Dear God I was thinking the same thing!!

 

I've been on the hwy traveling at 100km on a somewhat dry road when all of a sudden there's a large ice patch or a small snow drift and I just pop it into 4h never a issue.

 

many people believe that using 4wd while on the highway gives them better handling and won't allow the vehicle to lose control when that is not the truth at all. On ice it is no better than a 2wd vehicle. IMO I rate them like this as far as safety and handling as per highway driving. best is 2 rear wd , then 2 fwd and 4wd, in heavy snow in town that is completely reversed, On the highway the only wheels you want to start spinning (none of course) but if something is going to spin I would rather it be the rear wheels as I don't steer with them! The only reason I use the 4wd is to make sure I don't get stuck! If you are doing 40mph and up it would take a heavy,,, heavy drift to get your car stuck.... when a car is in motion and doing over 10mph you won't find your self getting stuck to many times! Think about all the 2wd vehicles on the road,,, how many times have you been on the highway and see a car slowing quickly to a dead stop and stuck?? Now how many times have you see FWD vehicles stuck at a stop light or parked on the street trying to get out?? Now as far as it disengaging at a speed I don't think any of them do. while I am driving in town I leave it in 4wd because on the many stop and go issues but once I hit the ramp to a highway the 4wd is turned off.

 

If the highway is covered in snow, I leave it in 4wd because the handling IS better and I have found that the rear end is far less likely to slip and slide. that said, when the highway is covered in snow, the speed limit here is reduced to 45mph. Keep in mind, driven front tires can pull you around corners too...and there's a lot more weight over the front tires than the rear.

Nothing wrong with using 4wd anywhere that you need it but if you need it, the conditions are probably pretty lousy.

 

the only reason i wanted the 4x4 over 100kmh is because of an incident i have had happen twice know. i was driving on the busy highway when a tractor trailer blew its tire and left the whole tire in the middle of my lane i had no other choice but to hit it, now this has happened to me twice, the first time i had a jeep wrangler so a slammed it into 4x4 and ran it over, the jeep unfortunately blew the tie-rods. but i made it out safely. now the seocnd time this happened i had my ram and again i had no other option but to run it over, so i did and the ram just kept on cruising. the bottom line is, its not that I'm going to use it its that i would like to have the option there if i need it.

 

And I can tell you I have seen many and pulled out many cars and trucks that hit the ice patch or small drift, lost traction and sailed right into the ditch... Happens out here all the time. 4h helps keep more traction.
How can you say a 4x4 gives no more traction then a front wheel drive?

 

Wait? What? Hitting a retread at highway speeds in no way is benefited by 4x4... A Camry would drive right over it. Might break something all to hell, but it will go right over it.

 

was thinking the same thing. Having actually put my truck through its paces I can tell you that these things have a pretty good 4wd system especially if you have the locker.

 

There are a couple WOW comments in here!

 

I say it for the simple fact that if you were driving the same way these people you are talking about then you would be wiping out in a 4wd or a 8wd if they may such a beast! I know you have seen your share of 4x4 trucks wiping out on the highway too! The fact is once a hydroplane happens be it water, ice, snow or pavement, it is caused by speed and will only come back in control when the speed allows it to! Speed is not always movement, it can be power too so push the pedal to the floor on dry pavement and the spin happens! it doesn't care how many wheels are spinning or as you say have traction because I can spin my wheels in any 4x4 which means you go from traction to hydroplane. So if you believe that a 4wd won't lose control because it has one more wheel providing force to the ground then that would mean that every car without it was in this ditch??? It comes down to the driver not the car and if you have motion and can maintain that motion you car or truck doesn't require any more spinning wheels. I have lived in the northeast all my life and I have never lost control in any weather even black ice. The fact is I didn't own a 4wd until I was 30 so I was driving without it for 14 years of bad weather and the closest came to an accident was when a 4x4 crossed lanes and almost took me out! So I will stick to my opinion, below 35 and in the city,,, 4wd is the best, going up a wet ice hill,,, neither is because I wouldn't try it and have seen many 4x4 get half the way up only to slide all the way back down! Keep in mind I am not talking off road driving in the mud cause I wouldn't do that with my Mustang, but would with my truck. another perfect example is the mustang. I can't get that to go threw snow from a stop but I have drove in the winter and at every stop sign I needed a push but once I got it going I didn't get stopped by the snow until I came to a stop!