Mud driving..the 80 is no light-footed pony!

[Steveindar]

Mud season has arrived here in the hills of southern Tz.
There are only two seasons really, Dust and Mud, with the latter being of longer duration.
Driving around the tea fields main roads and suddenly coming across a section of mud on an uphill off-camber is pretty unsettling

So what's the answer, drive slower, speed up, pump up the tyres to 10 bar, reduce them to 1 bar, change to all-out mud paddles, shave all the tread off? Questions, questions!

I quickly discovered that the 80 is no nimble pony and does struggle with mud. I run Goodyear Wranglers at about 2 bar. Driving dead slow and slowly coasting to a halt when the arse slips into the gutter has served well so far, but man, you just don't get anywhere with any haste.

On the other hand I really stick it to the Ford Ranger because she's lighter, more nimble and easier to catch in a drift.

Opinions on 80's mud driving?

Really overdoing the posts today!!

 

[Steveindar]

How do you edit the thread heading? Light-footed!!!

 

[clivehorridge]

Well, at pushing 3 tonnes, the 80 has an immediate disadvantage when the going gets heavy underfoot. I don't know if yours has been modified at all, but mine has a suspension lift which helps when the ground is badly rutted or undulating. Winter is approaching here, and any off road driving is getting muddier, so I'm running on BFG KM2 MUD tyres. They're good when it's soft, but care is still needed especially on crossfalls.

As you say, stay slower, feed the steering, and be conscious of what's happening underneath. On steeper sections, I use low box and I've disconnected the auto CDL in low. The combination of the low gears and the open Centre diff is great IMO. the CDL is lockable from the dash switch, so every combination is available.

Theres also the rear and front lockers, just in case. On heavy sections keep some momentum going to help you through. What else is there to say? We will see....

 

[Steveindar]

Well, at pushing 3 tonnes, the 80 has an immediate disadvantage when the going gets heavy underfoot. I don't know if yours has been modified at all, but mine has a suspension lift which helps when the ground is badly rutted or undulating. Winter is approaching here, and any off road driving is getting muddier, so I'm running on BFG KM2 MUD tyres. They're good when it's soft, but care is still needed especially on crossfalls.

As you say, stay slower, feed the steering, and be conscious of what's happening underneath. On steeper sections, I use low box and I've disconnected the auto CDL in low. The combination of the low gears and the open Centre diff is great IMO. the CDL is lockable from the dash switch, so every combination is available.

Theres also the rear and front lockers, just in case. On heavy sections keep some momentum going to help you through. What else is there to say? We will see....

Momentum uphill in a non turbo 80???

I noticed the CDL engages in low range, what's the mod to disengage this and only select manually?

 

[StarCruiser]

Take a look here Steve.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53763

Takes 5 minutes to do and best to seal up the plug and socket with something.

 

[Ken Brenton]

Steve
Soft tyres definitely help around 1.2 bar usually. If the mud is that treacly type then mud tyres don't help that much over AT's in my South African experience. When I did Baboons pass in Lesotho in my 80 GXL (EFI) some years ago all tyres were having problems, similarly on a Cruiser Cup trail in Ixopo area after snow turned to mud. The real solution if you are going to encounter mud often is a set of chains. Got me through even without diff lockers at times. Messy to put on and off but they will get you through most mud situations and help maintain control.
This picture from Baboons Pass shows my 80 with chains on BFG AT's on an easier part of the trail, elsewhere was chaos.

 

[clivehorridge]

Agree with the chains comment Ken, in the winter I carry a heavy duty set I had made by RUDD for the 33s, heavy as buggery but a good insurance policy[emoji2]

 

[Dave2000]

Steady driving style and the right tyres IME, only if you going through seriously deep mud do you need plenty of momentum.

regards

Dave

 

[clivehorridge]

Momentum uphill in a non turbo 80???

I'm not so sure that turbos assist much with momentum Steve, a much better dash off a green light for sure and better pulling power no doubt.

What engine do you have in your 80 BTW?

 

[Cptsideways]

The Wranglers AT's are the main problem, having recently used them in some hilly muddy fields in Wales I would say they are useless in gooey mud. Compared to M/T's that had no bother at all.

 

[Gary Stockton]

MT pattern tyres running at 2.2 bar would serve you better with centre diff locked.

Fixed your heading

 

[clivehorridge]

MT pattern tyres running at 2.2 bar would serve you better with centre diff locked.

Fixed your heading

After running both GG ATs and BFG KM2s in similar ranges of extremes over recent years, the KM2s surely come out tops for mud conditions, not surprisingly

The ATs soon clogged up and spun like sliks. Yet the ATs performed really well on grass and all ranges of tracks, even muddy tracks, as long as there's enough drier parts to let them spin the mud out from the treads.

 

[Steveindar]

Take a look here Steve.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53763

Takes 5 minutes to do and best to seal up the plug and socket with something.

Great, thanks, will check over the weekend

 

[Steveindar]

I'm not so sure that turbos assist much with momentum Steve, a much better dash off a green light for sure and better pulling power no doubt.

What engine do you have in your 80 BTW?

1HZ. Downhill momentum builds just fine...which brings up the necessity to upgrade the brakes some time...but to get some going uphill one has to assume one can actually build up a head of steam to start with...

 

[Steveindar]

MT pattern tyres running at 2.2 bar would serve you better with centre diff locked.

Fixed your heading

Thanks Boet!

 

[clivehorridge]

1HZ. Downhill momentum builds just fine...which brings up the necessity to upgrade the brakes some time...but to get some going uphill one has to assume one can actually build up a head of steam to start with...

Obviously I'm the first to concede to that Steve

Most of the tracks I navigate prevent me from even using high, so in low 3rd, for example, the truck can feel quite "lively".

 

[Steveindar]

Steady driving style and the right tyres IME, only if you going through seriously deep mud do you need plenty of momentum.

regards

Dave

Actually the 80 is SWAMBO's transport mostly, just need her to feel safe. Was just checking out all the noises she was complaining about and went for a spin round the block..that's about 38km's with no back-tracking! Turns out the rattle behind the radio was loose change in the coin slots of the armrest console!!
I've been considering a brand change and seeing as 90% of our travelling is off-road of some description and it rains for 7 to 8 months of the year I'll look at something a little more specific. Might invest in a second set of rims and just keep changing according to the weather.

 

[Steveindar]

Obviously I'm the first to concede to that Steve

Most of the tracks I navigate prevent me from even using high, so in low 3rd, for example, the truck can feel quite "lively".

You got me there. If I want to do serious off-road I take my 525!!

 

[Chris]

I'm with Capt and Gary on the tyres. The Wranglers are rubbish. I am running a set on my std 80 at the second and at Lincomb this weekend I'd have been better just running on the rims with no tyres. I am not sure I agree with airing down in mud though. With a mud tyre the last thing you want to do is let them down. I did some tests on muds about a year ago with a set obstacle and the same tyre at different pressures. The only time I made it across was at road pressures. Large open pattern muds, in my view, require the ability to be able to cut through and clean themselves. They do this better if they are hard. You are also more likely to throw a tyre as well. OK I agree that if you were running essentially a floatation tyre like I do on my quad bike they need to be soft. But typical mud terrains aren't that sort of tyre.

Of course we all know the best tyre for deep mud.


It's called .....


A winch

 

[clivehorridge]

You got me there. If I want to do serious off-road I take my 525!!

Now you've got me Steve!

Forgive me, I've led a sheltered life, but unless you mean a Nokia Lumina phone, Bell's "Relentless" helicopter, or BMW's medium sized affordable family saloon car, I'm at a loss as to what a "525" may be