A four-wheel drive or a 4x4 refers to a two-axle vehicle drivetrain that is capable of supplying torque to all wheels simultaneously. The supply to the wheels could be fixed or on-demand and usually linked via a transfer case that provides additional output drive-shaft and additional gear ranges.

While many people use their 4x4 rides off-road, some people make use of the vehicles only on the road. The capabilities that most 4x4s have off-road is surreal and makes the journey over the inhospitable terrain fun. The vehicles also provide a great driving experience on the road but show its capabilities in the dirt.

Some people who own 4x4 vehicles aren't knowledgeable about the cars and have heard supposed facts from so-called experts. The mainstream believes several things about 4x4 rides that aren't true. To find out what most people believe about 4x4s, we gleaned information from 4x4 owners and car buyers. We wanted to educate car consumers about 4x4 rides and debunk myths that most people believe about the cars. To inform the car market about the truth of these cars, we compiled a list of the myths that most people believe about 4x4s and expanded each belief to prove that it is a myth.

25 AWD Is The Same As 4WD

via Autotrader.ca

The majority of people who believe this are the ones who drive SUVs. Although an AWD functions similar to a 4WD unless you lock the center diff, it won't be as effective in sticky situations.

AWD vehicles have an open center diff like a 4WD but cannot unlock it. That means that the rotational force that the engine-gearbox-transfer put out will follow the path of least resistance, resulting in the AWD vehicle supplying the torque to only the front or rear axle.

24 My Engine Swap Will Work Better

via Motor Trend

All of us want better reliability and performance from our vehicles, but we have to be careful about the route we take to accomplish that goal. Believing that fitting your engine that is lying around in the garage into your 4x4 will provide better performance could be futile.

The engine is a small part of the expense after you've considered the transmission adapters, motor mounts, exhaust, and wiring. If you want to convert a 2WD to a 4WD, you'll incur the same costs. Conversions don't work most of the time.

23 Mud Terrain Tires Are Better Off-Road

via 4wheeling in Western Australia

People who believed this was right before the advent of technology, but that has changed since tire technology made great strides. All-terrain tires have proven to be the best option. Drivers who seek aggressive tires will get good performance from AT/MT hybrid tires to experience highway smoothness while getting good traction on slippery terrains and minimal tire wear.

Technology has changed many things, and one of the aspects that it changed is all-terrain tires.

22 4WD Is More Important Than Snow Tires In Snow

via Saultonline

Would you take a front-wheel drive car on a snow trail without fitting snow tires? You should've answered no, so why would it be different for a four-wheel drive? All season tires become less effective than snow tires to responding to driver inputs when the temperature dips below seven degrees Celsius, according to Heninger.

Fitting your vehicle with snow tires is more important than having a four-wheel drive in snow, as the tires are the only part of the car connecting you to ground.

21 4x4s Don't Cost More To Own Than Two-Wheel Drive Cars

via East Coast Overland Adventures

If you believe this, then buy a 4x4, and your bank account will reflect that the statement is false. Apart from the higher annual fuel costs that drivers will experience with a 4x4, they also have to maintain and repair the vehicle.

A four-wheel drive system is heavier, more complex and has more moving parts than a two-wheel drive system. The center differential, responsible for splitting power and torque to all the wheels, in a 4x4 requires maintenance and repairs in case of failure.

20 A Colder Thermostat Provides More Power

via Car from Japan

Several sensors determine how much fuel an engine needs to optimize efficiency and power. One of the sensors that drivers use to determine that is a coolant temperature. Many drivers believe that by using a thermostat that opens at a lower temperature will lead to a cooler running engine.

The reason it is a myth is that the thermostat controls when the coolant circulates the engine, so once the thermostat is open, it has no control over the temperature that the engine is functioning at, meaning that the temperature sensor will display the same value irrespective of the thermostat used.

19 All Four Wheels Have To Spin When Stuck

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If you've been stuck off-road, you would have seen two opposing tires spinning without getting the driver out of the mess. Since that didn't work, many people believed that all four wheels have to rotate when you're stuck.

According to Drive Line, most 4x4s have open front and rear differentials, allowing both tires on the same axle to receive the same amount of torque. Aftermarket traction adding differentials alter the torque bias and provide power to the tires planted on the ground.

18 Mud Tires Aren't Good For Snow

via Ozzy Tires

Mud tires have a few or no sipes in the tread area. Siping allows the tires to grip the icy surfaces. Drivers who enjoy running trails in the snow can purchase tires such as Nitto Mud Grapplers, which are tires that are a mild siped all-terrain and work well on icy roads that provide little traction in the mud and muck hidden under the snow.

Purchasing tires used on and off-road in snow and ice is a compromise. You're sacrificing performance in one scenario to gain performance in another scenario. The best option is to buy two different sets of tires.

17 More Power Is Needed For Bigger Tires

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Off-road enthusiasts are always looking to improve their experience while on the dirt road and do so by fitting the car with bigger tires. Increasing the diameter on your 4x4 results in altering the overall gearing, thereby changing the speeds in which the transmission shifts and making the engine sluggish.

The best way to regain the power after installing larger tires is by regearing the axles. In most cases, you should increase the gearing by double the percent increase in tire diameter.

16 Narrow Tires Are Better Than Wider Ones In Snow And Mud

via Pirate 4x4

You can debate this one as much as you like, but it depends on personal experience, the weight of the vehicle and trail conditions. The other factor that plays a role is the type of mud or snow that the driver encounters.

Selecting the appropriate tire requires predicting the conditions you might encounter. Narrow tires are good for digging and grabbing onto solid ground, especially in mud and snow that is less than a foot deep. Wider tires help you to stay on top of soft, loamy terrain, especially with proper air-down.

15 Wire Winch Cable Is Stronger

via Business Wire

The statement makes sense, but that doesn't mean it's true. If you compared a spiraled wire cable to a super-lightweight synthetic rope, you'd say that the wire cable is stronger.

The truth is that the synthetic rope is as strong as the wire cable, probably stronger. The wire cable is more dangerous than the synthetic rope. Why do we say that the synthetic rope is just as strong as winch cable? An engineer who conducted studies on the topic determined that the synthetic rope is as strong as winch cable.

14 Braking And Handling Are Better In A 4WD

via Pinterest

That is what most people think and the reason that so many have opted to purchase 4x4 vehicles, as opposed to 2WD cars. They feel that they will have peace of mind knowing that the 4WD will provide better handling and braking.

The manufacturer accentuates these capabilities through the advertising campaign. Although 4WD can help you gain more traction during acceleration, the braking and handling could be worse than a 2WD due to the added weight of employing a four-wheel drive system.

13 Drivers Can't Steer In The Front Axle

via Pinterest

The automatic locker in the front of your rig does make it more difficult to turn, but power steering and hydraulic assist make it possible. Many people install a selectable locker in the front axle and an automatic locker in the rear axle, believing that the vehicle will provide better turning capability.

Pundits discovered that a locked rear axle tends to push the vehicle straight, irrespective of the direction that the driver turns the tires. A selectable locker in the rear and automatic locker up front provides better turning ability than an automatic locker in the rear.

12 Tubing Is Stronger Than Solid Rod

via Pinterest

To debunk this myth, usually, contains several qualifications that confuse people. To make it simple, we used the two dimensions that determine the strength of a tube: wall thickness and outer diameter. The strength increase from a thicker wall is negligible when the tube is thicker than 0.500-inches.

Regarding the bending, we derived the strength from the distance of the outside diameter from the center of the tube. Wall thickness has greater resistance to denting. A 1 1/4x0.120 wall tube has the same strength as a 1-inch solid rod of the same material but weighs half.

11 Grade 5 Bolts Stretch While Grade 8 Bolts Break

via Extreme Terrain

Some refer to this theory as the Butter Bolt Theory. The belief behind this myth is that Grade 8 bolts can be brittle due to the higher tensile strength. The strength of steel fasteners is around sixty percent of the ultimate tensile strength while Grade 8 bolts have a fifty percent higher tensile strength than Grade 5.

Higher grades of hardware had better strength to resistance, fatigue and torqued to higher values for greater clamping force. The perk of Grade 5 bolts is the more affordable price.

10 A Spring-Over Is Cheaper Than A Lift Kit

via Rocky Road Outfitters

While a new set of spring perches costs less than new leaf springs, spring perches are a small part of the cost of the spring-over conversion. The drag link shares the space with the spring during articulation, requiring the driver to relocate the steering to above the springs.

The costs don't stop there, as the 4x4 owner will have to spend more money to get the job done the right way. A traction bar is needed in the rear to keep axle wrap to a minimum and avoid breaking U-joints.

9 Beadlock Wheels Aren't DOT Compliant

via RPP Hobby

Numerous people believe that the Department of Transport (DOT) has not approved Beadlock Wheels. That is false. The reason that many people believe that is due to the past construction methods where Beadlock ring replaced the lip of a conventional rim.

Raceline, BAD, Trailready, as well as other companies, make DOT approved aluminum Beadlock rims cast as a Beadlock. DOT doesn't have any regulations related to Beadlock rims, according to Four Wheeler, but the aforementioned rims meet the standards the DOT enforced.

8 Unit Bearings Are Scraps

via Driving Line

Many so-called car pundits believe that you cannot replace the bearings in a unit. Although you cannot rebuild a unit bearing, unit bearings have shown to be light and easy to replace.

Consumers need to buy quality components, not knockoffs. Some suppliers offer unit bearing constructed from heat-treated Chromoly that accept 40-spline axle shafts. Although a Dynatrac Free Spin kit is also available for the extreme exposure, unit bearings are a good choice for most 4x4 owners.

7 Drivers Can Flip A Normal Axle To Make It High-Pinion

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Otherwise known as reverse-cut, high-pinion differentials are good for decreasing driveline angles, as well as adding ground clearance to the car. Those axles have a unique design, with a ring and pinion gears cut the opposite direction. Drivers should note that they cannot use a low-pinion gear set in a high-pinion housing, or vice versa.

The confusion arises as both gear sets use the same carriers. Trying to flip a low-pinion housing to move the pinion around the axle line would result in the tires moving backward, as opposed to forward.

6 Wheel Spacers Are Unsafe

via 4x4 Parts

4x4 drivers like to blame many of their car problems on wheel spacers. Drivers blame the death wobble, worn-out wheel bearings, as well as the hashed ball joints on wheel spacers. The point of adding wheel spacers is to widen the track width of a vehicle when you add larger tires on steering or suspension components.

To prevent the rubbing, drivers can run the rims with less backspacing or wheel spacers. Both options are safe, increase leverage and decrease the lifespan of front-end components.