Hi Guys
Exploring wether its possible to have an improved driving technique to aviod
scrapping the side of the car in deep mud channels.
3 times recently we have found ourselves needing to drive thru channels as driving on top of ruts is to slippery or dangerous to hold a steady line.
The ruts of concern are usually characterized as having muddy base with vertical sides and also tend to have a slight slope such that the car will drift to one side with the bodywork in danger of scrapping itself.
Sometimes they are made worse by tree roots and rocks.
The technique I tend to use is simply to drive straight thru as slowly as possible , in effect excepting that its going to hurt and minimze damage with slow speed.
But is there an improved technique ?
I have no answer , but I think there are 3 possible approaches
1/ Drive straight thru slowly as possible and accept the inevitable.
2/ Lower the tyre pressures
well below what is required hopping that
a large side wall bulge will keep the car further away from the
embankment.
3/ Enguage the front locker diff and drive with the steering about 1/2 turn
towards the
embankment.
The idea here is that the wheel will protrude outside the bodyline and the front tyre will more or less harmlessly contact the bank.
The natural action of a locked axle would then tend to cause a rotation force
that might keep the rear end away from the bank as
well.
The problem is photo'ed below
Image 109 Car enters deep ruts correctly and is on line.
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Image 110 Car has slipped into the ruts
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Image 111 Car is scrapping the wall now.
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