My friends Brute climbs hills better in 2wd then 4wd too. It must be a power thing.

 

itsba power thing my ol mans quad sux ass in 4 wheeldrive in sand and it causes the front tires tp dig in instead of float kinda like riding your rappy in acrcoss the sand with stuck front brakes lol also when quads are in 4 wheel drive like a truck there gearing is much much lower at least thats my take on it

 

Congratulations to me, Congratulations to me on my 400th post!!! Woo Hoo!!


My dad has a 660 grizz and he couldn't climb not a hill in the gravel pit by our house but he could do okay in 4WD. You can't climb nothing wen your in H (high) put it in L (low) you will go twice as far.

The rule is in a gravel pit were the hills are steep and you can't get a run at em 4WD LOW.

You did better in 2 because you had it in H or/and a big run.

 

We weren't riding at a gravel pit. This was a sand hill.

I don't know about the gearing being different. The Grizzly 660 is an automatic.

Yeah, he was in 4 High NOT 4 low when he tried the hill. He started from the same spot each time and just gave it full throttle so there was no variation when comparing 2WD to 4WD.

 

Depends on the hill, the terrain, the machine, and the skill (or lack of it) from the rider.

4wd will climb better than 2wd if 4wd offers more traction and that traction can be taken advantage of.

 

Yeah but in sand there is very little traction to be taken advantage of.
Because sand is light each paddle or lug have to push as much of it as they can which only gives a small amount of forward push. So the faster you can spin the tires the more you can accumulate the needed forward momentum generated by each paddle.
So because your utility quad is very heavy it requires a lot more forward push. When you put it in 4hi:
A. your loosening the sand in front of the rear tires which are your primary drive tires. And the fronts dig in preventing forward motion.
B. your machine also just lost a great deal of it's top end tq.Because now your turning 4 tires instead of 2.
Now I'm no expert! I'm just brainstorming here and could be wrong

 

I wholeheartedly disagree with you there carpenter, 4wd will climb better in the sand than 2wd.

 

Yeah ur probably right! I'm just trying to rationalize why this guys quad didnt go near as far in 4 as it did in 2 wheel drive. Those are really the only reasons I can think of. I'm sure the fronts will dig substantially though. And that has to upset the dynamics of good flotation and prevent forward momentum. Still just brainstorming hahaha! I like these threads cause I have the opportunity to learn more about common questions like this

 

It seems to me the debate is only as good as the incline we're discussing. 4WD works well until we reach a vertical climb index that requires velocity over traction.

 

Like I said before he must of had it in H or/and he had a run at it.

4WD climbs 2WD doesn't.

 

Yeah, he had a run at it every time he attempted it.

We were all parked about 100 feet from the base of the hill. This is where he started from each time.

 

Yep!

 

He wont have near as much power in 4wd as he does in 2wd. The gearing will not change from 2wd to 4wd. I know my rzr s wont climb near as far in 2wd as it will in 4wd and sand is realy tough to climb if you are trying to put power to 4 tires rather than 2.