alright heres the story i love fords, all i've ever wanted was a ford so the first vehicle i ever bought was an 89 bronco 2 4x4. after a year of playing with it i decided it needed more power so i went with the 302 swap, well i wanted to do it right so i've spent alot of money/time putting this thing together. I even bought an old toyota corolla to drive around untill i get this thing done. I caved a few days ago, i got tired of not haveing my 4x4, not being able to play in the mud with my buddy's so i saw this very nice looking chevy and said i had to buy it. now i've never given a chevy much attention but i thought that maybe this is a new leaf to turn over, so i go buy this 96 chevy 1500, 4x4, 350, auto, black, stepside, 6 inch suspension lift, 35mud terrains, 14 bolt in the rear, very nice lookin. I take it to the mud that afternoon, all my buddys are lookin at me and my nice truck, i'm feeling good, i dip it into the mud, nothin bad just a little slick, and stomp it in 2wd, man it roared through first gear then shift into second shooting rooster tails 50 feet in the air, speedo saying 80mph, it's got some power, so then i get into some real mud something i know i've taken my bronco through all the time, a jeep with worn out 33s just went through it, i dip it into the mud with 4low and stomp it, expecting it to pull through that stuff like nothin, it sinks, ok, maybe just a bad spot, it only took 3 trucks to pull out that heavy chevy when i know i've been more stuck with the bronco and 2 fourwheelers pulled me out but ohwell, so the next day i go to this other mudhole that everyones been playing in, no one has gotten stuck yet, thinking that yesterday was a bad experience i hit the mud and stomp it, get about 30 feet into the middle and boom i'm stuck again, it only took 4 hours a tug boat rope and a 79 bronco with 40's to finally pull that heavy chevy out. I'm mad i bought this truck so i can play around in every once and awhile but now it seems i can only drive on the street with it and look pretty, but it's even hard to do that when after 400 miles of driveing i've put 90 dollars in the gas tank. i'm never buying another chevy and regret buying this one.

 

that'll teach ya trader jk never owned one to tell ya if that is normal. me and all of my buddies have always owned Fords

 

you need more lift and bigger tires if mud is your thing and why do you think the chevy comercials say "like a rock" best mudding truck i ever owned was a 87 toyota with the little r21 4 banger had 7 inches of lift and i think i had 38 tsl super swamper boggers with beadlock rims that lil thing would go but i gave up the muddin along time ago i do most of my off roading in a suzuki samari now its basicly stock only mods were co-op grip spurs a skid plate to protect the transfer case and a gear reduction kit on the transfer case the lil thing is a tank and i welded the spider gears all way around so as long as i got a tire touching the ground i'm going somewhere but good luck on your offroading

 

Well a few things you have to consider. The chevy truck has a longer wheel base then your B2 or even a FS bronco. A shorter wheelbase truck is your friend when your romping in the mud. Also you had it in 4 low. That 14 bolt rear end has a 3.73 ratio under the cover, 3.73+LWB+4low = stuck. Also unless someone got inside the rear end it has an open differential. The chevys with grenade lock posis were junk 10 bolts. If you were to convert to a posi I bet you wont get stuck anymore. Yea Ive been eyballing a nice 99 extended cab stepside silverado. I drives what I likes.

 

I find it hard to believe that between similer trucks Ford, Chevy or Dodge there is that much difference, From the factory they are all build close to one another, what I'm saying is if you had a 96 F150 equipped the same as the Chevy and driven the same they would both be stuck. Give me the blue oval please.

 

You just rolled up to the mud and stomped it? I've always heard u get mommentum before u hit the mud. Doing what you did will cause the tires to just dig down in the mud instead of stay afloat.

 

I disagree. Other than high-centering, my truck, in stock form for 4 years, has been stuck once, and it was easily just nudged out of the mudhole, and I have never seen a Dodge, even lifted, make it through the same mudhole, except for one that has a Ford 460, Ford leaf springs all the way around, a Ford transfer case and Ford axles. In the Stone Mountain, Lee County, VA Top Truck Challenge last year, there were 9 Fords, 7 Dodges and 3 Chevrolets. A Ford went first, and a Chevy went last. Not one single Ford or Chevrolet failed to make it through the first mudhole, and not one single Dodge made it. I believe that the basic design of the trucks, the way the torque twists a truck's frame, and the way that weight is distributed has a lot to do with how trucks perform off-road, so yes, brand does make a difference. If they were the exact same, there would be patent infringements. Trucks are not created equal.

 

i can agree with fordlariat in some ways but i gave up mud along time ago rock crawling is alot more challenging and costs less in the long run you might snap a drive shaft yoke or roll over your ride but if you know what your machine can and cant do you can avoid the problem all together but there are places a chevy can go when a dodge cant or vice versa it all comes down to who is behind the wheel kinda like the pharse "guns dont kill people,people kill people" its just the person behind the trigger ( round here the pharse is a bit diffrent but i thought i might get into trouble if i used the local slang)

 

I agree with you. He just hates dodges.

 

Ok, then, if it's because of who is behing the wheel, then I've never seen anyone with a Dodge that could drive. I doubt it's a coincedence like that, but ok.

 

actually come to think of it i havent really seen many dodge trucks when i go play so i guess you got me

 

lol, I drive a '96 3 door SWB Chevy 1500 Z71, and what a slow gas guzzling POH it is. Gotta love 10 mpg. It weighs entirely too much, frame flexes more than it should, if I'm on an incline sideways, nobody can open their door. 4 lo isn't very low at all and lately ours has been having problems with 4wd, it's been taking forever for the vacuum actuators to engage and disengage the hubs, but there's no vacuum leaks anywhere. Inside door handle just fell off one day, gotta roll down the window to open the door. Man this truck sucks as a survey field vehicle, oh well, better than the Suburbans we had.

Edit by FTE: POH = Piece of Heaven. Less crude than similar acronym and less baiting.

 

I think the biggest problem with Chevies and off roading is that there frame rails are very low and close to the ground. Also having the IFS up front acts as a plow while going through mud. As for Dodge, the new 1500 Rams can't go off road so don't try, unless you get the 2500 with a solid front axle. The older Rams would fair much better and I've seen some do some serious off roading and do it very well. My only experience with a newer Ford was just yesturday while going to get a xmas tree about a half hour north of my house. It was a 98 F150 XL, V8, 4x4, xtended cab, short bed, and we went up a dirt road, and went to turn around. Its been raining/snowing lately so the front tires sunk in a run off and it was all mud. We tried putting the shifter into 4x4 and it wouldn't budge. We had to rock the truck in 2wd trying to pull the shifter back. We tried everything-Park, Neutral, Drive, and the thing would not shift into 4x4. After a while of rocking we got out. We then drove up further and tried to get it into 4x4 while on flat ground, nothing. We then turned around again and this time the rear tires slipped into the mud...it sunk down to the rear bumper. Us two guys had to pull the shifter back as hard as possible (pulling the **** off at the same time) and hold it in 4x4, it finally went in. In 4 high it did nothing and the front wheels wouldn't turn. So we had to struggle to get it into 4 low. We finally did and it was able to get out. After this I was not impressed since it was nothing serious but at the same time could've left us stranded at least 5 miles from anything. I'll take my push button 4x4 94 F150 anyday-still hasn't failed me.

 

go get a good winch !

 

Been a chevy guy all my life, seen lots and lots of chevys fords dodges and vw in the mud stuck tighter than you know what. Its the drivers in my cases that seem to not have a clue. Ive owned chevy ford dodge among others and never EVER had to be puled out. My advice to anyone buying a truck brand that they are not used to is. Drive awhile and get used to what you are not. just my 2 cents