Our local Jeep club is holding a Mud Bog this weekend as a fund raiser for the local fire department. The fire department will be on hand to provide water to make mud pits and hose off vehicles afterwards. I’m planning on going to have a little fun time with my stepdaughter. My one concern is my tires - I have stock Michelin LT road tires on the Jeep right now. I’ve taken it off road on trails and had no issues, but that was always in the dry. More aggressive tires are in the works but won’t be available in time for the event. So I guess I’m looking for a little sanity check from anyone with off-roading experience. My plan is to air down the tires to about 25 psi (normal pressure is 36), carry a tow rope, and not try anything too crazy or deep. My understanding is that they will have several mud pits to play in, as well as normal dry trail rides. Am I crazy to think that I can handle light to medium mud pits with road tires as long as I drop the pressure and take it slow? Is 4H or 4L the best way to go? Or should I just stick to the dry trails until I can get some beefier tread? The event sounds like a lot of fun, but I’m not looking to embarrass myself - I’m sure most of the other folks in attendance are going to be experienced mudders with more appropriate tires. I’m sure I can find someone to pull me out if I get stuck, but ideally I’d prefer not to.
I know nothing about this, but what would happen with chains on yer tires? Are chains even still available?
In my experience chains are intended for snow on pavement and not much help in mud.
Without aggressive treads you’ll get nowhere in the mud. Do the dry trails first. Still feeling it after getting pummeled about? Then try an easy mud pit. Don’t be afraid to ask more experienced drivers for advice. Fellowship is part of the off road community.
That’s what I’m hoping for. My stepdaughter is a new driver and has little experience with a manual - I’m hoping to get her to try the dry trails too. And maybe some light mud if she feels confident enough.
The rule I ALWAYS follow when going off road for ANY reason is this: stay in 2WD mode until you become stuck, THEN and ONLY THEN, switch to 4WD to unstick yourself. Immediately after getting unstuck, switch back to 2WD. If you are already in 4WD before becoming stuck, at that point you are WELL and TRULY STUCK.
short answer: NO
longer answer: NO, don’t do it …
unless you have a dedicated trail vehicle with huge ground clearance.
it will be NO fun, you will be stuck immediately with a non-dedicated off-road-vehicle, your vehicle will be EXTREMELY dirty - inside and out … to a degree that mud will deteriorate the mechanics of your car very efficiently (e.g. rolling your windows down while covered in sediment-heavy mud will permanently scratch them, clogging brake calipers with mud, rear difs being cooled down and hence suck water in…).
If your car is more like a SUV, the suction-effect will bog you down instantly and make any rescue effort quite risky (you should be OK with ripping a fender or bumper off your vehicle if you plan to do this). Also the pair of shoes you are wearing will likely go to waste. Airing down, will do squat as your tires will clog up instantly - and your 4x4 will sit even lower.
My personal take (many years off-road experience): it is SO much funnier when a bumper gets twisted off on another person’s 4x4 than on your own - same for water seeping in when you go off-keel.
case in point: it can go from “wow that was a fun afternoon” to … “damn - that is at least 4k in damage” within 5 seconds.