[Ben M.]

So living in the mountains I'm finding getting around in the rain and plant matter is difficult for my 2WD long bed truck - gotten stuck in my driveway 3 times in the rain plus it cuts loose on turns in a scary way if I don't have 1000lbs over the rear axle. So I'm thinking a cheap 4WD or AWD for those situations, especially since it does occasionally snow up here and the last thing I want to do is get stranded. A mechanic buddy of mine is clearing out his collection of "free" cars and has shown me 2 he has: a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 1985 D150 4WD. Both are v8s, the Jeep has some timing cover leaks and valve cover leaks he will fix and the D150 is a manual trans and was a runner and driver a "while ago" per the guy he got it from. Both are in the 200k+ mile range and while neither are super nice, neither are trashed and rust isn't an issue (California cars). Assuming the price is cheap enough for either (it is) which would be the better recommendation for winter-ish driving in the mountains? I'm leaning towards the JGC but wanted to get some opinions.

And before the talk of "4WD won't save you, woman driver!" and "we drove our RAIV Judges with manual drums\brakes in the ice and LIKED IT back when the men were men and the women were too" starts I completely understand that and am not expecting to fly on the freeway or whip around curves in bad weather checking my makeup while texting on my cell phone. But when I'm going downhill at 25MPH and the truck rear breaks free and starts sliding towards the edge of the road and only quick response on the steering kept it from going over, I'd rather have a little extra control when needed - plus the ability to get up and down hills that the truck is having trouble with. Not to mention it'll save miles on the F250 and be easier to park in town.