# Driving Muddy Roads



## gitterdone81 (Sep 3, 2009)

So I was up near strawberry, clear as clear can be, and weather report said no rain until 3 PM, then the skies opened early, and I was on some of those gnarly dirt/clay rockless roads. I am an admitted sissy, when it comes to driving that shiz and got stuck a few times, and slid closer to the edge than I wanted too. Other than experience, and simply staying away from them, anybody use anything they find helpful? I was wondering if chains would help out, so I could crawl along and trudge on down, without white knuckle driving and fearing each turn was going to end me in the ditches along the sides of the road, or worse off the treeless edge at the bottom of a ravine.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

You said all you need to know, chains help a ton on that stuff. Just be careful have a low geared 4X4 that way you can just put it in low gear and crawl. I had a crap in your pants expirence on Trail mountian by Joes Valley the dugway is nothing but a muddy snotty mess when it rains and a straight drop off on one side. Glad I had my 84 GMC put the old girl in low four wheel drive and crawled down the whole way.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

That stuff really can be a colon clencher.

I had a similar experience in southern UT where the clay filled up the tread on my tires and it felt like I was driving an ice skate! I had a few friends with me that literally turned me around 180 degrees with my foot on the brake.

If I had chains, I am sure that life would have been easier.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Chains do help, but when the roads are really gooed up they can fill up with mud and do you no good at all. Sometimes it's best to just sit tight and wait for it to either dry up some or freeze. Most of the Utah mountain roads will dry considerably in 2-3 hours. I don't think that any of us wants to slide into a ravine especially if it's over a foot deep.


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## muscles (Dec 13, 2009)

mikevanwilder said:


> You said all you need to know, chains help a ton on that stuff. Just be careful have a low geared 4X4 that way you can just put it in low gear and crawl. I had a crap in your pants expirence on Trail mountian by Joes Valley the dugway is nothing but a muddy snotty mess when it rains and a straight drop off on one side. Glad I had my 84 GMC put the old girl in low four wheel drive and crawled down the whole way.


lol...that place is the worst in wet conditions!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Low range is the key, as mentioned, the chains can goo up just like the tires and do nothing for you. What the low range accomplishes is nearly remove the need to use the brakes, which is where the problems really begin.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

yea it can get scary fast i had a time i went off road up a hill in the mid afternoon played around in the mud and snow for a while then when i was heading back down the hill to go home the road had froze and it was about a 35 degree hill with a 90 degree turn and off the road down a steep hill if you miss the turn i started to slide down the hill but by the grace of god it was dry dirt right at the bottom of the road and i stopped just in time before i went off the road i was very puckered up after sliding down that hill


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## flyfisher117 (Jun 29, 2009)

Might also be smart to bring some manpons...
[youtube:cj0bqq0o]http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=nZo0dQlAgD8[/youtube:cj0bqq0o]

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri= ... Zo0dQlAgD8


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