Went muddying tonight....

So after a stressful day at work I took some friends off the beaten path this evening. We go to an area close by that the younger kids party and mud at.

As I turned into the property, there were several locals in Fords and Chevys (running 35-38in tires) and it was humorous as they all looked up like gophers watching the shiny LR4 enter their turf.

So we start running the track and go through some small puddles, usually keeping two wheels dry. I then get adventurous and steer towards a larger puddle. My passenger mumble a quick "oh no!"

Now Florida mud is very different from out west or the upper east coast. It is closer to quick sand.

I enter the pond (about twice as long as the truck), and it gets soupy and sloppy quick. As I start to pull out a rather steep incline I loose all forward momentum and get nothing but spinning. Great. Stuck with a bunch of locals staring at us. Not one of them starts to walk over to check up on us either.

So I through it into reverse to see if I can work myself out. As we move backwards we slide deeper into the water near the middle of the puddle. Now water starts to approach the intake ports and my hood is even with the dry side of the incline. So naturally I through it into drive and see where I can go. I am able to rock it a few feet back and forth. Which is encouraging.

After 4 or 5 cycles of forward and then reverse, each time getting more distance, I was able to climb out of the pit of dispair by wiggling the steering wheel back and forth. The best part was my brights were on and the adaptive headlights looked like a spot light in the sky.

I am super impressed withy new toyo open countries. After we did a few victory laps I realized I hadn't turned on my traction control. Oops.

These wheels and rims definitely make the a complete package!

That's awesome! Where was the area you went to? Any mud pictures? I took mine out to a local 4x4 event, and just like you said, some of the looks when my friends and I pulled up were PRICELESS!

Also, I know what you mean about the Florida mud.... and I have the pictures to prove it, lol!

No pictures in the pit, re water was too high. I would have climbed out the sunroof to coordinate a ****** out, but thankfully that wasn't necessary. Ill take sone after pics in the morni g once I can see how dirty I got. This was in Jupiter farms where all the cool kids party

Hey kaaae,

That's awesome! I tend to avoid deep mud, but it is definitely fun to get the LR4 a bit dirty. I know exactly what you mean about some people staring at you when you drive the new LR4 in such situations. About an hour away from me is a great off-roading area that has lots of different trails and obstacle courses. Our local Land Rover group meets there once a month, but it tends to attract a lot of guys in highly modified Jeeps, trucks, and other vehicles that are not Land Rovers. Quite often when we are driving around in the off-road preserve, we get a lot of stares, but the guys are all really nice. They are not your usual Land Rover crowd at all, but always very cool and helpful. They will wave and chat on the trails.

Add in the fact that I feel out of place not wearing a NASCAR, etc. t-shirt or wife beater with camp shorts. Hehe. I only wear long-sleeved button up shirts and pants (my wife insists; our church is pretty strict). Thank goodness I have a lot of hunting camo shirts - that helps. ;-)

-David

PS....

Post some pictures!!!!!!!!

This is the best I can get... if only I had a white truck in these fun times



You can see the water line on the driver door... never a good time to open it




Definitely fun times. Was not sure I would get out without help.

Cool indeed. What kind of wheels are those?

Awesome photos!

Thanks David! I'm hoping Citrus will be similar fun next week.

CRTFour, my wheels are Compomotive 18" and my tires are Toyo 285/60/18 AT2 and I'm using the LLAMS variable lift.

Looks good! I'm looking forward to Citrus.