mud vs snow/ice driving tips?

[flair1111]

ok i had a bit of a scare yesterday riding in the mountains. it has been raining for about 4 days now without stopping, so i knew it was going to be muddy. once i got up there it appeared the gravel had been scrapped off by the forest department a few days earlier in preparation for leveling out the road a little but they hadnt yet put down new gravel.

now this sounds like fun, but i bout crapped my pants several times trying to get out of there. in some places it was as deep and mushy as you can imagine, BUT it wasnt on a flat area. it was going up step twisty curves that leaned off toward the 100-300 foot drop offs on the side of the mountains. several times it was all i could do to keep the jeep going straight. 2 times the back end slid out and down towards the leaning edges. in one instance if i hadnt had enough momentum, im sure id have slid off backwards and landed 200 feet below. i was only able to keep a speed of about 10-15 going through these bad parts since anything faster made me have to fight the wheel to stay straight. anything below 5 seemed to make the rear slip out and down.

any advice on driving in these extreme muddy conditions once youre in them and cant turn back to get out?

i am a pretty good driver on snow and ice believe it or not, but this mud was totally different. i even have my brand new general grabber at2s with shit loads of tread.

EDIT: i was in mud, not ice. some here seem to be confused on that.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I was in a situation kinda like in snow, but it was pure ice... (thawed then froze again). IIRC, I put it into 4LO and 2nd gear and let it idle along, and if it did slide, steering into it.

 

[wheeee32]

Where were you driving at if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Marty]

Those tires are exactly what you don't want for ice or thin snow, you need ice tires with lots of sipes. But if no choice, keep eyes way forward, steer into slides. Do nothing abruptly. If in any of the 4x4 modes, giving gas in slides will understeer even more. If you have time to experiment, turn wheel slightly, give a bit of gas then let off gas suddenly to see if you can induce oversteer, then play with that. If getting stuck is not an issue, leave in 2 wd mode and use gas and braking to oversteer and understeer. Best of course to have practiced all this before you really need it.

 

[Luke]

It's all about the sipes.... and nerves of steel


"US National Safety Council found siping improved stopping distances by 22 percent, breakaway traction by 65 percent, and rolling traction by 28 percent on glare ice."

 

[flair1111]

Where were you driving at if you don't mind me asking?

cohutah mountains in north georgia. usually its no problem. this time was horrible.

 

[wheeee32]

cohutah mountains in north georgia. usually its no problem. this time was horrible.

There are mountains there?:jawdrop: Haha! J/K I always have to say that when I'm used to being out west in the Rocky Mountains.:headbang:

 

[flair1111]

oh hell yes. not as big or tall as the rockies, but theres some serious shit here.

There are mountains there?:jawdrop: Haha! J/K I always have to say that when I'm used to being out west in the Rocky Mountains.:headbang:

 

[JeepJeepster]

Not a whole lot you can do different, thats why i stay away from mud. Those are some sweet tires (had them for awhile) but they are still an a/t. A true mud tire would help.

 

[flair1111]

thanks all! yep i guess ill stay out of the mud after the type of hard rains we had. its not worth it to me. if i tear up the jeep im screwed. so no more of that until a few days have passed.

 

[ridenby]

Mud tires will make a huge difference. And even then they have to be spun fast enough to clean/throw mud out of the tread. Snow and ice are a different animal altogether.