Mud & Water

The popular image of a 4x4 is up to its hubs in mud and this is one area where tyres are of great importance. Most 4x4 vehicles are fitted with All Terrain (AT) tyres and these are fine for occasional off roading. But when you get into thick sticky mud, the tread will clog and you are likely to lose traction and get stuck. If you plan to do this type of off roading regularly invest in some Mud Terrain (MT) tyres, these have a much more aggressive tread pattern to give you traction and they self clean better to make sure you can maintain it. Mud comes in many varieties and the bottomless type should be avoided at all costs, if this is impossible then speed is the only method with a chance of success.

Letting air out of the tyres to increase flotation is useful for these types of conditions but not for surface mud where the idea is to get traction by biting down to the hard stuff below. If you do get stuck, don't spin the wheels as this will only dig you in deeper making recovery even more difficult, but do try reversing out through your own tracks. If that fails then you are stuck. The best method of recovery in this situation is a "snatch" from another vehicle (see recovery for more information).

As a general rule of thumb, as far as depth is concerned is that hub level should be easily tackled by any 4x4 and top of the wheel is serious stuff.

However once you really know your vehicle and gain some experience water should not present a major obstacle.

Always check the water depth before proceeding, enter the water slowly and proceed at a gentle, constant speed. Be prepared, you may need to stop and reverse out the way you came in particularly if the water depth suddenly changes or if you discover an unexpected pothole etc. You can always try again, this is always better than drowning your engine and causing untold damage.

Really deep water should only be tackled if your vehicle has been thoroughly prepared (i.e. Raised air intake, axle & gearbox breathers and thorough waterproofing) and you know exactly what you are doing.

Finally remember that the inside of your vehicle will also get wet so don't leave cameras etc on the floor, either pack them in waterproof boxes, leave them in another vehicle or keep them high up out of harms way.