DIRTY DEEDS - MUD DRIVING

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Category: Reviews and Editorials

Mud glorious mud! What fun to drive in!

Water plus soil equals mud, but not all muds are equal.

Did you know there are ten distinct soil types in Australia, and each one creates a different mud. For example, the soils around Gulgong in central western New South Wales are mainly kaolinitic. When it’s dry, they’re hard as well, rocks, but when it rains they have a firm crust over a bottomless slurry. If you break through, be prepared for a bogging. It’s very different to say, the high lime content calcareous earths found in the Wimmera and Mallee districts of Victoria. But while they all differ, there are some basic generalisations you can make about the right way to drive through them.

TEN TOP MUD HINTS

1. Any mud worth its salt (so to speak) will require engaging low range. But first gear low range will often push too much torque through to the wheels. Result? Wheelspin, getting bogged. So to take off, try second gear and very gentle throttle pressure.

2. The secret to mud driving is momentum. That doesn’t mean speed, just a consistent rate through the sticky stuff.

3. Stay off the brakes; the wheels will lock up and you’ll lose your steering. Instead, use the gears when you need to retard your momentum.

4. Stick to existing wheelruts (if they’re deep, straddle them). Don’t drive off the track looking for an easier way, because more often than not, it’ll be soft and again, you’ll bog. It’s also more respectful of the environment to not go chewing up the landscape.

5. If you’re churning through mud for kilometre after kilometre, stop regularly (on hardpack) to check that it’s not clogging the wheel arches. If they completely fill with mud, you’ll have no traction left.

6. Carry a long-handled shovel (see above).

7. Fit a winch and carry a tree protector.

8. If you plan on doing a lot of mud driving, replace the standard rubber with a proper mud tyre. Cooper’s Discoverer S/T-C is an excellent choice.

9. Carry water and food, because there’ll come a day when you bog…badly. And as any experienced four-wheel driver knows, recovery can take anything from hours to days.

10. Don’t drive on closed roads. The fines if you’re caught are horrendous. In South Australia it’s a grand a wheel. And put the vehicle radio on ABC Regional to listen for road closure updates. Even if no ‘Ro

    ad Closed’ sign is visible and the road has been declared closed, the penalties still apply.

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