help: stuck in mud

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:44 pm

howdy all,

have sort of a dilemna at the moment. was wheeling behind my college about an hour ago...my buddy who was spotting misjudged the depth a mud crossing and i went through it. ended up getting stuck. my front and back right tires are stuck in roughly 10-12 inches of soggy wet mud. my front and rear left tires aren't really stuck, but have no traction. to add to the equation, it's dark and raining lightly.

is there anyway i can get myself unstuck without a tow vehicle? if not, i'm gonna have to wait till morning to get someone.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:54 pm

JeepPilot wrote:

howdy all,

have sort of a dilemna at the moment. was wheeling behind my college about an hour ago...my buddy who was spotting misjudged the depth a mud crossing and i went through it. ended up getting stuck. my front and back right tires are stuck in roughly 10-12 inches of soggy wet mud. my front and rear left tires aren't really stuck, but have no traction. to add to the equation, it's dark and raining lightly.

is there anyway i can get myself unstuck without a tow vehicle? if not, i'm gonna have to wait till morning to get someone.

If you can use a High Lift jack on your KJ and have a way to get a load of 2X10's out there then you can lift the stuck side
and stack boards under the tires and drive out
You will need to have rock rails to do this

but if you have a way to get several 2X10's ,or any large pcs of lumber out there then you have a tow rig so all you need is a tow strap

Not to be a jerk but you should not have wheeled alone
I hope after this that you dont do it again ,lesson learned

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:31 pm

you could try airing down the tires.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:54 pm

buy 80lbs of flour from the grocery store and pour it around the tires, it will soak up the moisture from the mud and make it into hard pack.

i'm kidding!!!
your gonna need some kind of hi-lift or hand winch, or another vehicle and lots of time.

clackclack · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:35 pm

go to a working class bar and offer $$$ to anyone with a 4x4 who can pull out a jeep... last time I used this approach I ended up with 3 hard core lifted full size P/U trucks all anxious to get me out of the mud as much for bragging rights and fun vs the money. It ended up taking 2 daisy chained trucks to pull me out and that was a wrangler. Money well spent since I was four wheeling someplace that would have taken some splaining if the jeep was still there in the morning...

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:08 pm

clackclack wrote:

go to a working class bar and offer $$$ to anyone with a 4x4 who can pull out a jeep... last time I used this approach I ended up with 3 hard core lifted full size P/U trucks all anxious to get me out of the mud as much for bragging rights and fun vs the money. It ended up taking 2 daisy chained trucks to pull me out and that was a wrangler. Money well spent since I was four wheeling someplace that would have taken some splaining if the jeep was still there in the morning...

Best advice yet I think

InCommando · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:43 pm

Someone to pull you out is the way to go but:

Anything to get you moving back the way you came. I've stuck dead vegetation under the wheels, floor mats, anything handy. The flour idea sounds good. So does giant bags o'kitty litter.

If your are just trying to get unstuck and not running a trail, it is my experience that, unless you KNOW things get better going forward, go back where you know you have made it before.

ohv_kj · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:56 am

well someone yanking from the way you went in is the best thing to do...next from that is to try to make traction...if not so off road prepared, look under the rear seat for a jack and get rocks to put under the tires...if no lift...put rocks behind the tires to sell if you can gain traction...don't hammer down when doing that w/ the gas...you want to go the way you went in for sure...

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:03 am

Really appreciate the advice gentlemen. I just got back from the field/valley that I'm stuck in, soaking wet from rain and mud.

While I was out there, I loaded some planks under my tires. Tried to jack the right side of my car, but the tire iron/crank bar snapped off in the jack. I had to leave my Libby in the mud for the night. Is she gonna be ok sitting in about a foot of muddy water for a night? I have a buddy with a beast of a Wrangler that can pull me out tommorrow.

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:09 am

We need to make this a Sticky. "How NOT to go wheelin'!"

Not to pile on the fatherly advice but you do need to prethink this stuff some.

Either way you decide to pull that KJ out, PLEASE do it slowly and carfuly. IF you decide to go backwards (and you should, no point in going forward, turning around and having to attack that hole a second time) have it pulled slowly as all of you under carrage and parts like the muffler, diff, and what not are all designed to go forward and pulling them through mud and possibly something harder can damage or even rip them off.

Get some 2x10's and try to "Ramp up the rear tires as you pull.

Next trip check list:
1. Body armour
2. better tires
3. wheeling buddies
4. plans and neccessary equipment to get Un-Stuck (Murphy's law: If you have it you wont need it, If you don't have it, your screwed)
5. Camera so we can all see you get stuck again.

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:14 am

my BEST advice to get you out of this problem for next time:

DON'T GO WHEELING WITH 1 RIG!

I did that once befor a REAL LONG TIME AGO

was stuck for an entire weekend and burned a full tank of gas and was in the same spot but my YJ was in half way burried in the mud. I had to get a local dozer guy to bail me out.
I spent days cleaning the YJ. It was fun but will never go alone again, unless I know where I am going.

KJScott · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:41 am

It would be good to have a hitch or the tow hook on the back of the Jeep

MainLineRenegade · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:05 pm

I really hope you got your jeep out. Reading this now all I can imagine is going out to it in the morning, when the rain has stopped, and the mud has dried and now you're stuck buried in solid earth :shock:

.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:46 pm

Check the oils in the diff's. If it sat in water overnight that was over the axle tubes I would change out the oil in the diff's at the bare minimum.

Those axles seals are not 100% water tight.

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:42 pm

Well, i'm still stuck out there. Had a buddy come by with a lifted Wrangler sitting on 33" tires. We budged it a little bit with a 30 foot tow strap, but the surrounding ground is slick and wet and he was just spinning his tires.

Hopefully gonna go back out tommorrow with a lifted Dodge 2500 4x4 sitting on some big tires. Gonna strap it with a 50 foot heavy duty chain so the Dodge can pull from dry ground. Hoping that will do the trick.

Good grief, what a nightmare.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:45 pm

Don't yank with that chain,best to run it through about 4-5 old tires(not mounted on rims),evenly spaced, so if it breaks it won't fly to far and kill someone.

Time for someone to invest in a winch,$500 for a WARN M8000 probally sounds like a bargin right now.

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:54 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

Don't yank with that chain,best to run it through about 4-5 old tires(not mounted on rims),evenly spaced, so if it breaks it won't fly to far and kill someone.

Time for someone to invest in a winch,$500 for a WARN M8000 probally sounds like a bargin right now.

Not sure I understand what you mean by running it through 4-5 old tires. :?:

Freshmud · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:00 pm

i went wheeling once by my self luckily i wasnt as bad as you i got out and pushed and thank god got her out but i was up to my knees in mud/clay and waist in water above that

Freshmud · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:01 pm

JeepPilot wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

Don't yank with that chain,best to run it through about 4-5 old tires(not mounted on rims),evenly spaced, so if it breaks it won't fly to far and kill someone.

Time for someone to invest in a winch,$500 for a WARN M8000 probally sounds like a bargin right now.

Not sure I understand what you mean by running it through 4-5 old tires. :?:

if your gonna chain it put old tires on the chain so if you snap it the pieces wont kill any one hopefully

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:02 pm

JeepPilot wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

Don't yank with that chain,best to run it through about 4-5 old tires(not mounted on rims),evenly spaced, so if it breaks it won't fly to far and kill someone.

Time for someone to invest in a winch,$500 for a WARN M8000 probally sounds like a bargin right now.

Not sure I understand what you mean by running it through 4-5 old tires. :?:

Just like it says,run the chain through some old tires before hooking it up,so the chain is running through the center (where the rim should be) of the tires to help keep it from flying to far if the chain decides to break.

Really bad drawing of what I mean......

No laughing I'm no artist.

help: stuck in mud

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