What Should I do in the Snow? (OBX non-sas, non-advanced)

[fourdayoff]

Aaron, Pedal Commander takes the lag away and gives you your "feel" back.

Brian, I want whatever that is your smoking. You must be joking. from now on I'll just get out and walk home. To hell with this 4x4.

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[a.smith]

Aaron, Pedal Commander takes the lag away and gives you your "feel" back.

Brian, I want whatever that is your smoking. You must be joking. from now on I'll just get out and walk home. To hell with this 4x4.

He's right. All cars have 4 wheel brakes. 4x4 doesn't help you stop or turn

 

[SvgOne]

You can add a Eaton TruTrac LSD in the rear.

I thought about adding one to my Bronco. Then after thinking about it, a TruTrac would negate the turn assist feature. A selectable locker would be a better choice, if you ever try to use the trail turn assist feature, otherwise the brakes would be trying to overpower the mechanical lock of the TruTrac. Wished I would have got the rear locker.

 

[fourdayoff]

He's right. All cars have 4 wheel brakes. 4x4 doesn't help you stop or turn

I Guess I'll through physics and logic out the window, in 4x4 it adds another axle operating at least one more wheel to help you steer and brake with engine braking. Those of us with lockers front and rear now double that factor. Just my thoughts, feel free to correct me please. Would love to hear from snow dwellers here.

 

[Aonarch]

I thought about adding one to my Bronco. Then after thinking about it, a TruTrac would negate the turn assist feature. A selectable locker would be a better choice, if you ever try to use the trail turn assist feature, otherwise the brakes would be trying to overpower the mechanical lock of the TruTrac. Wished I would have got the rear locker.

I’ve used trail turn assist once just for shits and gigs. To me it’s a gimmick.

 

[popo_patty]

Hey all, trying to get peace of mind for when winter rolls around. My wife takes the kids to school, and the west Michigan winter can get pretty nasty. The drive is largely highway.

So since we have a non-sas, non- advanced OBX, is it as easy as selecting 4H and maybe using slippery mode? The open differential means transmission bind is a non-issue in 4wd, right? I don't want to tell my wife to use 4wd on the highway if it'll burn up the tranny...

Gas it, don’t half ass it

 

[SvgOne]

I’ve used trail turn assist once just for shits and gigs. To me it’s a gimmick.

It was just something I had thought about when debating to put in a trutrac. Why didn't it work for you? Just curious?

 

[Aonarch]

It was just something I had thought about when debating to put in a trutrac. Why didn't it work for you? Just curious?

It worked, but I haven’t had that feature in my 20 years+ of off-roading. A three point turn works too. I just think it’s a marketing gimmick. Not a feature that people were actually demanding. Just a cool widget to put in marketing content.

 

[Lcubed]

My misinterpretation of what you stated. For me “a part time for wheel drive system” means AWD ( a transfer case with slippage, like our 4A transfer cases. You’re using “part time” as the ability to shift a lock up transfer case into and out of four wheel drive by the user.

My bad?

you bad!

without 4A, it's a part-time system (2H or 4H) when used on-road.

my old land rover disco was full time AWD with a lockable center diff.

4A is roughly equivalent to old time landcover AWD with the center diff unlocked and 4H is AWD with the center diff locked.

 

[dgorsett]

It is correct. It’s part time for use in situations in which the front tires can slip - front and rear axles take different arcs in turns. Unless I’ve been wrong all these years…

I Guess I'll through physics and logic out the window, in 4x4 it adds another axle operating at least one more wheel to help you steer and brake with engine braking. Those of us with lockers front and rear now double that factor. Just my thoughts, feel free to correct me please. Would love to hear from snow dwellers here.

4wd does help slowing using engine braking, and helps turning (though not much if at all when decelerating). When folks say it helps you Go not stop they're wrong but I don't argue since they are erring on the side of caution.

 

[a.smith]

Don't get me wrong, I prefer 4WD / AWD all day in the snow. It's why I bought a Bronco with the 4A transfer case or have a 4x4 at all. But being able to accelerate in the snow is one thing and being able to stop or steer is another. All cars are 4x4 when it comes to brakes. Grip matters more than anything. I used to drive an old Subaru and I'd put chains on all 4 wheels in the mountains to go skiing and the damn thing was unstoppable.

 

[mike8675309]

My misinterpretation of what you stated. For me “a part time for wheel drive system” means AWD ( a transfer case with slippage, like our 4A transfer cases. You’re using “part time” as the ability to shift a lock up transfer case into and out of four wheel drive by the user.

My bad?

A four wheel drive system is precisely a four wheel drive system.
An all wheel drive system is a subset of a type of four-wheel drive system.

Assumptions of their function based on the naming used outside of Trademarked names like Quadra-Drive creates confusion because there are not standards for what one things means vs another.

Generally four wheel drive systems fall into 1 of 2 areas:

1. Part-Time four wheel drive.
2. Full-Time four wheel drive.

1. Part-time four-wheel drive is what the stock transfer case in the Bronco provides. It is considered "part-time" because it only should be used when driving on loose material or slippery surfaces. This is because they don't have a center differential and instead lock the front to the rear inside the transfer case directly. When going around corners the front end can turn at a different rate than the rear, and if the tires can't slip, the gears will bind.

2. Full-time four-wheel drive is what the Advanced transfer case in the Bronco provides. It is considered full-time because it can be used on all road surfaces. This is because it has a differential in the transfer case, which allows the front and rear tires to turn at different speeds while sending power to both the front and rear. That is engaged in 4A and 4H. 4L locks the center transfer case and gives you a part-time four-wheel drive.
The differential in the Bronco Advanced transfer case is a multip plate clutch design, thus will have wear. An example of a gear style differential that has less wear would be a Torsen differential. This clutch style differential will be why you hear some people saying they only put it in 4A on slippery surfaces in a hope to reduce wear on the system.

Similarly front and rear axles of the Bronco can be equipped with electronic locking differentials. When locked, these differentials make sure the wheel on the left side turns at the same rate of the right side.

 

[5GENIDN]

See it every year.... People move here from the coast and have never driven in snow (at least not much) and they immediately go out and buy a 4x4..... First snow of the year they are all stacked up in every direction all over the interstate and highways. See it Every single year. I will see it again this year.... There has been a lot of good advice on here. It is all about the tires... I would say yes and no.... It is not about the 4 wheel drive though... It is about learning to drive properly in snowy/icy conditions.... I have driven a 5.0 mustang with summer race tires on hard pack.... No Problems.... Would take me about half a mile to reach 10 mph and another half a mile to stop (I exaggerate only slightly).... At least with good winter tires you can accelerate slightly faster and deaccelerate slightly faster..... and just stay way away from everyone else.

First snow with a new car.... Practice in an empty parking lot and get used to distances and speed.... Do the same if you just change the tires.

4x4 is a false sense of security for way too many people. Like someone else said... All cars have 4 tires and four brakes....

OP... not aiming any of this toward you... do not know your situation other than your question... Mine is just a general statement.

 

[Jruta]

Back to my original question, regardless of type of tires. Just like my all wheel drive car. Do all the trim levels have 4"A"? That mode would take all the guess work out of it. Select it and forget it. Jim.

My base does not have it

 

[KyTruckPlant]

To just answer your question, IMHO;

If you don't have 4A, then good tires and the "Slippery" G.O.A.T. mode.

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