any quicker but it will help you keep the front wheels pointed in the direction you want them to go. No excuse for the mini-van driver spin-out in front of me last night, I have little experience with front wheel drive but I could have controlled it in 2WD front or rear.

 

[m02redl]

tried it while climbing the levee the other day, seemed to work pretty good

 

[FLINTaVa]

I-475 was ice & snow & salt Monday night, I don't think I went over 45-50 mph. Underpasses were heavily salted and wet so you'd suddenly have really good traction in spots. 4WD Auto is easier on the truck than 4WD HI when you hit those wet salty spots with grip at speed.