Well that explains everything. You think "mudding" is tooling around in some farmers cornfield. Damn, you are WAY too hardcore for me. I'm gonna rip that front Dana 60 out of my '73 right now so I can be more of a hardcore wheeler too...

 

I'm wondering how much mudding some of yall have really done. Here's a quote i'll comment on "i don't kick my 4x4 in until i quit moving forward but that usually takes quite a bit!". That's why you're getting stuck man...kick in the 4 wheel BEFORE you attempt something, don't lose the momentum...it'll screw ya. Another thing...manual tranny's arent for a mudding rig - that slight stutter when shifting can be all of the momentum it takes to get you in trouble. I have a pasture pretty much full of trucks, mostly 4x4 and taken the majority of them through the pond a time or three (toyota, chevy, International scout, dodge, ford, and even a hummer). 2 wheelers are fun to play with, but if you want to make it out without driving in a fence post and getting out a come-along ....get 4x4.

 

Nice to see new users with good ol common sense. Welcome.

 

Heck, i was playing in the mud when some of ya was still wet behind the ears..............Driving in ponds will do that ya know.

My first exp in the mud was with my big yellow tonka dump truck. Man, that was a ride.

Point is, why do big boys play in the mud with toys - 'cause they can.

 

LOL , i have been involved in the off-road world long before most ppl my age (18ish-22ish) were learning how to walk.

My first off-roader was the plastic 3-wheeler that was battery powered, then a Honda 70, Honda 125, Honda 200, Kawasaki Lakota, 1993 F150 4x4, 1985 F250 4x4.

I know momentum is everything...I have gotten to where I can look at a mud hole and most of the time decide whether or not I can ford it! I like to mess around and see what i can do before calling on the 4x4. I have true 4-wheel drive (lockers) so unlike the 4x2's with a LS I utilize all 4 wheels to their full potential. Either that or I give it hell

I have a manual 5-speed...I haven't noticed any problems with using it (no studder).

I use the term 'stuck' loosely here...forgive me. When I said stuck i meant when I lost all momentum and my truck stopped!

-jason-

 

Hey, for you guys who do some serious mudding in 4x4 my 91 has limited slip front and back, is an extended cab with an auto....will this be ok for some fun in the mud? I do not intend for this truck to ever see anyhitng more than a small rock between me and a mud pit....I have plans to put on a lift and 35s right now, and work my way up with bigger lifts and tires form time to time till I reach a 12" with 44s....I also plan on rebuilding the 302 this year and eventually replace it with either a 429 or 460. I also need to ditch the auto hubs and put on manuals, but htat will be in the next few months gopefully.....

 

o yea man...my last off-roader was a 93 f150 xtended cab auto LS F/R and i got some mean pics of it ion a some mud holes . in fact i kept up fairly well with a 79 f250 with 38.5" boggers and a 460. in fact if can up load them i will put up pics of when I had to call a bulldozer to come pull me out...it was too soupy for anything else to get to me.

you can make anything work. just make sure you have fun doing it

-jason-

 

I don't see why you couldn't have some fun with that in the mud Jimmy, provided that you have some good rubber on it.

 

No, that's my cornfield drivin to get the tractor everyday around here, that's not necessally what I would call muddin either, just saying a 2wd would never do it once stopped. I've been in a few mud drags never won, but did alright. Me and the boys hit every mud road after it rains a few inchs and there is some darn steep hills around here, I've sheared a motor mount bolt clean off trying to get outta of a hole, I got out, but my fan was hittin the shraud. If I got mud stuck to my back window then I must be doing something right. When we get stuck around here we either gotta get a long cable or a tractor, cuz you bring another truck down to get the other one you'll have a bad chain reaction of 4 stuck trucks (seen it happen).
So I've seen all kinds of mud, except this year sucked b/c we had like an inch of rain total in NE, it's gettin bad here, pretty soon they will be able to move baja up here, it'll be all sand.

 

they are marginal on ice ,not worth anything on any other terrain

 

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...... ........ you brought this thread back up. Just went I thought it was safely dead

That said, one of my buddy got those snoclaws and he said they sucked.

 

Before i got my ranger i was driving my dads F-250 down by the beach. I decided to turn around on the side of the road and take the other way back home. (more girls that way) It didnt even look like it would be bad but it was. The front end made nice little ruts for the rear to sink into. I didnt have any tools to get it out but i did do some good improvising... a tailgate does pretty good for tractionlaying under the tires. Anyways, it ended up taking a tow truck to get the truck out of a little sand 5 feet from the pavement. So whoever says to wheel drive trucks are good at the beach sure as hell doesnt know what they are talking about. The only people who think 4x2's are better are the people wishing they had 4x4's. As for 4x2 having more power and being faster.... NO WAY! My 4x4 has the same engine and gears as a 4x2 so i dont see any legs to stand on. The ONLY way a 4x2 is better is if you want to slide around. Thats the only reasin i dont have mine i 4x4. YOu can slide around and do donuts, but if you want to go anywhere you have to have it 4x4. The locked rear 4x2's are better than those without one, but they still dont hold up to 4x4's. I think fish got it right when he asked why there even is this post. There is no competetion between 4x4 and 4x2.

 

OK, here's my $.02. Put a Detroit in it, with either 32x9.50x15 Swampers, or 33x14.00x15 Boggers on the rear, and 32x9.50x15 Swampers for the front. The 300 is a torquey mother, and with those tires, will go anywhere a 4x4 can, and sometimes farther. Also, put around 300-400 lbs of sand bags, either right over, or right in front of the rear axle.

 

The simple answer is neither. You said it yourself, 2 or 4 wheels SPINNING, which means 0 traction, none, nada, nil. Be just a little more specific next time.

 

"The 300 is a torquey mother, and with those tires, will go anywhere a 4x4 can, and sometimes farther"

now, are you saying that a truck...assuming it has those same tires, motor, tranny....everything...but has 4wd will not go everywhere a 2wd will, thats a really stupid thing to say man. wait better yet....run open diffs, bald 26"x9 " tires, and a 302 with 400000 miles (haha, as if a V8 could ever go that far) and i bet you money that truck you justmade up will out do it, but back to the facts...if everything were equal a 4wd will outperform a 2wd on anything but pavement. its simple, even with open diffs the redistribution of weight, and the ability to "pull" and puch the vehicleat the same time cannot be beaten....it is a proven fact that it is more efficent to pull a mass rather than push it......a 4wd WILL outperform a 2wd.....you think they designed it just because they thought it looked cool....no...there is a reason

Idiomaticman