Do you know your car, truck, SUV or Jeep 4-wheel drive Ps and Qs?

The 4-wheel drive option on your truck, Jeep or SUV offers assistance driving on Wonder Lake’s winter roads and the potential for fun if you’re inclined to take your driving off-road. But, do you know your Ps and Qs when it comes to 4-wheel driving?

What’s to know, right? You engage the 4-wheel drive and give your truck, Jeep or SUV the gas. Whoa!!! Actually, there could be a little more to it.

For instance, what kind of drive does your car, truck, Jeep or SUV have? A similar option, which is very common in newer cars and SUVs, is AWD. That stands for All-wheel drive.

With AWD, there isn’t much to say. The driver isn’t required to do anything, other than drive. Just like any other car, you start the engine of your car, Jeep or SUV and hit the road. But, 4-wheel drive is a different story.

With 4-wheel drive, you may want to put it in Four-High (4H) or Four-Low (4L), depending on the situation.

4H is what you’ll want to use when you’ll drive at normal speeds. Use it for driving when Wonder Lake roads are snowy, icy or wet. 4H is also good for taking your truck, Jeep or SUV off-road where you’ll deal with loose gravel, sand, and mud.

4L, on the other hand, is for the same kinds of roads but at lower speeds. If you’re climbing on icy, snowing, wet, gravely, sandy, or muddy roads, you probably want to use 4L. The same is true coming down from a hill on those kinds of roads. But, you shouldn’t use 4L if you’re driving above 40 mph. 4L provides greater traction and torque. It helps when you’re trying to fight your way out of a snowdrift of when you’re stuck in the mud.

One warning is that, when Wonder Lake and other roads are dry, clean and level, you shouldn’t use your 4-wheel drive. Doing so could damage the drivetrain.

Another factor to consider about 4-wheel drive, or AWD, for that matter; 4-wheel drive isn’t any better than the tires on the corners. In other words, you’ll get the most out of your 4-wheel drive if you have good winter, snow and/or mud tires that help you grab the road, no matter what’s on top of it.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog