All you need to know about driving your 4WD in mud

Driving through mud can be one of the most satisfying things to do in a 4WD, but also one of the most difficult and dangerous.

So how do you best handle the muddiest of situations when driving your 4x4 off-road?

The best advice we can give for driving through deep and/or slippery, steep mud is actually not to do so at all.

If you’re in an off-road environment where there’s long, steep climbs and/or lots of low-lying standing water – and has just had, or is due, heavy rain – you should avoid it.

Mud might be good for the skin, but not so much for drum brake friction linings and other parts of your four-wheel drive vehicle.

In some steep country, if the track is very slippery the risk of losing traction and sliding into the scenery is high.

There are other little unpleasant surprises in store with driving in mud, too. If you’ve driven through a low-lying peat bog, for example, you might find the smell lingers in your shiny new 4WD for a long while after.

When lots of vehicles use wet tracks or outback roads, they can turn it into a big, messy, damaging bog very quickly.

Needless to say, do not proceed if the track is closed. It’s not just the road damage you’ll do; you will have increased risk of getting hopelessly bogged, potentially stranded and, of course, the likelihood that there’s no-one else passing by to help.

But not all wet tracks are going to be shut, and neither are they always going to be badly damaged by driving on them.

There will be times when you can drive through mud without a problem.

Like driving on any other off-road terrain, skill and experience make a big difference. If you’re new to off-roading, then do a 4WD training course.

Before you even encounter a wet track, you should have a vehicle prepared for it, too. All-terrain tyres or, even better, mud-terrain tyres, will be the best improvement for driving on mud as their tread pattern is designed to reduce clogging with mud.

As with sand driving, lower tyre pressures also help the tyres have a larger contact area and therefore better grip. It is hard to generalise on tyre pressure, but, for mud, the pressures should be closer to 20psi than 30psi.

You need to ensure you can reinflate the tyres when returning to the highway (with a portable 12-volt air compressor, for example). Recovery gear, such as recovery tracks and a snatch strap and shackles, should also be packed before leaving home.

Driving in mud requires a combination of skills you’d acquire for driving through water and in sand. Like any water crossing, you’ll need to know how deep the water is and what is under it.

And as in deep sand, you need to be in the right gear and right speed to keep up adequate momentum to not get bogged.

If in doubt, back out. There’s no shame in wanting to avoid damage to you, your vehicle or avoiding spending hours goose-stepping through mud in wet shoes and socks trying to get your 4WD unstuck.

So if a 4WD ahead is making light work of a muddy section of track, don’t expect it will be as easy for your vehicle.

As is convoy procedure in any difficult off-road terrain, wait until the vehicle ahead is well clear of a slippery or boggy mud section before proceeding, especially where it is steep. There’s no point having two vehicles stuck or losing grip and sliding into each other.

You don’t need to be a geologist, but reading terrain is important in muddy conditions. The easiest mud you’ll drive on will, generally speaking, have a lot of grit or sandstone in it, and therefore usually have a hard base.

Terrain that is a powdery dirt when dry, without much, if any, rock or grit base, will turn to a very slippery clay or deep mud when wet. Sometimes you’ll strike these types of soil or anything in between on the same track.

In low-lying areas, beyond reading these two very broad types of terrain is knowing how much standing water is over the track.

Standing water usually will only serve to make a soft earth base turn to a porridge-like mud mixture – especially if other vehicles have already driven through it. If there is a big pool of water over the track, stop and either walk it or poke a shovel or long stick along the section to see how deep the water is, and how soft the base.

Also check how deep the ruts are – do you have enough clearance, or will your vehicle belly out?

Even if they are not deep, check long, boggy sections for debris that previous 4x4s might have used to get themselves unstuck. Bits of branches, rock or even an old piece of corrugated iron sheeting might have been left behind, buried in the mud.

You don’t want your tyres slicing through, or the undercarriage hitting, this stuff as you motor across.

A sudden downpour on a bush road or track can turn an easy dry clay or dirt surface to a thin paste that has the friction quality of ice.

You need to drive very smoothly and – in most cases – slowly on such terrain, staying towards the centre of the road if crowned, to avoid sliding off to the side, where there may be obstacles or boggy mud.

Ensure all your vehicle’s traction systems are all switched on.

Steep, muddy descents should be avoided in the wet, but if you are in high country and have no choice but to proceed, make sure you are in low-range first.

Walk the track if you are not sure, looking for danger points such as close trees, drop-offs and any kinks in the track that you may slide off. Let the wheels turn in low-range first gear with feet off the brakes or throttle so you can steer.

Only ever apply a little throttle to allow steering if sliding towards an obstacle.

As with descents, avoid long, steep muddy climbs in the wet if possible. If you must go up a slippery climb, first activate all traction aids. In most situations, you will want to be in low-range.

The idea is to maintain momentum in the highest gear possible that allows just enough momentum, without excessive speed that will reduce steering control and damage the vehicle.

The problem is where you can’t get all the way up the steep climb and have no choice but to back down it. It will already be slippery from you churning it up on the climb. What goes up, will probably slide down...

Where you have to back down, ensure you are in low-range, reversing as slowly and smoothly as possible.

If you have prepared yourself and read the terrain and still get stuck in soft mud, try not to panic – it happens to even the best four-wheel drive enthusiast.

The main thing to remember is that if your 4WD has stopped moving, keeping on the accelerator will not help – it will only dig your vehicle in deeper.

There isn’t the space here to go into recovery detail, but 4x4 tracks or – if you have another 4WD to help – a snatch strap and shackles are the most common recovery gear to use here.

Mud driving – Quick reference do’s and don’ts
• Don’t drive on closed wet roads/tracks
• For any mud conditions you encounter, be prepared with 4WD driver training, off-road tyres, lower tyre pressures and recovery gear before you go
• If in a convoy, leave plenty of space between vehicles
• In low-lying areas, get out and check water/mud depth over the track before driving it
• Thin clay mud can be like driving on ice, so drive slowly and stay towards the centre crown of the road where possible
• Avoid slippery, muddy descents if possible but, if you have no choice, use low-range first gear to descend
• For slippery mud climbs use all traction aids and use gearing to keep momentum
• Everyone eventually gets stuck, so don’t panic if it happens to you; use 4WD training skills to recover your vehicle