Thread: Reckon I should have been able to get through and up this slippery bit of track?

Originally Posted by Xtreme

I just can't understand all this talk about tyre size, tread pattern and spinning wheels.

I have only ever run standard size tyres on my Discos and Defenders, usually in AT tread pattern (have never used/needed 'muddies') and I find this is sufficient for 99% of my travels. If I come across mud, clay or snow that I find inhibits forward motion and winching is not possible, I slip on my mud and snow chains and idle on through with minimal damage to the terrain and very little probability of breaking something like a CV, axle or diff.

I demonstrated this at a LROC event in 2000 when they had set up a 'challenging' course in the overflow area of a farm dam, I idled through with no more that half a rotation of wheel spin, all recorded on video. I must admit, the scrutineers were a little surprised when I approached the start line with the chains on the front wheels but there was nothing in the rules to say that they were not allowed.

THIS!!! YES This is what I thought would be a very easy way to get extra traction up there, I actually have a set of Konig Rallye chains that are for snow and mud driving, I just didn't have them with me at the time. I reckon they'd be awesome in tough stuff and would make so much difference, I can't imagine trying to get them on though on the middle of a tricky bit of track it would be a nightmare (and almost not possible) if you were already on a hill. You'd need to plan very well and fit them on a flat, but once they were on they'd be weapons! I must try them next time.

"Once upon a time" .......................... when men were men and didn't eat quiche or even know what a mashed avo or latte was the Land Rover ruled supreme. Only the limp wristed had air con, autos or power steering and life was a lot simpler .

There were three types of 4WD tyres and that was it, highway pattern, bar treads and the 'new' Dunlop Roadtrack Majors (RTM's). It was basically 'all or nothing'. Highway pattern was the same as current day HT's (but not radial ply), bar treads were army style aggressive MT's in today's language and were great in the mud (as long as you weren't on a sideways slope as they had zero sideways grip , very character building) and Dunlop's cutting edge AT (the RTM) was the only AT choice. Bloody awful by today's standards but ground breaking at the time as anyone who has driven a bar tread equipped vehicle on wet bitumen and survived to tell the tale can attest .

Tyre sizes were also quite uncomplicated, very simple in fact, you had a choice of 600X16, 650X16 or 750X16. If you really wanted to 'live on the wild side' heavy duty 8.25X16 truck tyres were available but were so hard and stiff even a Land Rover's ride became quite harsh and they were only available in highway pattern anyway so not much good in the bush. Later on Bridgestone came up with its Jeep Service tyre, a true semi-agressive AT in todays language that took the market by storm and became the tyre of choice for all serious off roaders

Anyway, at the risk of getting back on topic , my original SIIA SWB Landy came with 600X16 bar treads and may have have eaten the track Young Angus has shown for breakfast, assuming it's a slippery surface over a hard base, because the skinny gutted tyres would cut through the slop and bite in to the hard, even clay, surface underneath. My 4WD'ing FJ40/G60 mates at the time all had 'wide tyres', 750X16's and I'd consistently out perform them in the Vic high country mud in my little old under powered Landy .

The point I'm making here is that big wide tyres aren't necessarily the answer in the mud.


Deano