Well I had my first experience of getting stuck in the mud today. Not much fun. I was out driving on a new subdivision near my house and came across an empty lot with what appeared to be some light mud... soooooo I thought I would just see what the stock X could do... I drove around in it for a while, then began to head back out up a little hill to the street and started to feel the wheels slip. Next thing I know I'm not moving. The mud was REALLY sticky and thick. I didn't dig in deep though. So I tried to stick some wood and things under the back tires to get out, but didn't work. So I had to have my older brother come bail me out with is 2000 4x4 Toyota Tacoma. In the end it took me lightly gassing it in first gear and him pulling me to get out... took about 15 minutes of trial and error to get out.
Anyways, just thought I should share this embarrassing moment with the group.

I know this has been said, but ALWAYS make sure you have a tow strap and a friend with a 4x4 before you ever consider getting in the mud with a 2wd!

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PoorBoy
=-=-=-=-=-=
2001 SE 4x2
Alpine Green
"Spooky"
http://poorboy.virtualave.net/Xterra/spooky.html

[This message has been edited by PoorBoy (edited 02-14-2001).]

Yup. I'll second that motion. Still kicking myself for not springing for the 4x4.

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Dave Lange
Super Black 2001 XE 4x2 Auto with 3pack
Emma, vizsla, and Jimi, German shorthair
SWXC Member #26

Yup. You've just got a heavy station wagon.

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Join the Xterra Offroad Webring

2000 Aztec Red 4x4 V-6 XE-3Pak
www.xterra4x4.com

no it is more than a heavey wagon, BUT...
yeah mud is a bad idea real thin watery mud is fine, or at least do-able

[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=270535&a=7223001&p=26714297&Sequence=0&res=high[/img]

but the thick stuff is a no no when your alone

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Undisputed Mercedes Killing Champion Of The Board
(Damn Those Trailer Hitches are handy)

[This message has been edited by Todrick (edited 02-15-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Todrick (edited 02-15-2001).]

Todrick - is yours a 4x2?

yup.

i have done s#|t you would not believe in my little 4x2

admitadly i have got my self stuck good a couple times:

im not even going into how this happened...
[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=270535&a=4085179&p=20484336&Sequence=0&res=high[/img]

and in this one, no im not high-centered im just hanging a wheel on a REALLY steep hill:
[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=270535&a=6895371&p=23715826&Sequence=0&res=high[/img]

i am planning on getting a 4x4 before years end

i am not sure whether to buy a 4x4 02 x or to trade mine in for one, guess we'll wait and see how the wifes job situation is in the next 6-9 months



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Undisputed Mercedes Killing Champion Of The Board
(Damn Those Trailer Hitches are handy)

Todrick, do you have stock tires? and in the first picture, did you ever get stuck or feel like you were about to in stuff that deep??

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PoorBoy
=-=-=-=-=-=
2001 SE 4x2
Alpine Green
"Spooky"
http://poorboy.virtualave.net/Xterra/spooky.html

stock tires.
stock sway bars

both will be fixed shortly... believe it or not but i have seen 4x4's with disconected sway bars and mud terrain tires drive up some really hairy stuff in 2 wheel drive.

no i have never, e-e-e-ever, been stuck in mud/water/goop the only times i get stuck are in sand, or on steep hills and the hill the deal is that in order to get up the hill in 4x2 you need more momentum because if you dont then you will loose traction due to only having two wheels driving you, but in doing that you hit bumps harder, and when you hit those bumps too hardthe driving wheels come off the ground and you loose traction, so there is a balance like i said earlier the sway bar disconects would help greatly in that the wheels would be less likely to leave the ground, also grippier(is that a word?) tires would help because they are grippier(theres that word again)

really though about the only thing you cant do in a 4x2 is real rock crawling because that requires the front wheels turning to lift you onto a rock...

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Undisputed Mercedes Killing Champion Of The Board
(Damn Those Trailer Hitches are handy)

Thanks for the info
What would you reccommend in the way of tires if I'm not looking to go mudding, but would like to go off in the mud from time to time and not have this happen as easily again?
and how exactly do the sway bar disconnects work? sorry, I know this has been discussed before...
ever since I've gotten stuck, I think I'm paranoid about it happening again. It rained really bad last night and I was driving over some muddy roads this morning and had that feeling of the X getting stuck again... but just on a road. could I have messed something up when I got stuck?
I'm not really experienced in this stuff, the last car I had was a 94 Bonneville...
Thanks

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PoorBoy
=-=-=-=-=-=
2001 SE 4x2
Alpine Green
"Spooky"
http://poorboy.virtualave.net/Xterra/spooky.html

[This message has been edited by PoorBoy (edited 02-16-2001).]

if you go in the thick mud there is a good chance you will get stuck no matter what tires you have.

the deal is dont slow down/turn/go slow or do anything else that will screw up momentum in mud. but as a general rule, dont go in it if its thick/deep.

BFG A/T KO i think is what most people use, not mud terrain tires but far better than the stock "General" or "BFG long trails". I am going to put 31" tires on so they are a little larger and will probably get M/T's,

as far as the disconects:
i'm not sure about the rear, i have to do more research, i think most people just permanently removed the bar, but dont quote me on that,
as far as quick disconects for the front check out XOC'c site at http://www.xterrain.com

i really like his design, and you could use "wing nuts" instead of the knob he used, if you cant find the same part

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Undisputed Mercedes Killing Champion Of The Board
(Damn Those Trailer Hitches are handy)

[This message has been edited by Todrick (edited 02-16-2001).]

I don't think you screwed anything up if you couldn't tell immediately after getting out the mud. Believe me I know that feeling well, though, I thought I f'd my clutch two weeks ago doing some rock crawling but it turned out to just be an exhaust rattle on one of my skid plates...

You don't really need swaybar disconnects in the front, and for the back you can just remove your rear swaybar (it won't affect your handling much at all.)

The way it works is this: imagine your rear axle is a seesaw that teeters around your differential (that thing that looks like a pumpkin.) Now imagine your Mom watching you do this with your younger brother 10 years ago. She starts to freak out whenever one of you gets too high in the air, so she steps in and puts her hand on the see-saw, thereby stopping one of you from touching the ground (and the other one from going to the hightest point.) Swaybars are your Mom in this situation. It's good onroad because it reduces body roll but offroad you can't droop a tire down as far (because the swaybar doesn't like it when you let the wheels go all the way up and down.)

It won't affect you much at all to disconnect your front swaybar, since the main reason to do it is traction...and your front wheels don't have any engine power, hence it doesn't matter nearly as much if they're on the ground or not.

Sorry if this message is fairly nonsensical, I didn't get much sleep.

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gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.beatdriven.com/xterra.html

I can think of a million other places a 2WD wont go, it has nothing to do with rock crawling.

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Regards,
Ian

im having some serious deja vu here Ian
(oh the fond memories of the 4x4 vs 4x2 yahoo board wars)

seriously, that is the reason i said:
"about the only thing you cant do in a 4x2 is..."

yeah there are a few others, like the previously mentioned deep gooey mud, but a million is and overstatement... and it has already been mentioned that most 4x4's are rarely in 4x4 as most drivers only shift when they have problems, the trick with a 4x2 is not getting to that point, admittadly i have and that is why i am considering a 4x4 simply so i feel confident going off-roading alone

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Undisputed Mercedes Killing Champion Of The Board
(Damn Those Trailer Hitches are handy)

[This message has been edited by Todrick (edited 02-16-2001).]

Someone stop the madness.

If you are in this thread to talk about the 4x4 vs. 4x2 Debate please take it to here:
4x4 vs. 4x2 Debate (a statement)

Thank you... this has been a test of the emerency broadcast system.

ummm.... that thread hasn't been touched in 370 days dude!

but I like this quote....

What? Why? You've burned a zillion calories telling us how utterly and completely capable your 2x is...

What happened to your gold medal dream of becoming the first Xterra Paris-DuCar desert rally champion?

Did you decide you might want to drive through some snow faster than 5mph with some measure of control? Perhaps there's a muddy incline that leads to your friendly neighborhood video store?

anyone bother to notice this was over a year old?

serioulsy anyone bother to think... at the time i was looking at moving to seatle... that and NO one had even considered building any pre-runner type mods for the X... that changed when SLR debuted the Stage iv suspension at the LA offroad expo...

damn LAX went back far and hit every threa dhe could find!

Someone stop the madness.

If you are in this thread to talk about the 4x4 vs. 4x2 Debate please take it to here:
4x4 vs. 4x2 Debate (a statement)

Thank you... this has been a test of the emerency broadcast system.

sorry, lax has a point

this one is locked

theres already a thread and im sick of arguing