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

Originally Posted by DeanoH

"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.

Come on lets get it right - its egg and bacon pie and it is smashed avo not mashed avo

Originally Posted by DeanoH

"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

Fffft, BFG's APL (All Purpose Lug) was a much better AT than the limp wristed Dunlop RTM, and Bridgestone's excellent 'Jeep Service' tyre looked more like a winter tread style rally tyre with excellent grip on and off road but a short service life as they were a pretty soft compound.
RTM's were the Datsun 180b of tyres

And then it became all confusing....

Off to get my early morning piccolo latte now

Haha fantastic! I just think back to the taller skinnier tyres that all the Camel Trophy Landys had on them and I would have got them on my Disco if it wasn't going to mess with my ratios too much...reckon it looks damn cool too!

Originally Posted by Young Angus

Haha fantastic! I just think back to the taller skinnier tyres that all the Camel Trophy Landys had on them and I would have got them on my Disco if it wasn't going to mess with my ratios too much...reckon it looks damn cool too!

I often think back even further to the good old horse and buggy days - extra large diameter and very narrow wheels - gave a smoother ride over rough terrain and required minimal effort from the horses.

History is a great teacher that is often ignored!

Around Anglesea you’ll struggle on tracks.
Lotta peeps running 35” and upwards there.
Tyres, small lift for clearance and driving style would possibly help. Momentum??
Don’t get caught using chains, they’re illegal in Vic unless in forecasted conditions.
If you’re doing these tracks you seem to lean more towards the play side rather than the touring side.........

Originally Posted by rick130

Fffft, BFG's APL (All Purpose Lug) was a much better AT than the limp wristed Dunlop RTM, ...................................

I'd forgotten about these, but bit of a stretch calling the old APL's an AT (in todays parlance) but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt as an 'aggressive' AT of the day. These were quite popular in the day as there really wasn't much to choose from back in the '70's, and I ended up with a set in 700X16 on my old SIIA, the factory rims were too skinny for 750's

The terms AT & MT has become a bit confused and often misleading and used as marketing terminology rather than a real reflection of a tyres capabilities or construction. As an example I've got Mickey Thompson ATZ P3's on the Oka ATM and Pro Comp Xtreme MT2's as the spares and there's very little difference between them. I'd consider them both to be an aggressive AT regardless of their 'name'.

Originally Posted by rick130

........ And then it became all confusing.......

It sure did, American 15" tyres hit the market and it was a whole new world ........

Deano

I have a 1km long 5% grade ramp here on site.
I can 100% guarantee you that once it gets wet you won’t climb it - muddies, claws etc.

If I want to access the upper level/climb it in wet conditions I use the Dozer!

Mud can be amazing! Always remembers this though.

“Mud = Money”

Two things that prevent you from proceeding, bellying out (diffs, body resting on the mud, etc) And lack of traction. Can’t do much about belling out other than bigger tyres and lifts. If Young Angus did not have the body or diffs come in contact with the ground then it comes down to traction. Air down, don’t worry about the pressure gauge just look at the tyre, let it develop a belly so that you get more tyre tread in contact with the ground. Skinny tyres get a bigger contact patch by having a long and skinny contact patch. Fat tyres have a bigger contact patch and it is believed that they don’t dig down as they float on top of the mud.

Momentum will help traction but you have to limit speed to stay in control.

Young Angus, did you stay in the ruts and belly out or did you try and straddle the ruts and did not have the traction to proceed?