Advanced 4x4 or "Part Time"

[BroncoAZ]

My thought is this: If $700 won’t push you over the final price you are comfortable spending - do it. You will never regret getting it but you will regret if you don’t.

If $700 is a dealbreaker I would question if someone should be ordering a $40K+ rig in the first place. Cars are a multi year purchase, sometimes a decade or more, buy what you want.

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[JohnnyBronco]

Wet roads and constantly changing road conditions is where 4a will shine. That's why I want it. I live out in the country and our roads can go from completely clear to completely snow covered pretty quick due to open fields and blowing snow. Yeah I can switch from 4h to 2h and know when to do it. But a set it and forget it for these conditions would be nice to have.

Still pisses me off you can't get a BB with Advance 4x4 without the Sasquatch package.

You will love 4A if you happen to get caught on I95 in the next snowstorm. I have it on OBX and it works so seamlessly you cannot tell when it engages other than the control in the rain and slush that no rear 2wd would have. It may have changed but on OBX the upgrade was free. Sure I did not get front locker or sway bar disconnect but I do not plan on climbing boulders.

 

[Garemlin]

You will love 4A if you happen to get caught on I95 in the next snowstorm. I have it on OBX and it works so seamlessly you cannot tell when it engages other than the control in the rain and slush that no rear 2wd would have. It may have changed but on OBX the upgrade was free. Sure I did not get front locker or sway bar disconnect but I do not plan on climbing boulders.

Yeah it's a $1590 upgrade on the OBX now. Defaults to the 4.27 gearing when choosing Advance 4x4. So $795 for the gears and $795 for A4x4.

 

[FstFrd00]

....I'm not too wild about the auto engagement part of the deal. If I want to engage 4h or 4l, I'd be quite content with making that decision on my own instead of it being made for me by a computer.....

Having advanced 4x4 doesn't change the fact that you can select 4H or 4L manually.

 

[BlueBronco]

Advanced 4x4 is the most valued feature on my BD...only engages when its needed; set it & forget it.

Agreed. I have it on my F150 and set it to 4A about 5years / 100k miles ago and haven't looked back. Immediately selected 4A in my BL when I picked it up and did the same when I picked up the wife's BL.

 

[prospectfour]

I am working on the final revisions of my order and have one. last. dilemma: the quandary of the advanced 4x4. What do you all think?

I'm in central VA, so Shenandoah, Smokies, and WV all in easy reach. Also a snowboarder so I'd love to not be limited in my ability to get to or leave a mountain. I will also take this to the NC coast to catch some sand from time to time, but I have generally be able to navigate that pretty easily without a lot of gear to help. At most a rear locker for the beach would probably handle the trouble it might get in.

My build will be 2022 BD 2.3 A10 (non-squatch), so it already has the rear locker. For about $700 more, I can upgrade to the advanced 4x4, but I'm not too wild about the auto engagement part of the deal. If I want to engage 4h or 4l, I'd be quite content with making that decision on my own instead of it being made for me by a computer. That said, the front locker is appealing (bc hey... Stuff!), but judging from past use of my 3g T4R, likely is not "needed." At least not at first.

I've also seen some implications that the advanced 4x4 also includes the beefier front diff and front axles. If this is true, that's a point in it's favor, justifying the relatively low cost of the upgrade. Can anyone speak to the truth of this?

I'm all ears on suggestions as well.

I'll play the other side of the argument since everyone wants to spend your money

I ordered a OBX with the 4.27 locker and opted not to go with advanced 4x4. Yes you're decision is "only" $700, but once you disregard your budget and play the incremental upgrade game in your head, you'll have built out something thousands over your budget.

I learned to drive on a '98 Ranger and by no means was flipping the switch considered an inconvenience. If the conditions are very poor use 4x4, if there's a coating of snow then drive responsibly in 2H. We have a Tiguan sitting in our driveway if I really had the thirst for an AWD vehicle, I don't see the use case for advanced 4x4 for me.

Regardless of your decision, this will be the most capable vehicle you ever owned. Good luck with your build, I'm sure you won't go wrong!

 

[shimmy825]

If $700 is a dealbreaker I would question if someone should be ordering a $40K+ rig in the first place. Cars are a multi year purchase, sometimes a decade or more, buy what you want.

This is how I justified every god damn feature hahah

 

[DCtoobs42]

I'll play the other side of the argument since everyone wants to spend your money

I ordered a OBX with the 4.27 locker and opted not to go with advanced 4x4. Yes you're decision is "only" $700, but once you disregard your budget and play the incremental upgrade game in your head, you'll have built out something thousands over your budget.

I learned to drive on a '98 Ranger and by no means was flipping the switch considered an inconvenience. If the conditions are very poor use 4x4, if there's a coating of snow then drive responsibly in 2H. We have a Tiguan sitting in our driveway if I really had the thirst for an AWD vehicle, I don't see the use case for advanced 4x4 for me.

Regardless of your decision, this will be the most capable vehicle you ever owned. Good luck with your build, I'm sure you won't go wrong!

I've actually already built it with the ADV 4X4, I was toying with taking it off my build. everything in this thread helps! I'm likely going to keep it for snowboarding trips and the random 70 deg one day, snowing the next in VA.

 

[710-oil-614]

When I was between BaseSquatch and BD-non I opted for the Advance-Trac. There is nothing that will stop you from selecting 4H if you want or 4L. You just now have a 4A to use if you'd like.

For example - if you're driving on roads that haven't been treated and there is snow/precip falling. That probably isn't a situation where you want to be in 4H all the time, but having it in 4A in case it detects wheel slippage and auto-engages 4H in less than a second is a great option. I haven't read enough on Advance-Trac specifically but coming from someone who has a Forester as a daily driver (AWD all the time 55/45 split) and who had a Mazda CX5 for a brief time period with their ACTIV awd system - I could never tell a difference when the CX5 engaged the AWD vs the Subaru always being engaged. Both usually also engaged traction control as well - so I suppose if disabling both I may have been able to tell the moment of AWD engagement - but my point is it happens so fast it's really impressive.

Since 4H is not the same as the Subie's AWD and it shouldn't be used on dry pavement (or wet pavement even) - I couldn't imagine having the Bronco without 4A.

It's totally worth the money TO me - but I came to the conclusion that the only thing worth upgrading on the Bronco were drivetrain components and not the all the luxury features that won't change the compromised nature of the vehicle.

To each their own - Ford has a trim for everyone!

 

[604Bronco]

For the money and your use of heading to the mountains to engage in snow sports, I think the 4A is a no-brainer option. It's $800. Even if you think you'll never use it, the one time that you do, it will have paid to have it.

Agreed - 4A is great, I’ve had it on another vehicle too, and find it useful in the snow and rain. I very rarely need to use 4H and just leave it in 4A during slippery weather events. Never had an issue. Computers are usually smarter and quicker to respond than us, and like the peace of mind.

 

[Mattwings]

For those of you reading and trying to decide for yourself, here is my take-

I borrowed my sons Ranger FX4 yesterday an immediately had a situation where I missed the 4A in my Badlands. Leaving a snow/ice covered side road to a completely dry and paved 40mph "main road". To get into the traffic flow, I used the rear locker, but did not engage 4WD, as the turn and acceleration together, from literally slick as snot to completely dry, would at a minimum make some uncomfortable noise in the transfer case, but could potentially damage the mechanicals in the case as there is no front to rear differentiation. The vehicle would be at a tight turn, causing significant front to rear difference, with the engines at max torque, leaving from a standstill. It probably isn't good for the rear diff either, but not as complex and costly as a transfer case.

Another significant benefit of the 4A case is the inherent problem of braking/steering under "loose" conditions, not just snow. If you are in 4H, the front and rear wheel speed remains mechanically fixed. You limit the ABS and your own ability to bias brake/steering front to rear. If your rears "lock", so does your front and vice versa. 4A can work with ABS and traction control to maintain the "best" bias for braking, steering and "4 Channel" differentiation vs. the system or your inputs having to bias to the one tire that has the least traction. This could be a fast, loose fire road in the summer or a snow slick road in the winter here in MI.

I have had lots of traditional transfer cases and used them in lots of situations. I have also had three 4A systems, each with varying levels of sophistication and effectiveness (2 Ford, 1 Chevy). Given the choice, I would much prefer 4A unless I was building a specialized off road rig, focused on ultimate forward traction and durability (rock crawler, mud bogger, hill climber etc.).

 

[BlazinGTO]

I ordered the advanced 4x4 on my BD. Haven’t used it yet but I have spoken to many who say it’s a worthy upgrade. From my understanding the auto engagement will only apply when you find yourself in a slippery situation such as icy or snow conditions.

Advanced 4wd only engaging after slippage is incorrect. A lot of people seem to think this.

I've used it multiple times on dry and slippery roads. In normal and slippery goat modes too.

Anyone can try this themselves. On a dry road in normal mode with A4 engaged, you can accelerate slowly from a stop and see its driving all 4 wheels. The power distribution screen shows even power to all 4 wheels. Only after cruising for a bit does the computer choose to switch to rwd until enough throttle is applied to engage 4wd again.

Even in reverse it works like that. I can park on an uneven surface, put it in A4, put it in reverse, partially lift the brake to begin rolling backwards and it's already showing power to all 4 wheels. I haven't even used the accelerator yet.

Yes, this is a reactive awd system, where all 4 wheels are not always driven, but this doesn't mean it's only awd after slippage.

The broncos Advanced 4wd is a really great system. Much better than many fwd based awd vehicles.

 

[mpeugeot]

I've actually already built it with the ADV 4X4, I was toying with taking it off my build. everything in this thread helps! I'm likely going to keep it for snowboarding trips and the random 70 deg one day, snowing the next in VA.

I would not remove it, but that's just me, I do like how seamless the Adv 4x4 is and my default running mode every day is 4A Sport Mode. Works perfectly (over 4k miles).

 

[jwoobs]

I have 2x 90deg turns to enter my subdivision, and when it snows I like to switch off ESC and try to hang the back out. With 4A on (ESC-off) it's pretty difficult to do. Very effective AWD system.

2H ESC off is great fun though

 

[sgraing1]

I'm cheap and with two trucks in the garage that are part time 4x4 and manual hubs, it's part time 4x4 for me.

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