4WD Max Speed

I just bought an '07 Dodge Nitro with "part time" 4WD. There is no
high or low. How fast can I go while in 4WD without doing any
damage? Also, does anyone know how much worse the gas mileage is when
in 4WD?

Thanks,
Dan

 

Don't know the Nitro, but ordinarily with part-time 4WD, you don't put
it on when you're in a condition with good traction -- you'll destroy
the transfer case and differentials in a hurry.

So any time you've got it in 4, you don't need to worry about the
vehicle's top speed, since conditions will keep you going much slower
than that. Likewise, you don't need to worry about the difference in
gas mileage.

 

I have been in situations before where I have thought the roads are in
good condition, then hit an ice patch and almost killed myself.. I
guess with part time 4WD, you can't really use it until you are
absoultely sure there is little traction. In other words, you can't
just put it in 4WD to be on the "safe side".

What I liked about the Nitro was all of the safety features. Assuming
4WD won't save me in the above situation, how about the other safety
features like Electronic Stability Control, Anti Roll Mitigation,
Automatic Traction Control, etc.. Does anyone have any opinions on any
of these features?

Thanks,
Dan

 

I don't think the best full-time 4wd or AWD system would help you one
iota in that case either. 4WD or AWD helps you get moving on ice and
snow, but you can't stop any faster than any other car because all cars
have 4-wheel bakes. What good is 4wd going to do if you hit an ice patch
at speed? None.

No substitute for driving skill.

 

First off read your purchase invoice (window sticker) or your build
sheet if you have one and post as to what type of 4wd drive system you
have. As far as I know all of Dodge/Chrysler and Jeep (with exception
of maybe the TJ) all currently have full time 4x4, basically they are
all wheel drive, some will have a fancy shifter pretending to be
4wheel low.

If you Nitro has fulltime 4wd then you can drive as fast as you want.
If it has a selectable 4wd (or true 4x4) capability then you should
really read the manual for the vehicle or get ready to pay the dealer
big $$$ to fix things when they go "bang".

Just keep in mind the biggest difference between 2wd and 4wd is the
cost to pull you out of the ditch. 4wd (no matter what type you have)
will get you stuck faster and farther off the road then with 2wd.

As for all the other crap you asked about (sway control, traction
control and that) learn to drive first. All this stuff (incl.
daytime running lights that only turn on front lights and nothing at
the back) have been added to cars over the years because of the stupid
people who drive in bad weather. These are the same stupid drivers
who cant drive at the best of times and should walk or take transit.

All the extra crap socalled "safety" items put on cars are there so
the stupid people will buy them and ask questions like "how fast can I
go in 4wd" or "how come I got a ticket for not having my lights on, I
had headlights on.. who cares if my back lights weren't, the brakes
would work when I was stopping".

Snow...
1989 Caprice Wagon
1993 JeeP ZJ
2008 Dodge Caliber sxt

 

Can't speak for the Nitro, but as of last year the Dakota could be had
with real 4WD. I've got one.

A friend of mine once gave me some really good advice about using 4WD
off-road: leave it in 2. Then when you get stuck, put it in
4-low-reverse, back it out, and put it back in 2. That's only
slightly facetious...

I've heard also heard that the single most common phrase after "don't
worry, we're in 4" is "anybody see a place to hook the winch?"

 

I have an AWD van. What AWD gives you is every 80K miles or so you
have to pay about $200 to have the driveline from the front transfer case to
the rear axles rebuilt. Or, spend $500 to get a new driveline. Sadly, the
AWD designers threw away 70 years of learned design in building drivelines
and U-joints and opted to go instead to this booted CVS design like what
is used in axles in FWD cars. The boots on the suckers fail at the same
rate that the boots on the CVS axles do, which means that once the boot
fails, you get grease slung all over the bottom of the vehicle and have to
go
get the driveline rebuilt.

Ted

 

Wow -- I don't think I've ever seen anybody go through CV boots at
that rate...

 

That's only 2 or 3 CV joints replaced during the typical lifetime of the
vehicle. But, a rebuilt half-shaft is available in the box from most
auto parts places for about $50. Rather different than a driveline which
you have to remove - thereby disabling the vehicle - carry in to the One
Place in the city that rebuilds them, then wait a week, and if the line is
torn up, wait longer for them to find another line from a wrecker that
doesen't
have the same parts hashed.

Call around to the driveline places if you have one of these that's older
than 10 years. Your going to find that some of the repair parts for them
are no longer available from Chrysler or anywhere else.

I don't know about the other vehicle manufacturers, but the AWD driveline
Chrysler produced for the vans is clearly a bad design. No wonder they
stopped making
them.

Ted

 

That's only 2 or 3 CV joints replaced during the typical lifetime of the
vehicle. But, a rebuilt half-shaft is available in the box from most
auto parts places for about $50. Rather different than a driveline which
you have to remove - thereby disabling the vehicle - carry in to the One
Place in the city that rebuilds them, then wait a week, and if the line is
torn up, wait longer for them to find another line from a wrecker that
doesen't
have the same parts hashed.

Call around to the driveline places if you have one of these that's older
than 10 years. Your going to find that some of the repair parts for them
are no longer available from Chrysler or anywhere else.

I don't know about the other vehicle manufacturers, but the AWD driveline
Chrysler produced for the vans is clearly a bad design. No wonder they
stopped making
them.

Ted

 

The only reason the minivans dropped AWD is that it wouldn't clear Stow'N'Go
seats.

The AWD systems simply moved to the Pacifica, which is really just a
"compressed" minivan platform.

Rick

 

If there had really been the market demand for AWD in a minivan, Chrysler
would have figured something out. AWD was dropped because there
wasn't enough people buying them for Chrysler to spend the money and
time to design it in. Obvious options would have been to not make the
stow and go available on AWD vans.

I have a 94 AWD and a 95 non-AWD and have disassembled the AWD
pretty far in the past. There's no difference in body design between the
two. AWD is mainly a bolt-on option, it didn't take a lot of rework to
add it in.


Ted