I would consider two E-brakes to be considerablly simpler than 4WD, at least mechanically. Yes, alot of the adaptation you must do yourself, but most of us don't need 4WD except very rarely. Do a cost / benefit run on 2WD vs. 4WD for most of us, and it comes out for 2WD. So, unless you want to fit a differential w/lock, splitting out the brake is surely the way to go. I have been driving in Michigan and Maine winters for 28 years (!) (10 of those with Vanagons) with only 2WD and have gotten stuck three times. And one of those was from screwing around...

Daryl Christensen <aatransaxle@DIRECWAY.COM> wrote:  You would have to make a setup similar to what the sand rails and buggy's
use with double E brake handles or some such method...Not worth the
hassle...just get a syncro or 4wd subie to drive when it snows...:),>
Daryl

What about something so that you can apply brakes to one rear wheel or
the other independantly, so that the power gets distributed back to
the other wheel? That would seem like it would work to at least get
the car moving in a tough situation.

Sudhir