Return Trip to Eastern WA from western WA>

5969 Views 15 Replies 6 Participants Last post by zoomie, Dec 8, 2014

ECO33

Discussion Starter · Nov 30, 2014

The trip was on I 90 from the Seattle area to Elk, just north of Spokane.
We checked the road reports and the pass < Snoqualmie Pass > was getting heavy snow. We got a 6.45 start to beat all the other people headed east that do not know how to drive in snow and there was a bunch of them, The ECO performed very well as 4 wheel was required. All the semi;s where chained up and saw a few front wheel drive rigs that tried to make it and where fishtailing all over the road. All in all it was good trip.When we got down along the Columbia River and all the rolling hills the wind was blowing hard on the front left corner of the rig and that did put a dent in the milage. We ran 24.8 going over and s little under 20 coming back

Was going to load a picture of the front of the truck but cannot figure it out.

http://www.dieselramforum.com/forum/images/DieselRamForum_2014/attach/jpg.gif

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1 - 16 of 16 Posts

ECO33

Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 30, 2014

So I figured it out, loading pictures that is.

Haulin

· #3 · Nov 30, 2014

Nice picture, she looks good with some snow on her

firemist32

· #4 · Nov 30, 2014

Did you run in 4WD auto?

zoomie

· #5 · Dec 1, 2014

Nice shot. Nothing like having the right equipment when the weather goes sour and you have to get somewhere.

ECO33

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 1, 2014

firemist32 said:
Did you run in 4WD auto?

It was 4 wd from the time I hit the snow till it cleared off coming down the east side. My Outdoorsman has 4WD or 4WD low range. I do not understand what you mean by 4WD Auto.

Is that like all wheel drive that kicks in when you start to lose traction.

firemist32

· #7 · Dec 2, 2014

hmm my Laramie has 4WD auto, 4WD lock and 4WD low and 2WD. I assume auto tries to engage quickly when it detects wheel slip but not sure on this. I also don't know how reliable that would be in the snow or if it is more for driving through mud etc.

zoomie

· #8 · Dec 2, 2014

firemist32 said:
hmm my Laramie has 4WD auto, 4WD lock and 4WD low and 2WD. I assume auto tries to engage quickly when it detects wheel slip but not sure on this. I also don't know how reliable that would be in the snow or if it is more for driving through mud etc.

4WD Auto is an option that is on the higher end trucks. It basically runs in 2wd mode until it detects slippage then engages the other wheels. You can run in this mode on dry pavement. Not every truck has it.

4WD locks all four wheels together, it has the best traction in slippery conditions but you can't run on dry pavement.

This is a simplistic answer, there are a few much longer threads discussing 4wd auto and 4wd lock.

ECO33

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 2, 2014

4 wd

zoomie said:
4WD Auto is an option that is on the higher end trucks. It basically runs in 2wd mode until it detects slippage then engages the other wheels. You can run in this mode on dry pavement. Not every truck has it.

4WD locks all four wheels together, it has the best traction in slippery conditions but you can't run on dry pavement.

This is a simplistic answer, there are a few much longer threads discussing 4wd auto and 4wd lock.

I was sure that is what 4WD Auto was. In 1973 I purchased my 1st new first new truck, A Chevy 2 door 1/2 ton 4WD with the stick on the floor for shifting and 1 for 4WD. The next one was 91 Ram Cummins and all have been 4 WD as I did a lot of mountain driving and still do. Thanks firemist & zoomie.

Only drove the Chevy nearly 300 thousand miles.

Haulin

· #10 · Dec 2, 2014

It must have been fun taking it on mountains! Sure beats all the city driving I do, the closest I get to driving on mountains are times where i come across horrible bumpy roads that the city has neglected for years

ValVale

· #11 · Dec 2, 2014

yea 4WD Auto will revert back to 2WD once slippage stops, our 2005 Ford Escape is like this. I'm not sure if there is a difference in the 'quality' (bad word choice) of 4WD in Auto vs flick the switch. By quality I mean, capability and function. I believe they would be similar unless 4WD Auto is just a crude torque vectoring system... ???

ECO33

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 3, 2014

Haulin said:
It must have been fun taking it on mountains! Sure beats all the city driving I do, the closest I get to driving on mountains are times where i come across horrible bumpy roads that the city has neglected for years

Sounds like the streets in Spokane WA but I prefer the mountains as the scenery is much better.

Boulder Mark

· #13 · Dec 5, 2014

ECO33 said:
It was 4 wd from the time I hit the snow till it cleared off coming down the east side. My Outdoorsman has 4WD or 4WD low range. I do not understand what you mean by 4WD Auto. Is that like all wheel drive that kicks in when you start to lose traction.

While driving in 4WD (lock) did you feel any bumping or grinding or any other indication of stress on the transfer case, tires etc..?

I am finally understanding that my 2015 Outdoorsman (if it ever gets here) will come with 4WD lock and NOT an auto mode. I am trying to not let it distress me but I cam concerned about mixed driving on highways that go back and forth from snow packed to dry and keeping it in 4WD lock.

zoomie

· #14 · Dec 8, 2014

Boulder Mark said:
While driving in 4WD (lock) did you feel any bumping or grinding or any other indication of stress on the transfer case, tires etc..?

I am finally understanding that my 2015 Outdoorsman (if it ever gets here) will come with 4WD lock and NOT an auto mode. I am trying to not let it distress me but I cam concerned about mixed driving on highways that go back and forth from snow packed to dry and keeping it in 4WD lock.

It's not that big of a deal. The real problem with being in 4wd lock on dry pavement is when you turn. The wheels are locked together and when you turn the wheels on the outside of the turn are going further than the wheels on the inside of the turn. If you were in a dry parking lot driving in 2wd in a straight line, then switched to 4wd lock, you wouldn't feel any difference. When you turn you will feel the tires bind and slip on the pavement. If you do this on loose gravel or snow it will do the same thing but the road allows the tire to slip easier so there is no binding.

Now if you are on a snowy road in 4wd lock and you hit a patch of try road, then back to snow, you are not going to hurt anything. If you were on a dry twisty switchback mountain road in 4wd lock, you would definitely feel the binding and possibly hurt something.

The best thing to do is find a gravel parking lot or similar area and try all your drive settings. Goose it in 2wd and see what you get. Select 4wd lock (same as 4wd high) and give it a go. Try some slow tight turns and you will feel the binding and slippage. Then switch to 4wd low and do the same thing.

You don't want to feel that binding and slippage on a dry road where the tires have the most traction and can apply the most stress on your suspension parts.

Get a feel for it on a loose surface then you will know what you are looking for in other conditions.

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Boulder Mark

· #15 · Dec 8, 2014

zoomie said:
It's not that big of a deal. The real problem with being in 4wd lock on dry pavement is when you turn. The wheels are locked together and when you turn the wheels on the outside of the turn are going further than the wheels on the inside of the turn. .

Thanks so much for the reply. I guess I am still struggling with my choice of the Outdoorsman vs. Laramie or higher.

Have you been in situations where you have felt that the true locking transfer case (44-44 I believe) is better than the clutched / auto transfer case (44-45)?

I like almost everything about the Outdoorsman (HD suspension, larger payload for my lightweight pop-up camper, 17" wheels, etc...) but this transfer case issue has really got me wondering if I ordered the right vehicle for me.

zoomie

· #16 · Dec 8, 2014

Boulder Mark said:
Thanks so much for the reply. I guess I am still struggling with my choice of the Outdoorsman vs. Laramie or higher.

Have you been in situations where you have felt that the true locking transfer case (44-44 I believe) is better than the clutched / auto transfer case (44-45)?

I like almost everything about the Outdoorsman (HD suspension, larger payload for my lightweight pop-up camper, 17" wheels, etc...) but this transfer case issue has really got me wondering if I ordered the right vehicle for me.

I had an Expedition with the auto transfer case, honestly, I like to know that the the truck is in 2wd when I want that, and it's in 4wd when I want that so I really don't find this an issue at all. If my right hand is on my knee when I'm driving, I literally only need to extend my index finger to hit the button. I'll click on 4wd when sitting at a light in any kind of slippery condition to get a good launch then back to 2wd once I get going.

Since you have an outdoorsman, you also have a limited slip differential (hope this doesn't confuse things here) and that means you will have even better traction in 2wd mode so you have to be in some real slime to need 4wd at all.

Auto is nice but I think it's just another thing to break after the warranty is over.

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