Non-4x4 to a 4x4

15slvrDbl · June 1, 2018

If you went with the manual floor mount 4wd shifter its totally feasible. You would need a trans shop to swap the tail cone and tail shaft over to a 4wd setup. Put in a transfer case front diff and cv axles. Most front hubs have the splines in them already. Maybe swap trans mounts. You would not have a 4wd light in dash and would have to supply power by way of an aux switch to power the solenoid on the front diff. I have helped accomplish this on a 03’ superduty. But we had a wrecked truck complete to swap parts from so it was not bad. In reality it is not worth the cost to convert on a modern truck.

crushNchowda · June 1, 2018

On 5/17/2018 at 5:23 PM, Imcrazy said:

If I didn't live in a snowy climate I would not have 4x4.... I never really do any off roading but, given the job I have and what not I like having a 4x4 so I can get where I need to go regardless of the weather....

You can argue this one way or the other....& my dad who was cop my whole life growing up in MA used to swear he didn't need 4wd he just ran dedicated snows & sandbags in his 2wd trucks - "crown vics don't have 4wd do they?" is what he used to say. Truth is he was getting 2wd, extended cab bench seat manual tranny trucks cuz he was trying to save $$$ to put me & my sister in private school etc. As soon as we were a little older had jobs all he drove was 4wd trucks haahaha

Now - if you buy stripped down trucks like my dad did, especially back in the day, you could make the argument he did - even after buying some snows it was still a major savings. These days though, the cost difference between a mid-level half ton w/ and w/o 4wd is not that significant, and nearly non-existent if you factor in the cost of blizzaks on some 18"s THEN - there's the resale factor, trade-in take a big haircut, private party way longer/harder to sell.

Its very similar to when people talk V6 camaro/mustang over V8 - hey they're plenty powerful these days, you don't NEED the V8 unless you're competitively gonna track it right? Now go try & sell that V6 'stang in a few years & look at the % depreciation vs. a comparably equipped V8 GT.

All that being said, I agree w/ many others would be cheaper to just trade-up, that, and the fact if you get a '15 model you get the 100k mile powertrain warranty that covers 4wd components......guess what GM would tell you with ANY warranty issue on a hacked up 4wd frankenstein truck? Go pound sand.