Is your 4x4 a "Must Have" or "Nice to Have"

[rizzabove]

I agree, 4x4 is great to have and almost a must in some cases. I used my 4x4 in my last van quite a bit.maybe mostly because I had it to use. That being said. I went a different route on My current van. I could not get a reputable 4x4 conversion company to call me back in the year 2020. So I opted to do a weld tech designs 6” lift with custom rear leaf springs and a rear locker and gearing. For about half the cost of 4x4. I kept my mpgs at 17 and it rides and drives like a Cadillac. It has impressed me in steep hill climbs, snow, and ruts and holes. I have not gotten it in deep mud yet or plan on m it. Sand is the next test. in the future if I feel like I must have 4x4, my rear end is already built. Just add front components. Just a different route to see how far I can push it with out 4x4. If you don’t have lockers in you 4x4 you’re still only really 2x4.

[Steve Hunt]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

These days there are more and more people camping, so for me, I need to push further and further into the backcountry if I'm looking for solitude. That typically means less maintained roads so 4x4 is a must. Add to that I pull a trailer, so it's quite a bit easier to get stuck without 4x4.


Herb

-I have 4x4 and paid full boat since I had the conversion done. I love the way it looks and so yes the bad ass factor was part of it. Do I need it, I doubt it but I will use it for silly stuff like going to "The Graveyard Mud Park" this weekend...I guarantee I'll have the only 4x4 Van there down here in the Southeast.
On the flipside, A friend put a lift on his 2wd Econoline, 33" tires and a rear locker and says its never been stuck...he uses it from Fl to CO, so there is that to think about.

-Although its a bigger scale I have no doubt all the extra people camping, biking etc will dissipate just like the gym attendance doubles like clockwork every Jan and evaporates by March. That just makes for great deals at some point in the used market as I patiently wait for my half priced $8000 Yeti SB140 MTB

[Orv]

Originally Posted by Steve Hunt

-Although its a bigger scale I have no doubt all the extra people camping, biking etc will dissipate just like the gym attendance doubles like clockwork every Jan and evaporates by March. That just makes for great deals at some point in the used market as I patiently wait for my half priced $8000 Yeti SB140 MTB

I think so too. People have been camping a lot because it's just about the only form of recreational travel they're still allowed to do. Some will discover they love it and stick with it, but a lot of them will go back to other options when they're available.

My neighbor has a decent-sized camping trailer/toy hauler he bought a few months after lockdown started. Looks brand new. He squeezes it into the side yard next to our house when he's not using it, so I'm very aware of when he uses it. He's taken it out twice in the last six months. I think he's pretty typical.

[Nick]

I had my 2WD loaded with Camburg, Re-valved Fox’s, 285, Deaver, sway bars ....
totally loved how it’s handled. And then I got stuck on the sand, and then again, I found myself getting anxious every time I drove over soft sand.

So the van is currently at UJoint getting a full 4WD conversion, lockers, oversized calipers, 35’s.....

At the end if there is one think I want on my precious play time is piece of mind.......6.0L not withstanding :-(

[BenJJ]

For me 4x4 would be a "nice to have". Both of my vans have been 2wd and I have had no major problems. Current van has a 6" lift with rear air locker and performs great out in the CA deserts where I primarily camp. I have done stuff in it that people driving Ford Raptors in our group declined to attempt. I just always have recovery gear on me.

Since >90% of my driving is on road to get to a trail I didn't want to sacrifice on road driving.

[bravelion]

Originally Posted by Orv

One hard-to-price factor is that a 4WD van has a "wow factor" when people see it...people are intrigued by van campers in general right now, but the 4WD ones really get people excited. If you want to impress people a 4WD van will do it! (I say this without a trace of sarcasm. Expressing a personal style is a perfectly good reason to pick a vehicle.)
...

Yeah, I'm afflicted with wanting my van to make a "statement". Maybe it would be cheaper to see my therapist about that, and what's underneath. Having now test driven several lifted 4x4 "classic" style vans, Chevies and Econolines, and I'm staggered by how huge and tall they really are in person. And none have driven well enough for what I want on highway miles.

Yesterday I test drove a 2014 2WD Econoline SMB, low with side steps, and built for "travel" not camping (not even a house battery) and an appearance that screams "ELDERLY MAN DRIVING" (I'm only 58).

But I gotta say it was a sweet driving van. Really quiet and smooth. Glad I decide to "know what I'm saying no to".

I could remove the side step rails, give it a WeldTech 3" raise, change bumpers and it would have the ground clearance to drive rough dirt, still be nice looking enough, but not an attention grabber.

I'm pondering this further and actually it feels more "prudent" to me. Yes, I'll have to say "no" to some trails and destinations at first, especially if wet/rainy, but 4x4 could always be added later if it becomes a joy sapper not getting to those further off grid destinations.

[Kibo]

I know it's been said in many different ways, but I'll add my $.02. Coming from no background with 4x4s, my intent with the van was to get places with my family where others aren't...which means if I get stuck *with my family*, there's no one there to pull us out! I might have thought differently if it were just me; but with my youngest daughter under the age of 1 when we started this adventure, 4x4 seemed prudent. We've definitely used it to get in (and out of) places I wouldn't have ventured with 2WD--not to say a 2WD couldn't have done it, but I wouldn't have been comfortable with my family in tow. And we tend to seek out places to take advantage of the 4x4 because others can't. No lockers yet though--I'm torn, since much of our driving is on the highway and I like the idea of having an LSD in the rear when driving on snowy roads in the winter.

I have been a bit shocked at both how capable a 2WD van can be (when I didn't bother to engage 4x4) as well as how easy it is to get such a big vehicle stuck. Example 1: at a fat bike snow race in CO, a friend of a friend took 15min. to make it across the lightly sloped parking lot in their blinged out 2WD Sprinter van because there was all of 1-2in of light snow on the dirt. Example 2: while scouting a lightly forested camping spot in AZ, we got stuck on damp flat ground in 2WD because the weight of the van caused it to sink in ~6in.

As for the bling/flash/wow factor, I would have preferred flying under the radar by nature. However, there's no such thing as incognito in a 9ft tall nearly 20ft long purple behemoth--so I've embraced it! I'd like to think that the vehicle is less likely to be a theft target just because you can't go anywhere without people noticing it, but that may be wishful thinking. It does receive a lot of attention and thumbs-ups from "real" 4-wheelers, and people assume that anyone driving a big purple van must be nice. I think some make other assumptions as well based on the color, but I've never been one to care what others think so it doesn't bother me.

You definitely pay for the 4x4 up front, in maintenance, highway driving / ride quality, and gas. But like others have said, it's been well worth it for us.

[Orv]

Originally Posted by Kibo

Example 1: at a fat bike snow race in CO, a friend of a friend took 15min. to make it across the lightly sloped parking lot in their blinged out 2WD Sprinter van because there was all of 1-2in of light snow on the dirt.

For any rear wheel drive vehicle that'll be driven regularly in snow I recommend a set of snow tires. They make a big difference, even without studs. All-season radials don't even come close.

Example 2: while scouting a lightly forested camping spot in AZ, we got stuck on damp flat ground in 2WD because the weight of the van caused it to sink in ~6in.

Wet grass can be remarkably slick, too, especially without an LSD. I've seen pickups have trouble climbing a wet, grassy hill before.

The roads I drive in CA are mostly hardpack or gravel, and I haven't had any traction problems. I avoid large areas of soft sand or mud but so far that hasn't limited me too much, since I mostly camp in national forest campgrounds. (Short stretches of sand I deal with through sheer momentum.)

As far as bling factor goes, an aggressive bumper would probably go a long way toward making a van look less old-man-ish. Personally I prefer not to be the flashiest rig in the campground for anti-theft reasons. Just having a camper van is enough to draw me into a lot of conversations! People who don't have an RV think about all the places they could go; people with big RVs think about all the places they could park.

[Steve_382]

I have owned both 2wd and 4x4 vans. As other have said, if you are careful you can go most places without 4x4. But, I have never been stuck in the snow with my 4x4 and have had to get out the shovel lots of times with the 2wd in the snow. And I am just talking about daily driving on flat ground like going to the grocery store or the unplowed parking lot at work. The worst(best?) thing about 4x4 is people asking questions about it.

[grinnelljd]

I ordered a Sprinter 4x4 for conversion to our Sportsmobile for a number of reasons.

1. 4x4 (AWD) lets me self extract from more situations be it soft sand, mud, or snow. Our previous adventure mobile was a Subaru Forester with skid plates and that saw lots of use off of paved roads.

2. The 4x4 Sprinters comes with a body lift over that of a regular Sprinter. This gives us better approach, departure, and break-over angles versus a regular Sprinter which lets us go more places off of paved roads.

3. The 4x4 Sprinter comes with the V6 engine which is better suited to handling a completely built out and loaded van approaching the max GVWR.

4. The 4x4 Sprinter is really an on demand AWD system more like the AWD system in our Subaru Forester. I can turn on the 4x4 (AWD) system and use it on paved roads in heavy rains or snow. True 4x4 systems aren’t well suited for use on paved roads at highway speeds. Given that that majority of our driving is on paved roads, the Sprinter 4x4 (AWD) system is more useful to us than a true 4x4 system.

If I gave it some more thought, I could probably come up with more reasons, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. I’d say that our Sprinter 4x4 is a must have for the exploring we like to do.