ok guys sorry i had to do it... ive caught allot of crap for lifting a 2wd.. not that i care but latley ive been thinking that it was a bad idea for lifting my truck.... b/c i have been seeing so many cheap 4x4s for sale in my area... i guess i just jumped on it really quick... but i was just wondering what yall think about how you feel personally bout people who lift 2wd and not have any deserts or places like that around... sorry this might upset a few of youall b/c you have a lifted 2wd but i was just wondering why you did it, did you catch allot of crap from people, was it worth it and do you like being pulled out by 4x4s who laugh at you...

 

Get a limited slip rearend and tell those idiots to shut the hell up! i have 100% more fun then alot of my 4x4 buddy's i dont give a rats *** if i get stuck! its more fun that way! your truck looks killer and no you dont need a 4x4 be glad you have what you had!

 

It's not about absolutes. I too want a 4x4 -- but I'm having fun with what I have (2WD) and will continue to. The 4x4 just lets you take on things you couldn't with the 4x2.

A 4x4 is better than a 4x2 for offroad -- so what? If you buy a 4x4 of some type, there's bound to be a different one thats better than it at some things -- where does it end? Trade up, if you do so, sensibly and don't throw away the investment you've already made.

Just my .01

 

Yeah, I have seen a couple of lifted 2wds and didn't know that they were 2wd's until I looked under them lol I say it is your truck and you can do anything that you want to with it!

 

i really dont go offroading and i have 4x4. Honestly i dont think people use it that much. 4x2's can just as easily do the job. Our rangers are really light they cant almost go through anything. I think it is harder to lift a 4x4 because of the suspension it needs. To lift my truck i would need a superlift and they are fricken expensive. Thats just my opinion though...

 

Theres no challenge if you have a 4x4... Honestly, I love the challenges of getting through stuff with my one wheel peel setup...

 

zach i already have a l/s

and i also hear all of you but its just... 4x4s can go on allot more challenging stuff that no 2wd could go on... i mean i really didnt start this thread to like say that i want a 4x4 really really bad (but i do lol) but i just wanted to see what everyone thinks... ive gotten in huge discusions with people and so on ... i just wantted to see what yall thought... well lets keep em comin and see what other people think

 

Ahh, but I haven't touched a snow shovel since I upgraded to a 4x4! b:-Dd

And I should add that I've yet to need the additional ground clearance of a lift. I don't even miss the loss in clearance from my cosmetic push bar that John dislikes so much because it ruins the aproach angle. I've yet to find an instance where a little right foot doesn't fix everything! ... I guess I just don't push it enough! Uh?!

 

ive got a 2wd that ive lifted. even when it was stock i would take it off road. i have taken my truck places where guys with 4wd had trouble. the way i see it is you have to be a better driver with a 2wd because you can get stuck easier. so far (knock on wood) i havent gotten it stuck. i wont agrue against owning a 4wd, but i will say that you can have just as much fun in a 2wd.

 

It's been my experience that 2WD trucks get stuck less around here, because the owners pick their paths more wisely and are able to navigate around the mud bogs. Most people with 4WD have an invincibility complex, and think because they have one extra wheel pulling that they can plow through anything.

I've witnessed many 2WD trucks rescuing 4WD ones. Obviously, 4WD was meant for offroad, and definately has its advantages in more serious O.R. competition. Plus, 4WD normally helps resale values....

But a good lifted 2WD with a locker can go damn near anywhere. Mud soup will get anything stuck, regardless of drive-wheel count.

On the flip side, 4WD trucks are a PITA to tow, you have many more variables to consider when something breaks, gas mileage suffers, mainteneace and repair costs almost double when you check the 4WD box, and 90% of the time you don't need it, unless you live in the middle of Moab, and your office is in in L.A.

In other words, rock your 2WD, and do it proudly.

 

I thought about finding an old or wrecked 4x4 and getting the differentials off it, but I think it's a new transmission as well. But yeah, the major problem I know of with lifting a 4x4 is the front CV axle angles and distance.

My main reason for loving my Edge and wanting to raise it even more is not for off-road ability, but on-road driving. First there is the visibility, and second it just seems people are less likely to cut you off in traffic if you got a huge truck. Plus it just looks cool...

 

Not to mention the insurance rate hike when you have a 4wd vehicle..

 

Come to Southern California. My lifted Edge on 33s is a tiny truck. Everyone and there grandma out here has a 1-ton diesel on 44s...

 

True, but cars can only go so far up.... :)

 

You don't need the whole transmission to put 4x4 on. Just the tailshaft and rear adapter off of a 4x4 transmission. The transfer case is "married" to the tranny on our trucks and you need the mounting adapter, which is shorter, so you also need the different tailshaft. Probably requires a transmission shop or someone experienced to put the new parts on.

You also need the transfer case, obviously, and the control unit for it since it's electronically controlled (unless you get the manual one from an FX4). You have to work around the fact that your PCM is not set up for 4WD but that's trivial and it can easily be done. You speedometer won't work properly in 4-lo is the main sideeffect.

Rear driveshaft is different also.

 

i love my 2wd. i still take it out and have fun. But like john said, i aint dumb enough to take it in a deep mud hole where i know i'm gonna get stuck

 

And when you have 4WD you might not have the experience of hanging from a winch cable off a steep hill like this:

 

Or you live in snow country. Can't tell you how badly it sucks to be stuck in 2" of snow just spinning the rear wheels. Meanwhile in 4x I've been able to "just punch it" in up to 8+" of the white stuff. Given at speeds above 35-40, AWD would be the ticket over 4WD, but at lower speeds, around town, 4x4 rocks in this man's evaluation.

So for you Southern, Texas, and Sothern Cali people, I can understand why 4x4 is less apealing. Were I to live in that area I too would probably never even consider a 4x. But up in my neck of the woods more than 50% of the compact pickups you see on the road are 4x4s these days. In fact dealers don't even stock comfortably equipped 4x2s. In my experience, if I wanted cruise control and the 4-door extended cab, that basically meant nothing but an FX4 package or a special order. Just the way it works 'round here..

 

here what i'v sumed it up. to be for me .....4x4 means u just have more stuff that can break..... or thats how it was with my 4x4

 

IMO, it's personal preference, and partly dictated by needs. Where I wheel and hunt, there's lots of areas that I just wouldn't be able to go in 2wd. Especially towing a trailer with a quad in the back. Sometimes when the going gets rougher, it's nice to just put it in low range and crawl. Down hills I can unlock my hubs, put it in low and get more engine hold-back.

There's snow around here in the winter too, and lots of hills. 4wd is very nice to have in those situations. I feel more comfortable driving in the snow. A lot of people with 4x4 do have that invincibility complex.... for some reason you see more 4x4's in the ditch than cars and 2wds... because a lot of people never take their 4x4's offroad, and then think that 4x4 means they can drive regular speed in the snow, turn normally, and stop quick. They don't know how it handles differently, because they've never used it. A lot of people with 4x4 trucks lift them and do all sorts of mods to look cool too... but they never get used.



If your 2wd does what you want it to do, and gets you where you need to go, then why mess with a good thing because some guy with a pavement princess says you need 4x4?

 

That's my observation too. Last winter was my first in a part-time 4x4. I took the truck out to an empty lot and really put it through it's paces, trying to learn how it would handle in the snow. I very quickly learned that the 4x is GREAT for getting going in the deep stuff, but a different story once your underway. Add ABS to the equation and things get pretty hairy. Many of you will remember the nice gash I put in my hood!

AWD is the ticket if you wanna go fast in the snow. But then most AWD setups have reduced ground clearance, run on street tires, and get stuck as soon as they loose momentum in as little as 6"..

However I'm jealous of you and your unlocakable hubs. Must be heaven to handle a trailer in 2Lo! I've risked drive-train damage a few times using 4Lo in these instances. Low range is SO nice for handling a trailer. Especially for that first yank pulling a boat out of the water and up a ramp.

 

OH YEA WE remember!!!! LOL, just messing Colin.

I though the whole point of the thread was if one should lift a 2wd truck?? Right?

My answer if you like the way a lifted truck looks and you only have a 2wd, DO IT. If you need a 4x4 but only have a 4x2 than maybe u should save your money for a 4x4 instead of the lift.

My 2 cents!!

 

You've got a point there. My truck, even with a locker, sometimes spins coming up a ramp. The wider tires don't help though...in wet/slippery conditions. God forbid I get a Whipple........

 

I have a 2wd edge with 3.5" spindle lift and I have the 3" body lift sitting in my closet to go on the truck, I am putting 35x12.5" pro-comp mud terrains under the truck and I am not afraid to take it off road. 4wd just means that when you get stuck you are stuck deeper and farther away, in turn making it harder for somebody to get to you and pull you out. I go offroading with a '00 ZR2 s-10 with a winch and mud terrains, and a '01 H1 hummer with 37" mud terrains and a winch. The s-10 and I will drive through a mud hole and then the hummer will get stuck in the same spot. So it is not about 2wd or 4wd it is about your vehicle and how you drive it. I drive a 2wd and it is lifted, yeah I get **** from all of the 4wd guys, but you know what it is my truck and I like it the way it is.

 

I used to nearly bald a tire or burnout the clutch towing a boat out of the water in my old '99 w/ the 2.5L I4. Power wasn't the problem, putting it down w/o spinning the rear tires was. I can simply pop the clutch in low range and never even think about it..

Then again, the wide A/T tires I've got now seem to help too.