2wd tow rig...yay or nay?

untchabl

untchabl

On the rocks
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Location
Bear Creek, NC 27207
Looking to upgrade from my 99 Tahoe to a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck. My budget is a little tight, probably only about $6-7k. Seems that every 4x4 that I've looked at has a lot of miles or is pretty beat up. But I've found several 2wd trucks that look nice with good miles. Have been leaning towards a diesel, more expensive to maintain but better fuel mileage plus typically they have better resale down the road. Although I have found a few V10 4x4's in my price range, all have been automatic's though.

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts or experiences are with 2wd tow rigs. Will be towing a 24ft gooseneck deckover trailer with my XJ or a 3-horse slant load gooseneck horse trailer. Will see somewhere around 10-15k miles a year at the most, depending on how much the wife and I travel next year (me for wheeling, her for horse shows).

Here is a nice looking F-250 Powerstroke I found, haven't called about it yet though. http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2598987427.html
 
question is, will you be pulling the trailer on any questionable terrain? Sucked big time when Spence & I went to mountain city back in 2010 in the snow with a 2wd 96 cummins 2500. that and if you have to maneuver in a yard/barn-yard the ground is never hard enough
 
I had a 2wd tow rig(like Hurley said) and while i dont totally regret it, I wont have another. At the time I didnt have much money, so a 2wd cummins came at considerable savings. The downside was having to unload my trailer to go up the gravel drive at the Harlan cabins, getting stuck in the snow in the Callalantee parking lot, and more than once getting stuck on wet grass in my backyard trying to get my trailer from it's parking spot.

It worked for what I needed, but i was definitely inconvenienced multiple times due to the 2wd. I guess to me it would just depend on the budget, but if you shop around you should be able to find a DECENT 4x4 12 valve in your budget....
 
I had just about this same situation, low budget and needing a tow rig. My budget was only 5k and like you I contemplated a 2wd cummins. In the end I decided I needed 4x4 so most of the cummins were out of my price range. I ended up buying a dodge 2500 4x4 with the V10 and NV4500 manual tranny. For the money, I couldn't ask for a better tow rig. The 4x4 has more than paid for itself trying to back a trailer up a gravel road, pulling up the gravel road to the Harlan Cabins, and pulling across wet grass fields loaded or unloaded. My vote is 4x4.
 
I had to put my tow rig in 4WD just to put my trailer in my side yard the other day because we've had so much rain...and my yard is flat.
 
V10 would pull great. the Only downside is the fuel economy, but the major upside is the initial cost vs. a diesel.
 
I've been using a 2wd tow rig for the last 4 years. I have only had to unload once and it was my fault. I just bought another 2wd tow rig. I'm not concerned with it that much. You just have to think where you're driving etc.
 
BigClay said:
The 4x4 has more than paid for itself trying to back a trailer up a gravel road, pulling up the gravel road to the Harlan Cabins, and pulling across wet grass fields loaded or unloaded. My vote is 4x4.
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Haha, I was going to say the exact same thing. had to unload my junk at the bottom of the hill and drive it up to the cabin. The Dually still struggled up the hill with just the trailer.
 
I've always had 2wd tow rig. Yes there have been times I thought it would be nice to have had 4x4 but those times are rare. I run a lot of tongue weight usually 1200-1500# and generally have decent traction... That said I really watch where I'm driving in fields and such. A small hole or wet spot would make it interesting.. Then I'd call one of my 4x4 tow rig friends over for a tug.

Spot like you guys are describing, how difficult it is to get up in there etc.. I would read those comments and probably think twice about a place like that for that reason alone.
 
I've always thought that if I were to have a 2WD tow rig, I'd spend some bucks and put in a selectable locker like an ARB or an OX so I could lock the rear end when needed. That way, you don't have all the added weight of the t-case and rolling resistance of the front diff for the 95+% of the time you don't need it.

On the EXTREMELY rare instance that you would NEED 4WD, simply unhook the trailer, back up the towed rig (which is 4WD anyway) to the trailer, pull the trailer to dry ground, hook the tow rig back up and put towed rig on trailer. Assuming the towed rig is still drivable, then all bets are off.
 
untchabl said:
How would a v10 do pulling the 24-foot gooseneck or the horse trailer? I would definitely be looking for a manual transmission.
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It will definately pull it. In 96 the Dodge V10 had almost identical hp and torque as the 96 cummins from the factory (didn't research the other years because I was looking at a 96)
 
I've never owned a 2 wheel drive tow rig, but I've gotten stuck more than a few times in my 4x4 tow rig when only in two wheel drive and had to engage 4x4 to get myself unstuck.
 
Having to engage 4WD versus having to engage low range 4WD is my real question. Engaging 4WD should be pretty similar to engaging a rear locker (not a limited slip) in a 2WD rig. If there are instances when low range 4WD on the tow rig is imperative, then my 2WD selectable locker concept would not work.
 
ManglerYJ said:
Having to engage 4WD versus having to engage low range 4WD is my real question. Engaging 4WD should be pretty similar to engaging a rear locker (not a limited slip) in a 2WD rig. If there are instances when low range 4WD on the tow rig is imperative, then my 2WD selectable locker concept would not work.
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The biggest difference is the amount of weight over the wheels. Trucks are front heavy, which means you can get more tractive force from the front tires. This is particularly important when backing up, because there is even less weight over the rear tires due to rotational moment of inertia stuff. Open/open 4wd will consistently outperform locked 2wd. Also I would imagine locked 2wd would give some push issues if trying to steer in muddy situations.
 
Almost every time I got stuck in my cummins even with only a stock LS in the rear both tires were spinning, so a locker wouldnt do anything to help. There just wasn't enough weight on teh drive axle to get any traction.

Like yager said, having a lot of tongue weight helps if the truck can handle it, but this didn't help me stay unstuck when i would pull my empty trailer to the back corner of my yard to park it then immediately get stuck. My yard is perfectly flat. I can't tell you how frustrating that is.
 
I have a 2wd super duty that I bought because I got an amazing deal on it. If you plan correctly you won't get stuck often. It's only in the worst possible conditions that you'll be stuck to an extent that you can't get out of it. I rarely go on major journeys towing my jeep alone and everybody else I know has a 4x4 tow rig so un-stucking is fairly easy most of the time.
I've been ALMOST stuck several times but the one time I can specifically remember is while getting to the cabins in Harlan. If I had enough running start I could have gotten up the the first tier I think but I had to be dragged by another superduty that was 4wd. He was able to tow his trailer fully loaded as well as my truck and trailer fully loaded up the rest of the way. The second tier was little more challenging. I got a huge running start and the super duty actually crested the top before completely losing traction. In that situation a locker probably would have kicked the factory limited slips butt and I might have made it. Clay actually pulled me up the rest of the way. If Clay wasn't able to help or simply not there I could have backed down and unloaded.
One time I had to pull off on the side of the road to help a friend while I was fully loaded. Once we got him rolling again it as time to pull back on to the street. At first when I hit the gas the truck began to fish tail down into the ditch due to the lack of traction on loose pine straw. I just let off the gas a bit though and it gained sufficient traction to get back on the road. This situation probably wouldn't have been helped by having 4WD because who drives in 4wd all the time? I wouldn't have had it engaged anyway. If I were dumb enough to let it fish tail all the way into the ditch, however, the 4WD may have been able to get me out...maybe.
All in all I think having a diesel is more important than having 4WD but having both is preferred. My next tow rig will be 4WD for sure just so I can be more indipendent but if you can get a significantly better deal on a diesel with 2wd then don't pass it up. Most trucks can be converted to 4WD fairly easily too btw.
 
Just stick with 4wd if you look and hold out long enough you will find the exact truck your looking for within your price range, it took me 4 years to find my truck at a price I could afford but it is exactly what I want. Plus having a 4wd would pay for itself should you ever decide to sell it you could sell a tow rig with 4wd that didn't work faster, than any 2wd truck. I've never had a truck or suv that wasn't 4wd and I don't care how much tongue weight you have, how careful you are driving through stuff, a 2wd just doesn't cut it.
 
...nay to the 2wd. If we were drag racers where everything is paved, 2wd might be OK. The truth is that the trailheads and payposts for our sport is usually out in the boonies.
I've used 4x4 plenty of times, its a lot easier than unloading the 4x4 rig or hunting down someone to pull you out.
ECORS race at the top of Harlan, after a mid-afternoon shower, I barely got to the campsite in 4wd.
I also use low range in my yard to manuever the trailer and not tear up my grass.
 
I agree on the tongue weight items posted earlier. The one time I got stuck and had to unload I was doing fine going up the hill at crozet. Somebody stopped in front of me and I had to stop. I couldn't get started again. I unloaded and was fine. When I go in now, before it hit the uphill I take the load bars off my WD hitch for more tongue weight. I think with my new (to me) dually I won't even need the wd hitch but it will have the same tongue weight. Just have to think and plan ahead. If you need to walk where you have to drive.

I also can imagine uphill on a dirt road in the rain (like you guys are describing in Harlan) would be very difficult in 2wd if not impossible.
 
Well, I've decided I'm definitely going to hold out for a 4wd. Going to wait around and hopefully find a deal on a Cummins but may look at some V10's since I have never driven one.

Thanks for all the input guys.
 
Forget the 2WD. Not saying those tow rigs don't have their place, but for our uses it NEEDS to be 4WD. With all due respect to the guys who advocate a 2WD tow rig with proper planning...get real. I've been unexpectedly stuck many times while towing, and it damn sure is nice to be able to just lock the hubs and drive out. The parking lot at Gulches comes to mind. Last time we went down there it was dry when I left the house, but it was a raining a heavy downpour when we got there. The parking lot was complete slop, and no amount of planning was going to help. Even with 4WD diesel tow rigs it was really dicey, and one of us ended up sliding all the way down to the bottom of the parking lot. 4WD let him drive out of that bad spot and get his tow rig and trailer into a safe position...2WD would have been completely boned. Do you need 4WD every day? Of course not. But when you need it, you really need it. Spend the extra time to find a 4WD tow rig in your price range.
 
I've been towing with my 01 Cummins 2wd for the past 3 years and I would NEVER buy another 2wd tow rig. I've gotten stuck plenty of times...Mostly in my back yard. I had a winch on the front for a while but it only helped when there was something to hook the cable to.
 
Fwiw I sold out of the mustang world to get a truck and camper. I couldn't find a psd in 4*4 so I went v10 and it pulls 12k lbs pretty fair. Had it not been 4*4 I wouldn't of made it out the driveway on my first camping trip.
 
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