F350 DRW, Is 4 Wheel Drive Really Needed?

[Jshopes81]

I wouldnt be without 4wd in a truck but im in western pa. Too many hills and too much snow in the winter.

[Mzbrandi]

Originally Posted by Percival6

We are looking at purchasing a 2016 F-350 DRW to pull a 40' - 42' 5-slide fifth wheel. We have four boys, three of whom are teenagers! We currently have a 32' Class A gas MH with 2-slides that is getting a little tight and want/need to upgrade. Yes, I know trying to fit six into a crew cab will be a squeeze, but is necessary. We will just have to keep our driving days short or with many rest stops.



Most of the trucks we have looked at online are 4wd, this one is 2wd. It has many of the features we want and at a reasonable price and mileage. My question is, with such a large load over the rear axle is there an actual need for 4wd? We wouldn't have much need for it other than when towing (we have another vehicle that is AWD, if we go up to the mountains in winter.)



With such a large trailer I don't think we would be able to do much in the way of boondocking at all, so no dirt roads. In fact, I see an awful lot of RV parks in my future, a depressing number of them. At least, once the kids are in college we can move back to something a little smaller and head back to SP/NP/Boondocking type camping.



Thanks for the help!



Tom

Me, yes very important. For you depends. I hang out in the west and not so much in RV Parks or forest service/BLM campgrounds. 4x4 is a good idea.

[mobilemike]

A DRW has zero traction on wet pavement with nothing it the bed.

[fvstringpicker]

You got that right Mike. My cousin's got a Chevy DRW and he's lost it in curves on wet pavement and dirt roads a couple of times. He carries bags of sand in the bed now.

[Greytraveler]

Because of where we live, four wheel or all wheel is necessary. Unplowed roads into the neighborhood in winter make it so. I have heard many comments about DRW that agree with those made. In our case, the four wheel has come in handy towing when there are steep uphill gravel drives or when we have come across long stretches of muddy roadwork. IMO it is insurance.

[grindstone01]

Originally Posted by mobilemike

A DRW has zero traction on wet pavement with nothing it the bed.

That's a bold statement to make! Before retirement I lived in Mich and the last 4 years commercially hauled with my Chevy dually 2WD. Winters were a little tricky and I carried a small chain to wrap through the rim holes which worked more than once. Another trick if we were expecting a heavy snow was to remove a rear tire from each side and run it as a single tire axle and lower the tire air pressure.

[rpierrie]

I am in NC, so I do not deal with much snow. I never off road. That said, I deal with many campsites that there is no way to back in without the truck going into the grass (if lucky grass, sometimes bare dirt). When it's been raining, the ground gets soft. I think you get the picture.

No, I haven't needed it often, but I have needed 4W on more than one occasion. VERY glad to have it.

[2Yung2 Quit]

I want to camp on the beach at Lake Powell. I will feel better having 4x4.

[mobilemike]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

That's a bold statement to make! Before retirement I lived in Mich and the last 4 years commercially hauled with my Chevy dually 2WD. Winters were a little tricky and I carried a small chain to wrap through the rim holes which worked more than once. Another trick if we were expecting a heavy snow was to remove a rear tire from each side and run it as a single tire axle and lower the tire air pressure.

It is of course an exaggeration.

But it is the science of pounds per square inch of tire pressure to the road. Trucks are already light in the back for payload purposes. Double the contact area of the tires and hold on. Also springs and shocks are set up for heavy loads so sharp short suspension action with no weight is not dampened well at all causing even less traction.

[AE Wanderer]

Get a 4x4. Heavy trailer or not! Wet road, 9,000 # trailer, and limited slip differential. I still lost traction going 35mph ascending a hill on a paved county road.

[aamechs2]

We just bought a truck and 5er. Didn’t think we need 4wd but found a truck we loved that had it. We pulled our 5er the first time and used 4wd twice. Glad we have it.

[AtomicRT]

I had the same question before buying my truck and searched the various forums. No plans to drive in snow at all. I almost bought 2WD. But several truck owners pointed out the possibility of getting stuck on wet grass. So I bought 4WD. It has saved me 3-4 times on wet grass and/or slightly soft ground while attempting to position the trailer. Can't imagine getting stuck with the trailer hooked up!

[Bamaman]

Originally Posted by petrel

The likelihood of needing 4WD in a truck hauling a big 5er is pretty low. However, so is the likelihood of needing a spare tire or a fire extinguisher. I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. A 4WD truck may have better resale too, but I haven't looked it up.

If you go to a dealership that has a bunch of light diesels on hand, you'll find very, very few two wheel drive models. If someone's paying $60-65K for a truck, what's another $4K.

That said, my SuperDuty is two wheel drive--and 16 years old. I prefer to keep life simple and not have 4x4. All a 4x4 ever did is get me another 50' before I got stuck. I also prefer to have the lowest truck that is the easiest to get into.

[MSGDLD]

From the little I’ve seen, in our area (Northern Ohio) there’s a lot of campgrounds with gravel drives and skinny gravel pads to park on. Park in the dry and end up with a rainy weekend, it can be a mess. Thankfully, we haven’t had a problem in our MH, but I’ve watched some folks with trailers having a really difficult time, some being pulled out with tractors. With our weather here, it’s real tough to sell a 2WD truck or Suburban/Tahoe. Many years ago I drove 2WD RWD vehicles in the snow and with some common sense did OK. But there’s choices, and today I wouldn’t buy a 2WD truck or Suburban, (our grandbaby taxi [emoji16]). OTOH, I don’t live in Texas or in the SW.

One thing for sure, don’t even think about buying a 2WD truck without a limited slip differential.

Have a great time out there with your new 5er!