I had my brother, sister and realtor in my 2020 TRD ORP 4R to look at a property I'm going to list, drove to the back of property and got into some mud and was surprised how easily this 4R got stuck. I even upgraded tires and wheels to TOYO
OC AT3's, No matter what I did the 4R wouldn't budge, put in 4 low and locked the rear diff, even tried crawl control and just sat there stuck in the mud. Was very dissipointed in the 4R today. I hardly ever take this vehicle off road and actually this is the first time I ever took this one anywhere off the pavement.
Fortunately there was a guy running a Kubota track loader nearby and he pulled me right out, I just put in neutral and he didn't even strain one bit pulling me out.
These vehicles might be reliable but I wouldn't venture too far off road by myself without a winch. I bought this vehicle because I thought is had good off road capability but now I am disappointed. I looked and was not on the frame either.
So 4R not a good mudder.

An inexperienced driver can get an m1 tank stuck in mud.

I kind of blame it on the tires, they loaded up with mud and turned into slicks.

High rpms and momentum/speed is important for mud. The wheel spin at speed will fling the mud off of the tires and steering the the front wheel left to right while feeling for a purchase point then tapping into second gear, while speeding up could have been the ticket. Even then it's not a 100% without a winch.

Mud can be difficult, especially if it's a clay mud with very little organic material in it, don't feel bad mud has gotten the best of some very capable vehicles, a winch is mandatory when going off road especially if mud is involved.

Airing down makes a difference too. Assuming you didnt need to get back on the highway or had an air compressor, dropping the pressure to 20 PSI or so can help.

The goal is to prevent getting stuck. Once youre stuck in mud, its really tough to get traction again. Thats where a winch, maxtrax, piling rocks/ sticks under a wheel to get traction again is all you can do.

After getting stuck in the mud I learned a valuable lesson, always carry a tow strap and shackle, I ordered a kit from Go Rhino that includes 2" receiver insert with shackle's, tow strap and a storage bag. This was some nasty gooey mud and was down in a rut off the edge of the road ledge.. After I was pulled free I looked at the spot and it was a serous mud pit that the more I tried to spin tires the deeper all four wheels went down.Anyone can get stuck, the key is to be prepared to deal with the situation. I still love my 4R, when I am ready to replace the tires again I may go with one of the new M/T offerings, was eyeing the new BFG Mud Terrain T/A KM3's or the or General Grabber X3's. I still have my factory wheels and tires and can swap out at anytime.

a Jeep wrangler or any other off road vehicle that you think is extremely capable would have been stuck as well based on what you said.

The vehicle has little to do with being stuck in mud if you're already in 4WD and locked the diff. unlike a different scenario where the vehicle matters more (i.e. rock crawling)

Similar to snow or ice, tires are the most important here.
Then you need to understand the terrain and use momentum to your advantage. Airing down the tires would have helped a lot as well. You'd be surprised how capable the 4R is if you know what you're doing.


On the other hand if you dont know what you're doing, you can have the most capable jeep w/ crappy tires + inexperienced driver and get stuck whereas someone in a luxury SUV with a decent AWD system (i.e. Audi) w/ good tires and someone that knows what they're doing, and it'll be completely fine.

Same goes with sport cars/racing, if you have crappy tires an no experience, it doesnt matter how fast your car is, you wont go as quick as a slower car with good tires and someone that knows how to race.

You should take it more often (not alone if possible, so you can get unstuck if needed) and learn how it behaves so you'd know what to do next time!

This is an interesting thread. I'm sure you were embarrassed to get stuck with your sister, brother, and realtor in your truck, but why continue to embarrass yourself by posting a thread about it and blame it on your truck? You said this was your first time taking the 4Runner offroad...yet you think the 4Runner is at fault? Interesting.

People get stuck. It's part of life if want to play in mud. Learning your limitations can be humbling.

Mud is a whole different animal compared to the overlanding crowd where most 4Runners are seen.

The thing about mud is that you can't baby your rig. you need rpms to clean the tires.

Yeah you definitely can't blame the vessel. Getting stuck in mud is usually a captain issue.

Be careful with mud tires though as they can be terrible in the snow and ice and you could get the same problem in snow. If those big tread blocks have no siping, they behave like a hockey puck on the ice. Another thing, but read up on vehicle recovery. Make sure you have the right kind of strap as otherwise it could be dangerous. For example, one guy was trying to pull a buddy's stuck vehicle from the back using the buddy's trailer hitch. The piece broke and flew out of the hitch and went right through his windshield and killed him in front of his wife and children.

About 3 weeks ago, my differential went out (mechanic's error) and we sank up to the axles in muck. The rear wheels weren't working but I still managed to almost get back to the pavement (~12-15 ft) using my front diff and axle.

You can always try using the floor mats as traction mats.

I have Tredz (cheaper Maxtraxx alternative) boards one cracked the only time I've used them getting a usps truck unstuck one winter.