Tire width and lateral sliding.
 

Finally a thread that doesn't involve my truck breaking! :)

So I couldn't really figure out where to put this, could not find an offroad section.

Here it goes.

I understand the skinny vs fat tire debate and contact pressure pretty well. But what I don't understand is why my truck slips and slides SO bad in the mud. Im talking sliding 90* bad.
I know tire type is a big part of it. I understand a mudtire will out preform a A/T tire. But I have owned 3 4wd vehicles and never had such a bad problem.

-07 frontier with pretty worn down 265/75/16 BFG rugged trails. [MORE LIKE RUGGED PARKING LOT
-97 4runner with 265/75/16 BALD firestone tires [later put 285/75/16 BFG M/T]
-98 Discovery with 235/70or75/16 Kumo A/T with surprisingly deep voids. LOOK NEW

I have offroaded many a bald tire and have never had this little controll.

Now is it just the tire design? [even though the tire has MUCH more grip than others.]

Or is it tire width? The other tires were bald but they were 265/75/16's


This is something that really scares me because I have no controll and often when taking a trail near a ditch I get VERY nervous.

Im asking because I want to go 235/85/16 or 255/85/16

Are you locking the CDL when driving in this mud? If not you will slide as the rear wheels spin.
On a part time 4x4 when you shift into 4x4 lo it locks the front and rear driveshafts together so that equal amounts of power go to each axle.
This is automatic when you shift into 4lo on part time 4x4 trucks so you do not even know it has happened.
On your Rover this will not happen when you shift into lo unless YOU lock the driveshafts together by locking the CDL in either hi or lo.

yup already knew and did that

Well fine then!!!


I have no other idea, I am not a fan of fat tires and I have had no trouble with mud but Michigan mud is different than your mud.

You have a total off subject PM

Experience?

haha J/k... But I will admit, I used to spin a lot more when I first started off roading compared to now.

What kind of mud are you trying to tackle? Clay mud?
The type of mud and condition of the mud can make a big difference. Sometimes if the mud wet and thick enough and you're trying to hit it at an angle, you can't help but slide a little bit... It's hard to say really, Spike's advice would have been my first thought too.

Nah man, not clay mud. Im in louisiana. We got water mud lol.

It has happened many times in many different locations..

ahhh yes, southern mud.. Trickiest in the united states! We have thick red clay mud here in NC, and when it gets wet it will turn even the deepest tread into racing slicks.

Skinnier tire in mud. When I was a kid, the fat tire fad came out on the farm trucks. We still kept the skinny mud tires. I was trying to talk my grandfather into getting the cool tires like everyone else. That was until I found that I never got stuck. I could get through the black dirt in Kansas and the red dirt in ok. When you are 13 and pulling everyone out when it rains, you tend to see the trend. Skinny, tall tires will cut through the slop and get to solid ground. If it is really deep, neither will get you there.

Same here, I grew up on a farm with only dirt roads and all the trucks have skinny tires. Once your diff hits the dirt you're stuck no matter what tires you have :)