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Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon Review

  


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Mud Tires
& Mud Driving
Mud Tire, Mud Terrain and
All Terrain Tires Reviews, Information

 

 

Mud Tires

Mud Tires
 

Mud Tires on SaleDriving through mud is a cross between ice skating and walking through quicksand. Some types of mud have a greasy top layer with a hard baked surface underneath, while other types can be a bottomless quagmire of gooey mush.

Different types of mud require different driving techniques, equipment and Mud Tires. Greasy mud with a hard bottom layer is best suited to narrow mud tires to allow them to cut through the top layer to bite the hard surface below. Wide mud tires in this situation tend to float on the greasy top layer without reaching the hard surface underneath.

Tire Terminology     How to Pick the Right Mud Tire     Making A Mud Tire    Mud Tire Reviews
 

Mud Tire Reviews - Read Mud Tire Reviews and Post Your Own Review of your Mud Tires Mud Terrain MT and AT (All Terrain) Tires.  Review Mud Tires Mud Tire Reviews
  

 

 

  
Thick gooey mud tends to favor wide mud tires as they give some flotation, similar to wide tires favoring sand driving. Lowering your tire pressures can help just like when sand driving, though its best not to lower tire pressures below 20-25psi for mud.

Regardless of what type of mud and what width tires are fitted, the tread pattern needs to have large lugs to allow the tire to 'clean' itself. If they don't, the lugs fill with mud and the tire becomes a 'slick' with little chance of getting traction. Road orientated tread patterns tend to have closely spaced lugs to put more rubber on the road and to reduce tire noise at highway speeds. When it comes to mud, road tread tires are at a significant disadvantage, whereas in sand they help avoid 'digging in'. Dedicated mud tires have large open spaced lugs to keep the tire clean. However, they handle worse on bitumen as there is less rubber in contact with the ground and in sand they tend to dig in. Also they can have an annoying drone at highway speeds.
  

Mud Tire Reviews
Read Tire Reviews and Post Your Own Review of Offroad Tires
 

Mud Driving Techniques Mud Tires

Unlike some other types of terrain, mud-driving techniques vary on the type of mud. Reducing tire pressures can help in 'bottomless' mud whereas it can make things worse when a hard surface is below the mud. Mud usually tends to hide obstacles such as tree roots and sticks just waiting to slash your sidewalls, so its best to avoid reducing tire pressures if you can avoid it.

Driving on the peaks between tire tracks can provide firmer ground, as water tends to collect in the wheel tracks. Though sometimes the existing wheel tracks have cut through to the firmer surface underneath and provide the best traction.

Moving the steering wheel left to right about 90° from the center can help the front wheels bite into the mud in search of traction. Do not turn the wheel too for as you can end up making things worse.

As you have probably gathered by now, mud driving is unpredictable and you need to have a knowledge of different driving techniques to know which one to apply in each situation. What doesn't change is the need to have good mud tires with big self-cleaning lugs and good recovery equipment.

Mud Tires
Mud Tires

Tire Chains, an alternative to Mud Tires

Mud TiresA way to overcome the cost and audible discomfort of mud tires is to use tire chains on your existing tires. They will dramatically improve your traction, but they do damage the track surface. It is best if they are only used when you HAVE to traverse a muddy track, as they can make it almost impassable when it dries out. If possible, it is best to let a muddy track partially dry out so you con get through in 4WD without using chains, as chains will deteriorate the track for future users.

There are two main types of tire chains, the bar (ladder) pattern or the diamond pattern. The bar pattern is better for mud as it really bites into the surface, whereas the diamond pattern is normally used for snow driving. It provides a smoother ride as the chain is in constant contact with the surface and has side-slip resistance, whereas the bar type has more of a digging action. Both types of chains can be used in either situation so if you do purchase them, choose the sort for your main type of driving.

   Mud Tires Get this FJ40 Through the Mud   Mud Tires Through the Mud
Mud Tires - Mud Tires - Mud Tires - Mud Tires

Maintenance

Mud, especially clay and thick mud, tends to stick wherever it touches, It can build up under the wheel arches to the point it acts as a brake on the tires. This type of build-up is obvious and has to be cleared immediately, but other types of build-up that are not so obvious but still need immediate removal is on the rims. Even a small amount can throw your wheel balance out dramatically and can lead to uneven tire wear and a vibrating steering wheel.

Once all visible mud has been removed, its necessary to check items like diff and gearbox breathers to ensure they are clear, otherwise it con lead to seal damage in the long term. Also check all drain holes on the chassis etc to ensure they are not blocked. Its surprising how mud can even find it’s way to block drain holes on the bottom of doors!

Tire Terminology   Wheel Terminology    How to Pick the Right
  Tires for your Truck   Truck Tire Info   Making A Tire    Maintaining a Tire

OFFROAD PRODUCT REVIEWS
Read user opinions and post your own.  It's what you think that counts.  From Offroad Tires to Winches to Offroad Lights and more.  Go to the reviews

Mud TiresNorthern Exposure and My Mud Tires
"Sticks and Stones may break my Jeep but mud is always funner". Mountain 4 Wheeling offroad at the peak of the fall season.  A weekend in the northeastern Appalachian Mountains with incredibly colorful fall foliage.  Mud Tires a Must.
Wheeling with the Mud Tire
Mud Tire Wheeling
We do a weekend worth of offroading kicking it off on a Friday the 13th.  Loads of fun in the high hills of PA and some muddin' with the Mud Tires down in the valleys.   Another awesome weekend.  13 pages worth of 4 wheeling fun and mud tires.
Mud Tires in the SnowParagon Adventure Park Mud Tire Special Wheeling the Park one last time.  Mud Tires get us through the snow on Paragon's Monthly Trail Ride attracts Hundreds in support of the park and it's owners surrounding a battle to save the park's future from extinction. Benefit Trail Rides were on Feb. 3 & 4th.  See the Report Mud Tires in the MountainsWheeling in Rattlesnake Country
In this offroad report we have the opportunity to take a 2007 Jeep JK  Wrangler Rubicon equipped with Mud Tires and a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser (without Mud Tires) up into the Pennsylvania Mountain Trails for a Weekend of Offroading.  With this report we will run down the pros and cons and our offroad impressions of the FJ Cruiser and the JK Wrangler Rubicon.  Check it out here

Quad Mud TiresRAIN EVENT - Wheelin' with Tammy A rain soaked trip into the PA mountains.  New trails in familiar territory tamed with Mud Tires.  Quads, Jeeps Toyotas and more take to the trails under some of the most beautiful foliage we've seen up on the PA mountains in years.
Mud Tires in Coal CountryOffroad in the heart of Anthracite Coal Region - Pennsylvania Coal Regions are a playground for the adventurous 4 wheeler.  All you need is a rig with Mud tires.  Check out the action from high atop a mountain of slag.

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Tire  Information
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Tires for your Truck
Tire Fitment - What Hits What Fits
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Jeep Project CJ-7

An ongoing Budgeted Rebuild/Build up of a Rock Crawling Machine.


JK Rubicon Review
Offroad and On Road Testing

BATTERY TECH
The Dirt on Lead Acid Batteries.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Lead Acid Car Batteries.


Onboard Air
Converting a York
AC Compressor
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BFGoodrich® Tires Gears Up for SCORE Baja 500



Off-Road Lights
by LightForce Product Review / Installation.
from Off-Road Lights


ARB Air Locker Install
Jeep Wide Track Axles Swap

  

Do it Yourself
Detriot EZ Locker Install  in a 92 Toyota 8" rear


For all the Jeep
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From the
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Ultra-Cool Hand Throttle for Free!

Jeep V8 Swap Tips

The Exploding Clutch

Radiator Protection using 6 bucks worth of material

Cracked Under Pressure - Fixing a smashed fingernail

A Cheap, effective alternative to undercoating

Home-built Saginaw Gearbox Brace for the cost of lunch!

Ammo Box Storage - Mounting Them for Quick Disconnect

Home-built Serious Skid-Plate protection for the Oil Pan for under 20 bucks!

  

JEEP CJ
AXLE SWAP

Jeep CJ Axle Swap using
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Knoebels Amusement Park

 

 
Ramp Travel Index
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Reader's Rigs and Seriously Stucks!

 

Jeep Trans Swap Info
T-18A Transmission Rebuild & Short Shaft Conversion
  


Black Diamond Suspension Lift install for CJ-7