Ice n Snow n 4x4

I used to drive a Land Rover which of course had full time 4x4. Now I'm in a Frontera I've only got 2 wheel drive so far, I haven't even needed 4 wheel drive apart from getting out of the car park at work!!

Down here in Cornwall, we've pretty much lost all the snow and its just icy.

As I understand it, the 4 wheel drive on a frontera essentially locks the diffs so when going round a corner, the inside and outside wheels go at different speeds, which is fine on mud, but bad on tarmac as it leads to wound up transmission and the outside wheel "skipping" on gravelly surfaces.

Should I use 4x4 on icy roads or will it cause more problems than it solves? with outside wheel skidding. Or should I only use it to get out of thick snow etc when "stuck"

Use it when you need to. Any situation where you might lose traction will be fine as any wind up can be lost through the wheels slipping. Get more use from the engine braking when in 4x4 also.

With some reasonable tyres and a bit of feeling in the right foot, you're fine mostly in 2-wheel drive. If the road/surface condition change extremly, then use 4-wheel drive. Best thing to experiement, is to find a snow covered car park or similar and then play around to see how your truck responds to various changes.

A good idea is to engage 4wd, then move the selector back to 2wd, but leave the hubs engaged. Then if you get rear wheels spinning you can move selector and drive on...cos the hubs are already locked.

Once you're on clear road again, move back to 2wd...