Subject: Tire chains or mud tires - which is best? From: rmorgan7@austin.rr.com (Ron M.) Date: 16 Sep 2003 11:33:16 -0700 Newsgroups: rec.autos.4x4 I've got a real problem with my 12-month hunting lease. It has two places where it's flat and a little "low" and after a rain it takes weeks and weeks for it to dry out enough to be passable. These are some 30-40 feet wide. The ground gets saturated and the water just sits there until it evaporates. Walk out there and you'll sink in over your ankles. There is no place to tie a winch, so that's out. My vehicle is a 2002 Dodge RAM 1500, just a regular 2WD, and NO locking or anti-slip rear axle. Tires are just slick all-season junk that came with the truck. I'm trying to find the most cost-effective way of getting through these two mudholes. It's beyond question that it'll need a locker installed, right? Something like a Powertrax Lock-Right. These run about $400, and I can put it in myself. Barring a miracle, this is a given.... Beyond that, which is best, and we're talking specifically about mud here: 1. Regular tires, with good tire chains. 2. No tire chains, but very deep, agressive, off-road-only mud tires. Like M/T Claws or Yokohama Geolander M/T's. Which would work better? The tire chains would be cheaper, but the tires would be easier to get on and off. I have a compressor in the back of my truck, so after I pulled off the road, I could just grab the air wrench and swap the rear tires. But which would work better in this **** "brown jelly"? I hate to spend a fortune just to get through a couple of mudholes. Ron M. Subject: Re: Tire chains or mud tires - which is best? From: "Douglas A. Shrader" Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:46:12 -0500 Newsgroups: rec.autos.4x4 "Ron M." wrote in message news:d7fc3008.0309161033.6c5f13c9@posting.google.com... > I've got a real problem with my 12-month hunting lease. It has two > places where it's flat and a little "low" and after a rain it takes > weeks and weeks for it to dry out enough to be passable. These are > some 30-40 feet wide. The ground gets saturated and the water just > sits there until it evaporates. Walk out there and you'll sink in over > your ankles. There is no place to tie a winch, so that's out. > > My vehicle is a 2002 Dodge RAM 1500, just a regular 2WD, and NO > locking or anti-slip rear axle. Tires are just slick all-season junk > that came with the truck. > > I'm trying to find the most cost-effective way of getting through > these two mudholes. It's beyond question that it'll need a locker > installed, right? Something like a Powertrax Lock-Right. These run > about $400, and I can put it in myself. Barring a miracle, this is a > given.... > > Beyond that, which is best, and we're talking specifically about mud > here: > > 1. Regular tires, with good tire chains. > > 2. No tire chains, but very deep, agressive, off-road-only mud tires. > Like M/T Claws or Yokohama Geolander M/T's. > > Which would work better? The tire chains would be cheaper, but the > tires would be easier to get on and off. I have a compressor in the > back of my truck, so after I pulled off the road, I could just grab > the air wrench and swap the rear tires. > > But which would work better in this **** "brown jelly"? I hate to > spend a fortune just to get through a couple of mudholes. > > Ron M. I used to have a little half ton work van. With tire chains I would kill the engine in deep mud before I could ever spin the wheels, with just the mud tires I would sit and spin without much load at all on the engine. My vote would be chains, but as you say, they can be a hassle. Subject: Re: Tire chains or mud tires - which is best? From: "Jarhead" Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 19:20:39 -0500 Newsgroups: rec.autos.4x4 "Ron M." wrote in message news:d7fc3008.0309161033.6c5f13c9@posting.google.com... | I've got a real problem with my 12-month hunting lease. It has two | places where it's flat and a little "low" and after a rain it takes | weeks and weeks for it to dry out enough to be passable. These are | some 30-40 feet wide. The ground gets saturated and the water just | sits there until it evaporates. Walk out there and you'll sink in over | your ankles. There is no place to tie a winch, so that's out. | | My vehicle is a 2002 Dodge RAM 1500, just a regular 2WD, and NO | locking or anti-slip rear axle. Tires are just slick all-season junk | that came with the truck. | | I'm trying to find the most cost-effective way of getting through | these two mudholes. It's beyond question that it'll need a locker | installed, right? Something like a Powertrax Lock-Right. These run | about $400, and I can put it in myself. Barring a miracle, this is a | given.... | | Beyond that, which is best, and we're talking specifically about mud | here: | | 1. Regular tires, with good tire chains. | | 2. No tire chains, but very deep, agressive, off-road-only mud tires. | Like M/T Claws or Yokohama Geolander M/T's. | | Which would work better? The tire chains would be cheaper, but the | tires would be easier to get on and off. I have a compressor in the | back of my truck, so after I pulled off the road, I could just grab | the air wrench and swap the rear tires. | | But which would work better in this **** "brown jelly"? I hate to | spend a fortune just to get through a couple of mudholes. | | Ron M. 30 years ago when I was teaching school on the Jicarilla Apache reservation most of the Indians had 2WD. They carried an extra set of old mud tires with chains pre-mounted on them. The chains were put on tight and additional cross links made out of logging chain were added between the original cross links so they were loose. The dirt there is an oil bearing shale which turned to grease when it got wet. Flotation tires would just get you into trouble, and most likely in a ditch if you were lucky, and over a cliff if you were not lucky. I could always tell when a Jicarilla was coming towards me just over the hill as they would be throwing divots 40 or 50 feet in the air behind them as the loose logging chains would really dig in. I had an International Scout and can honestly say that they went everywhere that I did. You would have the extra expense of the wheels but would not have to buy new tires as old ones work fine as long as there is enough lugs left on the edges to stop the chain from rotating on the tire. Also you could leave them at the lease and would not have to mess with installing the chains all of the time. Jarhead