jmt2404
New member
Hey guys and gals to start off with I have to tell you a little story that is some what entertaining. So the wife, our 4 month old daughter and I was driving around town after picking up our german shepard from petsmart and I got the bright idea to take a drive down to Nisqually river and see how muddy everything was.. keep in mind I have been through almost every mud hole and trail down there especially during fishing season. So as we get into the woods we run into a jeep and an f250 going on a recovery mission for another jeep cherokee. so we tag along incase they need some help. The f250 had to stay up on the main road cuz the trails get real tight, especially after the winter we had. The trails we incredibly over grown with weeds and fallen trees and even I suffered alot of pinstriping and lost a fender flare on the back right on one of the tighter spots. (couldn't find it).
So we finally reach the stuck Cherokee and begin the assesment. He was going through a mud hole with a fairly steep incline at the end and was pretty severly rutted out. His stock cherokee got high centered on the rear end as he started up the hill and wasn't going anywhere.. The mud hole was deep enough that it covered his rear wheel completely and went 1/4 of the way up his rear hatch so it was completely flooded on the inside. I was thinking that sucks and I hope that doesn't happen to me. So the Jeep wrangler I followed back to the cherokee tried its best to pull it out away from the hill and up the hill and had no luck whatso ever and broke the strap in the process.. After abouit 20-30 minutes they give up and I step in with the winch. I get into position and with my 10K winch it made short work of pulling him up and out of the hole.
So now that I was ready to explore I head off to my usual spot to see how things look. As i get to the spot where I pulled out that K5 blazer during last summer I soon found out that the mud hole I loved to play in had gotten softer and rutted out...... Great.. So I get halfway through it and almost through the hard part and stop dead in my tracks.. Great.. So i check my 4wd, its on, ok lets try 4lo, nope nothing... I stuck my head out to see whats up and the rear wheels are spinning but the front isn't...WTF?! Now I'm pretty frustrated and worried why my 4wd isn't working. So at this point the wrangler saw that I stopped in the middle of a small pond.. lol.. They got out and took a picture but they were lesbians (not the hot kind) and didn't know how to send a picture to me apparently. And this was about the time the wife and I realize that we are in some deep water...... And just like the cherokee my rear end was sunk 1/4 of the way up the rear hatch and proceded to flood my rig... Great. So I get out and hook up to a near by power line pole and winched myself out with no problem.
Here is a shot of my floor board in the back seat..
After letting the water drain out for a minute I started on my way out or the woods. And sure enough not 6 ft from the mud hole I was just in I slide into another mud hole and got stuck again... FML. What pissed me off the most about it was that my 4wd still wasn't working and resulted in me gettin stuck again.. After winching myself out of the worlds smallest mud hole I headed out. On the way out I tested my 4wd again and it engaged and was working fine... wtf..
A shot of the ruts in front of the rig. It would have been very easy to get through if it wasn't for my 4wd not working.
So my question is for everyone is what would make the 4wd engage sometimes but not all the time. I recently swapped out my gears to 4.30 because my e locker I installed was 4.30. I bought both front and rear diff's from the same junk yard I bought my engine from so the guy knew me and knew I needed 4.30. So unless he made a mistake the gears are the same. I also swapped in some aisin manual hubs at the same time as the gear swap. Any advice or thoughts?
Oh and these duratracs are not made for mud IMO.. I was in some soup but they just spun on flat ground. My wife was driving as I winched myself out of the last hole and she came to a stop and the rear wheels spun as she hit the brakes and the front wheels stopped the rig. (yes I know, I need to adjust my brakes. Need to bleed them)
So we finally reach the stuck Cherokee and begin the assesment. He was going through a mud hole with a fairly steep incline at the end and was pretty severly rutted out. His stock cherokee got high centered on the rear end as he started up the hill and wasn't going anywhere.. The mud hole was deep enough that it covered his rear wheel completely and went 1/4 of the way up his rear hatch so it was completely flooded on the inside. I was thinking that sucks and I hope that doesn't happen to me. So the Jeep wrangler I followed back to the cherokee tried its best to pull it out away from the hill and up the hill and had no luck whatso ever and broke the strap in the process.. After abouit 20-30 minutes they give up and I step in with the winch. I get into position and with my 10K winch it made short work of pulling him up and out of the hole.
So now that I was ready to explore I head off to my usual spot to see how things look. As i get to the spot where I pulled out that K5 blazer during last summer I soon found out that the mud hole I loved to play in had gotten softer and rutted out...... Great.. So I get halfway through it and almost through the hard part and stop dead in my tracks.. Great.. So i check my 4wd, its on, ok lets try 4lo, nope nothing... I stuck my head out to see whats up and the rear wheels are spinning but the front isn't...WTF?! Now I'm pretty frustrated and worried why my 4wd isn't working. So at this point the wrangler saw that I stopped in the middle of a small pond.. lol.. They got out and took a picture but they were lesbians (not the hot kind) and didn't know how to send a picture to me apparently. And this was about the time the wife and I realize that we are in some deep water...... And just like the cherokee my rear end was sunk 1/4 of the way up the rear hatch and proceded to flood my rig... Great. So I get out and hook up to a near by power line pole and winched myself out with no problem.
Here is a shot of my floor board in the back seat..
After letting the water drain out for a minute I started on my way out or the woods. And sure enough not 6 ft from the mud hole I was just in I slide into another mud hole and got stuck again... FML. What pissed me off the most about it was that my 4wd still wasn't working and resulted in me gettin stuck again.. After winching myself out of the worlds smallest mud hole I headed out. On the way out I tested my 4wd again and it engaged and was working fine... wtf..
A shot of the ruts in front of the rig. It would have been very easy to get through if it wasn't for my 4wd not working.
So my question is for everyone is what would make the 4wd engage sometimes but not all the time. I recently swapped out my gears to 4.30 because my e locker I installed was 4.30. I bought both front and rear diff's from the same junk yard I bought my engine from so the guy knew me and knew I needed 4.30. So unless he made a mistake the gears are the same. I also swapped in some aisin manual hubs at the same time as the gear swap. Any advice or thoughts?
Oh and these duratracs are not made for mud IMO.. I was in some soup but they just spun on flat ground. My wife was driving as I winched myself out of the last hole and she came to a stop and the rear wheels spun as she hit the brakes and the front wheels stopped the rig. (yes I know, I need to adjust my brakes. Need to bleed them)
