Scooter Scott said:
Hee Hee... me too.
As for the question of how the 4x4 system works, I put a copy of an old Car & Driver article on
my Escape website. It describes how the 2001-2004 system works and why it's not a "true 4x4" system. There have been a few people that have questioned how accurate the article is but I don't actually remember what the beef was...
I've taken my Escape off-road 3x. It did very well each time. The first time was in the Pine Barrens of NJ. Most of this trip was was compacted sand but there were also and some good size water puddles and areas of deep loose sand that we played in. All the Escapes on this trip did extremely well. The second was a trip to Kentucky. We went on a mountain trail that had a few minor obstacles but it really wasn't that bad. Again, no one had any problems.
The final trip was in PA. This was the biggest test of the 3. The picture in my signature is from that trip. Getting into the trail area had us going over a fairly narrow and steep burm. The trail itself started of quite bumpy and it led to the water hole pictured above. It was probably a foot+ deep at the center. Non of the Escapes had any problems... not even the 2wd one. After this, we went onto some old coal roads. These actually were not too bad. There was a section that was quite bumpy and fun but not really challenging. After that, we went thru another puddle that was quite thick with what I think was coal dust. We just called it the mud puddle. It wasn't nearly as deep as the water hole in my sig and all the Escapes made it thru with out incident. On the way out, we went thru the same mud puddle and again it seemed no one had a problem. However on the way home, 5 of the 7 Escapes had their alternators die. Luckily, mine wasn't one of them. It seems the thick, mucky stuff can kill the alternators fairly easily.
Moral of the story, dry and bumpy... fine. Wet and not too deep... again, should be fine. Sand... Messy but fairly easily handled. Mud? Be very careful. It can kill your Escape (or at least it's alternator)...