Technical Mud Crossing Question

[4central]

Hi Folks,

I would like to hear your opinion for the following situation:

https://ibb.co/dM9yzU

Which one would you use, remember I have AT not MT tires / What speed would you try to maintain. And why?

A. H4 + M/Sand (Multi-terrain)
B. L4 +RLock
C. L4 +ATRAC
D. L4 +ATRAC+RLock
E. L4 +TRAC/VSC Off
F. H4 only

I tried and crossed, but don't want to tell upfront what was my experience not to influence your answers.

Thanks!!!:first:

 

[Jetboy]

For me. I'd go 4lo rear locker. Traction control off. Then go slow to see if u could crawl through. If slow isn't working; WOT.

 

[Jeremy556]

G. Turn around, don't want to get dirty.

How deep is it? Are there any rocks, logs, or other hard objects to be wary of? Is the ground sand or clay? I'd probably go for it since there are plenty of large trees I can winch from, but what's on the other side that I would want to go through that trouble for? Probably nothing in IL.

Momentum is king: 4wd HI, pegging the speed limiter

 

[4central]

G. Turn around, don't want to get dirty.

How deep is it? Are there any rocks, logs, or other hard objects to be wary of? Is the ground sand or clay? I'd probably go for it since there are plenty of large trees I can winch from, but what's on the other side that I would want to go through that trouble for? Probably nothing in IL.

Momentum is king: 4wd HI, pegging the speed limiter

"Don't want to get dirty" -> I get the car to get dirty

Stock height of vehicle is more than enough. No rocks/logs/hard objects. It is clayish as typical for Midwest. And usual for Midwest, there is nothing particular on the other side. That's why it is a technical question :cheers:

 

[Albionwood]

I'd probably just go H4 and hit the gas... but H4 + Mud/Sand might be smarter. I just have never played around with the crawl controls.
Be interested to read what you did!

 

[MTN4RNR]

I'd probably just go H4 and hit the gas... but H4 + Mud/Sand might be smarter. I just have never played around with the crawl controls.
Be interested to read what you did!

MTS/CRAWL is only available in 4L.

I would go 4L and give it full noise to keep the AT tread as clear as possible.

 

[4central]

When there are obstacles / objects / trees near the trail, I like to have full control of the vehicle, so wouldn't hit them if something happens.

I used my regular short mud crossing style, L4+ATRAC+RLocker combo with slow speed.

If it was open space like sand, I would go with H4 and momentum.

But this case, back of the 4runner moved very quickly towards trees to my fear. Luckily I didn't panic and pushed the vehicle out of it. Later I checked the tires, they were fully covered. Feeling was, driving a heavy front / rear wheel drive truck on ice with summer tires.

Obviously, mud tires would help. But I also think Rlocker didnt help at all. My thinking is, there was nothing to have traction on, so both tires were sleeping. Or back axle had much more traction as a result of the Rlocker but couldn't push heavy front, so instead went its own way.

Considering I want to keep my speed as low as possible, so not to hit something faster than necessary, I would think 4Lo+ATRAC would have been better approach.

Thoughts? :laser:

 

[mo_mo]

MTS/CRAWL is only available in 4L.

I would go 4L and give it full noise to keep the AT tread as clear as possible.

MTS “sand” mode is available in 4H... other MTS and crawl is only available in 4L as you’ve stated.

 

[MyanRagahis]

Just don't be like this guy and stop dead in the middle.

 

[csw2001]

4L, I turn on all the toys and air down to 15 psi.

 

[JAXJeremy]

4L, I turn on all the toys and air down to 15 psi.

you could even go 12 psi..based on what I'm seeing in 4low you could easily creep right through that..

side note, it just looks like a couple of muddy ruts, but I'd walk over and check to see how deep that mud is before proceeding..

 

[nb rob]

the last time I hit mud under ice and snow that was immediately taking over, I was lucky enough to have a passenger shouting "PUNCH IT, PUNCH IT", which is exactly what the situation called for.

But it's different almost every time.... That's the only time I've ever smashed the throttle like I was a jeeper going up a small obstacle.

 

[bbaxter51]

I'm not messing around with the dials and widgets in mud. At most I'd do 4lo, locked rear and A-Trac front and be ready to find that rev limiter.

Wheel speed and momentum are king in mud.

 

[csw2001]

you could even go 12 psi..based on what I'm seeing in 4low you could easily creep right through that..

side note, it just looks like a couple of muddy ruts, but I'd walk over and check to see how deep that mud is before proceeding..

I'm nervous to go below 15 psi without beadlocks but I agree, from that pic it doesn't look like much a challenge. Wish I had a pic from last weekend, talk about muddy ruts! Then throw in occasional approach/departure angle issues. Tow hitch took more than one hit but luckily the front and rear plastic managed to hold up.

There's no revving through that but I learned a lot about the capability of these trucks from that run.

Now I also know the stock front skid plate has some silly mesh in it. The mud caked into that was like concrete the next day when I got around to washing it. New skids required!

 

[JAXJeremy]

for reference, I regularly run 12 psi on my old school 10x15 rims (no beadlocks)and I'm running 37 inch Toyo MT's...the rims on the 4runner are so much better they'd easily handle 12 especially on this sort of terrain, but that's just my .02 cents.

 

[4central]

If you look at the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKjsCJazpOA

This guy with limited 4runner got stuck in mud even though he has the speed and momentum given it is not shallow mud / tires are not great / his line is less than perfect. If you watch at 3:57, his center diff is locked, ATRAC is on, 4Lo. The only thing he doesn't have is rear locker.

Yet this guy drives through mud ruts like a champ, tires keep clearing itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsDUDjT1UHM

 

[csw2001]

If you look at the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKjsCJazpOA

This guy with limited 4runner got stuck in mud even though he has the speed and momentum given it is not shallow mud / tires are not great / his line is less than perfect. If you watch at 3:57, his center diff is locked, ATRAC is on, 4Lo. The only thing he doesn't have is rear locker.

Yet this guy drives through mud ruts like a champ, tires keep clearing itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsDUDjT1UHM

Surprised the first guy didn't make it through, was he aired down? (I have no audio)

Second video is basically what I went through last weekend but couldn't keep speed up due to deep ruts/holes. Still made it through.

Moral of story, don't wheel alone! Would prefer not to have to self recover from first video.

 

[jhguth]

If you look at the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKjsCJazpOA

This guy with limited 4runner got stuck in mud even though he has the speed and momentum given it is not shallow mud / tires are not great / his line is less than perfect. If you watch at 3:57, his center diff is locked, ATRAC is on, 4Lo. The only thing he doesn't have is rear locker.

Yet this guy drives through mud ruts like a champ, tires keep clearing itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsDUDjT1UHM

it's been too long since i took soil science to make a guess on exact soil types, but the mud in the first video definitely has a lot more clay in it (maybe a sandy clay?) while the second video looks much more like a loam (maybe a silty loam?). Big difference, and that's why the tires are able to shed the mud in the second video. AT tires are simply not aggressive enough in adhesive clays, they get filled and are basically no better than street tires. I think he got stuck in the first video because he didn't check depth so he was afraid to use more speed.

to OP, i would use 4lo and lock the rear (and i don't think it looks that bad unless its deeper away from the camera)

 

[Akkording]

H4 only and GO maybe Locked! but your other options would work as well.

 

[Big_Cuss]

I believe I read/heard somewhere that ATRAC is good to turn on in combo with either Crawl control or MTS. CAn't remember which, but I believe it was Clay Croft, who had some inside info from Toyota engineers.